One director for German Expressionism era is Fritz Lang who directed the 1921 film Destiny.
Another German director is Arthur Robinson who directed Warning Shadows in 1923.
A Russian Constructivism director is Sergei Einstein who made the famous movie Battleship Potemkin.
Another Russian constructivism director is Lev Kuleshov who produced Dura Lex.
two directors of the German Expressionism movement include Fritz Lang and Robert Wiene. two film from this movement include Metropolis and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
some directors from the Russian constructivism include Lev Kuleshov and Dziga Vertov with two films from this movement being The death ray and man with a movie camera
German Expressionism and Russian Constructivism
Name at least two directors and two films connected with each movement –
German Expressionism: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (directed by Robert Wiene in 1920) and Nosferatu (directed by F. W. Murnau in 1922)
Russian Constructivism: The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bollsheviks (directed by Lev Kuleshov in 1924) and Battleship Potemkin (directed by Sergei Eisenstein in 1925)
German expressionism- “waxworks” was directed by Mark Paul Lini
German expressionism- ‘M’ was directed by Fritz Lang
Russian constructivism- lev Kuleshov directed “by the law”
Russian constructivism- Lev Kuleshov also directed “Theft of sight ”
two German expressionist directors are Fritz Lang and Robert Wiene.
two Russian constructivism directors are Lev Kuleshov and Dziga Vertov
two German expressionist films are “M” and “While the city sleeps”
two Russian constructivism movies were “by the law” and “enthusiasm”
buster Keaton Charlie Chaplin and harold lloyd were all Hollywood stars and directors, who were famous for their comedy films, they were influential because they all did things dramatically, and innovated ways to perform with silent films
some examples of films they made were “The Great Dictator” by charlie chaplin, it was a propaganda film during ww2 used to mock hitler.
another example is saftey last! starring hard lloyd, it was influencial for the risky stunt done by harold in which was extremely risky.
an example of a buster keaton film is the general, a film about the civil war.
in bonnie and Clyde editing is used for comedy and effect. in this scene the barrow gang steal someone’s car so they go and chase them. the jump cuts back to the couple as there reactions change from them chasing the car in anger to driving away from the car in horror when they realise they have guns. the directors are clever in the final shot of this scene as it is the same shot of the couple but they are in a car with everyone else as they have been caught.
The film was released at a time of social unrest in America when people, particularly the young, were challenging the government’s role in the Vietnam war, there were race riots and a large counterculture developing. The film’s anti-authority message reflected this.
The rise of New American
Cinema of the late 1960s
Bonnie and Clyde is considered one of the first films of the New Hollywood era and a landmark picture. It broke many cinematic taboos and for some members of the counterculture, the film was considered a “rallying cry”. Its success prompted other filmmakers to be more open in presenting sex and violence in their films.
Women
In Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie has been corroborating with Clyde’s criminal activities. Far from the classical depiction of a passive character of women, Bonnie has been depicted as a “revolutionized” image of a heroine. She was not the typical women who had a weak image in the film, rather, she had an equal footing with Clyde.
Gangster movies, violence, and crime were rarely associated with female sexuality before the 1960s, and Bonnie and Clyde shattered those stereotypes.
Men
In Bonnie and Clyde, the two main stars have their gender roles completely reversed. This is key in seeing how men are represented in Bonnie and Clyde, Clyde isn’t your typical love interest like in Warren Beaty’s other film, instead he is a multi-layered, impulsive and reckless character. This suggests Arthur Penn wanted to represent Men as being just as emotionally vulnerable as a woman, this is highly influential at the time because men in movies were only love interests, or mysterious gangsters without an actual personality.
Authority Figures
if not all, the authority figures in these films demonstrate a ruthless disregard for the truth and a sadistic pleasure in their ability to torment. If Bonnie and Clyde represent the attitude of the youth, then there is no question that Sheriff Frank Hamer symbolizes the older generation.
People of Colour
People of Colour are notably absent throughout the majority of the film, besides the character of Davis, who works with Otis Harris. Davis has no lines in the film, and can be seen waiting to be instructed by Harris before shooting the gun at the window. This is a negative representation, as Davis’ character is not represented equally to his white co-worker. However, it may be historically accurate, as racial prejudice was still common in the 1930s.
Realism
“The director, Arthur Penn, wanted his film to be as real and untheatrical as possible,” Guffey comments. “The producer, Warren Beatty — who was also the star of the film — shared his point of view. They were out to get stark realism on celluloid. Nothing was to be beautiful. Everything was to be, you might say, harsh — and that’s the way it was through the whole picture.”
In the interest of such realism the decision was made to film as much of the script as possible in the actual locales where the true-life outlaws of the title had held sway more than 35 years before.
Tone
Directed by Arthur Penn, Bonnie and Clyde has a tone that constantly switches between comedic and tragic, childish fun and grave consequences. The use of black in the scene where Bonnie meets her mother for the last time creates a funereal tone and foreshadows the death of the protagonists. Overall, the tone of Bony and Clyde is at times comic, slapstick, and light-hearted. At others, violent, dramatic, disturbing, and tragic.
Visual Style (French New Wave)
From the opening credits, depicting period photographs accompanied by the sound of camera clicks suggestive of gun shots, through to the film’s boldly original framing, employing windows, glass and mirrors as recurring visual motifs, Bonnie and Clyde constantly experiments with the tools of cinema, clearly echoing the techniques most familiarly connoted with the French New wave.
