German Expresionist Influences on Contemporary Cinema

German Expressionism, it's kind of a hard pill to swallow, much less define. Wikipedia has a good definition of it, but there's concerns as to it's accuracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_expressionism). Artmovements.co.uk has an extremely vague definition but seems more accurate because it has better vocabulary (http://www.artmovements.co.uk/expressionism.htm). For the intent of this article, I will (without any qualification) define it as a movement in early German cinema spanning from about 1910-1930 wherein innovative set design and special effects were used, and often using sets or costumes that were works of art in their own right. This is the only thing I can say that includes all the films in this category that I've seen (Nosferatu, Metropolis, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). It's one of those things you know when you see and can't explain well to others.


In any case, I'd like to go over a few movies that draw from these films. The First up is Alexander Proyas' Dark City. The film's Wiki page compares it to Metropolis with the sets and use of large clocks, but I personally think it has more to do with Nosferatu. I can't help but notice the uncanny resemblance between The Other's [aliens] costume design and that of the vampire's costume design in the 1929 silent film Nosferatu (see the image to the left, The Others are on the far left and Nosferatu on the right). I'd like to point out the pale bald heads, rounded shoulders accentuated by a long coat, and round bulging eyes.

Next up is basically everything Tim Burton has ever done, but for the sake of brevity we will look at Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton draws heavily from one expressionist film repeatedly, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It is a horror film from around 1919-1920. It's a bit lacking in the plot department, but it more than makes up for it with the visuals in my opinion. In Bob Howard's words (which I'm trying to recall from a meeting about a year ago when we voted in The Seventh Seal) "there's not a straight line in the whole picture." This is the most perfect description of the sets that I've heard. The sets play with geometric shapes, angles and diagonals (which are frequently used in art to create a tense or dramatic mood) to create unique , beautiful and atmospheric sets. Burton uses this method in The Nightmare before Christmas (as seen below, one of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari's sets is on the right). One should note the almost identical street lamps in both images provided.









The characters in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari all have white faces with dark circles painted under their eyes, creating an eerie effect. This is repeated in Edward Scissorhand's character design (as seen below, Cesar from The Cabinet on the left and Edward Scissorhands on the right), in addition to both characters being tall lanky men with unruly black hair in black bodysuits.











For additional info about Dark City, here it is on imdb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118929/

and here's a youtube comparison of Dark City to The Matrix by a rather cranky spanish speaking person, which is cool because it shows the sets The Matrix reused:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcBUelP1bI&feature=related

For additional information on Nosferatu, here's imdb's profile:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/
And here's the movie in it's entirety, because it's in the public domain, it's free and legal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEOsb6CRvNU

For more info on the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/

For good articles on The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Check out the following:
http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/classic-movies/55-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920-robert-wiene.php
http://www.filmmonthly.com/Silents/Articles/Caligari/Caligari.html

and to check out The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which is also in the public domain, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrNJBbXhvOs

by the way, I have a copy of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (much better quality than Youtube), Nightmare Before Christmas, and Dark City if anyone would like to borrow them.