Identify at least one other film which appears to have been influenced by the visual style of classic German Expressionist Cinema.
Corpse Bride (2005) Tim Burton
Corpse Bride appears to have been heavily inspired by German Expressionist Cinema, taking place in a vivid and distortedly crafted world. The films content is surreal and gothic revolving around an unnatural reality with a bizarre plot of Victor accidentally marrying a deceased, murdered, Emily.
Angles, lighting/shadows:
The film uses Dutch angles which was common within German Expressionist films in order to depict psychological tension/uneasiness.
German Expressionism also combines warm and cool lights, contrasting the two to achieve a dramatic effect as seen in the film when Victor’s first taken to the underworld.
The film also uses shadows which were common within Expressionist films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
Makeup:
Furthermore, the characters appear unnatural, being stylised to reject naturalism, with their appearance’s exaggerated making them appear disfigured/abnormal.
Setting:
The setting in which the story takes place is reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as it establishes a gothic mood with its use of gothic architecture.
The UFA was founded in December 1917 during World War I as part of an effort to create greater competition against foreign films and as part of the German Empire’s propaganda machine. However after the war the company focused on popular genres. (e.g. Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.”)
In 1921 UFA merged with Decla-Bioscop AG, Germany’s second largest film company. Decla was the company that started the era of “expressionist” film in 1919 with The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.
Following a financial crisis, UFA is taken over in 1927 by the Scherl Group- Alfred Hugenberg.
In 2008 there’s the launch of UFA Cinema with UFA once again producing feature films.
Describe some of the stylistic conventions associated with the Expressionist art movement. Post some additional examples of Expressionist Art.
‘Conventions of the expressionist style include distortion, exaggeration, fantasy, and vivid, jarring, violent, or dynamic application of colour in order to express the artist’s inner feelings or ideas.’ Expressionistic art aimed to express emotional experiences oppose to physical reality.’
wassily kandinsky der blaue reiter (1903)
Egon Schiele, Seated Woman with Bent Knee (1917)
Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation VII. Painting reproduced in “Expressionism” by Ashley Bassie
Explain how the political, social and economic context of the Weimar Republic affected the production and content of classic German Expressionist Cinema.
Between 1918-1933 Germany were attempting to recover from the impact of WWI, such as having to pay back reparations as agreed by the Treaty of Versailles.
‘The New Objectivity movement started in Germany in the aftermath of World War One. It challenged its predecessor, Expressionism , which was a more idealistic and romantic movement. Artists returned to a more realistic way of painting, reflecting the harsh reality of war, and, Experimentation in German art came to an end when the Nazis came to power in 1933’
Theeconomic disruption of the Weimar period produced an Expressionist style in German film-making, with films often having unrealistic sets and featuring exaggerated acting techniques with the film makers favouring darker storylines and themes, including horror and crime. The shortage of funding, due to the war impact, gave rise to the Kammerspielfilm movement, with atmospheric films made on small sets with low budgets.
Citizen Kane introduced many avant-garde (innovative) storytelling/cinematography techniques into Hollywood, with Welles leaving a huge influence on the film noir style. He used artful lighting, cinematography, and unorthodox narrative structure told through different perspectives etc.
Firstly, the film takes on a non-linear structure, with the film famously beginning with the death of the main character and the introduction of the mysterious “rosebud”. The use of inter-view style recollections from different perspectives enhances narrative complexity whilst also adding an alternate perspective depending on how the character knew Kane meaning we can perceive him through many different lenses, without knowing how reliable each one is, resulting in an unclear sense of who Kane really was.
Moreover, Welles and his cinematographer Gregg Toland pushed the conventions of film making, introducing techniques that are still prominent in the film industry today; one of their most influential being their use of deep focus. Deep focus allowed for some amazing shots and effects regarding long shots and status staging. For example, in the scene below Kane seems to be engulfed by his surroundings suggesting his inferiority compared to the others in the scene.
One particularly impactful shot is when Kane is walking down the hallway and his reflection is fragmented through the mirror perhaps suggesting he has lost his sense of self since his wife left him, or his isolation and the fact he’s left to himself.
