German Expressionism
Modern Films With Impressionistic Elements
Max Beckmann
This final section on German Expressionism film will look at four modern films that contain many German Expressionism elements. These particular films are ones that I have viewed and enjoyed myself and do not come from an existing list of such films. In fact, I have been unable to locate such a list. As an added learning activity for the film section of the course, you can start your own list of films with German Expressionism elements.
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Bob
Fosse's 1972 film version of the Broadway play
Cabaret
combines the look of German Expressionism paintings inside the cabaret
with the look of Nazi "acceptable art" outside of the cabaret.
One of the most chilling scenes in the film is a picnic in a beautiful rural setting. A young handsome, very Aryan-looking soldier rises and begins singing "Tomorrow Belongs to Me." Soon others at the picnic rise from their seats and join in the song. What appears on the surface to be happy and joyful, full of sunlight and promise, hides a dark, sinister purpose. The cabaret setting of the film is dark, full of grotesque people and bold bright colors.
Cabaret is an excellent film. The music, acting, and atmosphere all provide insight into German society just prior to World War II.
Careful is only one of director Guy Maddin's tributes to German Expressionism. Full of distorted images, light and shadow, insanity, surrealistic settings, horror, dreams, and incest, Careful contains all of the elements of German Expressionism film. While certainly not for everyone, Careful provides a unique and disquieting viewing experience.
Max is a 2003 film written and directed by Menno Meyjes. John Cusack plays Max Rothman, a Jewish artist and gallery owner who returns to his home in Munich after being maimed in World War I. Max is a fictional character who is a composite of several German Expressionism painters and German gallery owners. Noah Taylor portrays a young Adolf Hitler who is trying to sell his paintings. The gallery setting in the film is German Expressionistic in atmosphere and tone. And the final scene is a prime example of the use of light and dark in the Expressionism style.
Max is also an excellent film that combines fiction with fact to provide a look at how events may have formed the man whose name became synonymous with evil in the 20th century.
The
Night of the Hunter was the only film directed by actor Charles
Laughton. Although a financial and critical failure when it was released
in 1955(which broke Charles Laughton's heart and was the reason he never
directed another film), the film is now considered one of the most artistic,
suspenseful, and horrifying films of all time. The Rev. Harry Powell,
with l*o*v*e* tattooed on one hand and h*a*t*e* on the
other, is surely the most terrifying film villain ever. Robert Mitchum
gives his best performance as the evil preacher in this film. The dark
silhouette across the evening sky of Reverend Powell riding his mule and singing gospel
songs while pursuing two young children across an almost surrealistic
Midwest landscape is pure German Expressionism.
Night of the Hunter is a classic. If you have never seen it, put it on your must-see list. And if you have seen it, try viewing it again with an eye to German Expressionism elements.
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