Additionally, Welles experiments with lighting, with the whole film being in black and white, lighting/chiaroscuro, dark vs light, plays a big part in both the impact of the shot and the narrative itself. Welles masterfully uses light and shadow to convey characters internal emotions and turmoil. He desires, as a director, to connect and communicate with the audience through his images and the use of shadows aid him to do this. For example, as Kane signs the paper he’s engulfed in darkness perhaps foreshadowing his poor morals/greed. Thes lighting techniques went on to influence film noir.
His masterful use of extreme low and high angle shots is another reason why it may be held so high by critics. The low angle shots emphasise a character’s dominance, specifically in the below shot where Kane is shown at a particularly low angle highlighting his power/narcissism. Whilst high angled shots dwarf the subject, belittling them for example, as Kane stands on the newspapers. These shots were uncommon during this period.
Ultimately, I think the reason it’s considered “the greatest movie ever made” is due to its unique and innovate cinematography techniques that helped film/cinematography advance.
This is my favourite scene as it highlights Kanes deteriorating marriage over the course of years through the use of editing techniques, lighting, positioning/mise en scene and music/sound.
The scene opens with a dolly shot moving towards the two sitting closely suggesting intimacy between the pair as it positions the audience to view them as deeply in love however, throughout this scene the underscore of waltz music gradually builds in tension to emphasise the downward trajectory of the marriage and paired with the mise en scene it beautifully highlights the fact it’s gradually disintegrating. For instance, the table seems to function as a symbol of distance and how Kane and Emily have grown apart both physically and emotionally as the scene descents into silence between the pair. The scene is almost cyclical as it’s a backwards dolly shot, a reverse of the opening, but the lighting here is much darker compared to the initial shot suggesting their marriage can’t be revived and has ended/is ending.
As the table grows longer the scene also begins to separate in two shown by shot reverse shot editing between them as they become isolated from one another in their own frames oppose to the beginning where they shared a frame.
Props are also added in the foreground between them perhaps acting as a barrier to further separate them.
Montage editing is effective in this scene as it allows Welles to manipulate time for the benefit of the audience whilst still seeing the couple in the same setting. This is done by using a fast, spinning blur of the windows to transition through time, whilst suggesting nothing monumental has occurred.
Orson Welles and his cinematographer Gregg Toland masterfully collaborated to create unique shots that were unconventionally in Hollywood at the time.
For example, their use of the deep focus technique allowed subjects close and far away in the camera to remain in focus (deep depth of field), as a result staging could be cleverly crafted in a way that highlights struggle/power imbalance as seen in one of the films earlier scenes where Kane is clearly visible tiny outside the window symbolic of the way in which he is being ‘trapped’ into Mr. Thatcher’s guardianship and the fact he’s too inferior to have a say.
Additionally, Citizen Kane makes use of long/extended takes, as the scene above demonstrates through its long tracking shot from window to table. However, during the time of production there was no Steadicam therefore furniture and props had to be moved/separated around the camera to give the illusion the camera is tracking forwards/backwards through this static setting.
Citizen Kanes use of lighting, particularly chiaroscuro works to help reflect the plot, influencing the feel of the end production. This expressionistic lighting (influence of German expressionism) fits into a movie such as this as it centred around the mystery of “Rosebud”, with the use of shadows implying themes of immorality, loneliness, and insignificance but light to portray clarity and morality, whilst split lighting/partial shadows are suggestive of moral ambiguity/divide or a power imbalance etc.
Furthermore, Citizen Kane is famous for its use of low angle shots, therefore the sets required ceilings. This was uncommon at the time as most movies didn’t have ceilings because that’s where lights and microphones were situated, so the ceilings in the movie were constructed of cloth to allow microphones to still be placed overhead. Welles also made a hole in the floor of the set to place the camera. The use of low angles dramatically affects the look and feel as it enhances Kanes confidence, dominance/superiority and his overwhelming power (over characters).
