Quick notes about German Expressionism (1919-1926)

(German Expressionism from Film Art by Bordwell and Thomson)

Recap

         In painting we have what we called, expressionism- a  movement in the arts in the early days that emphasized subjective expression of the artist' inner experiences. Likewise in films, we can also apply expressionist styles. Take a look on the German Expressionism that happened from 1919 to 1926. In this kind of style, graphic images in films are distorted and exaggerated unrealistically for expressive purposes. Actors wore heavy make up and moved in jerky, slow patterns. But the most important element in German expressionist style is the element of mise-en-scene. Characters do not simply exist within a setting but rather form visual elements that merge with the setting. German expressionist films were created to combat Hollywood films imported into Germany, and for the purpose of making German films to break international market.

History

       At the start of World War I, only imported films from America, France, Italy and Denmark are shown mostly in theaters in Germany. There is only a small number of German films shown in theaters, that is why the government made a movement which will increase German film productions and combat film imports from other countries. From this, the company UFA ( Universum Filmn Aktiengesellschaft) existed, which comprises of the German government, the Deutsche Bank and several small film firms. This company was established to help increase German film production in the country and also to spread German influence abroad.

Madame Du Barry (1934) by Ernst Lubitsch

                The film Madame Dubarry by Ernst Lubitsch helped reopen the world film market to Germany. It was a huge success.  With the film Madame Dubarry, the UFA finally was able to break into the international market.It was shown in the United States, but not enthusiastically in France because it was considered as anti-French propaganda. In 1919, the firm paved way to produce unconventional script by two unknowns, Carl Meyer and Hans Janowitz. They wanted to produce a film in an unusually stylized way. They wanted it to be done in an Expressionist style, believing that this might be a selling point in the international market.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

                 And so the inexpensive film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was produced. It was a sensation in Berlin, the United States, France and other countries. It was a huge success.

The insane asylum set in the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

                                                     

                 Through this, in the mid 1920's, German films were widely regarded as the best in the world. Big firms such as UFA, as well as small companies invested in Expressionist films because these films could combat with those of America. In Caligari, the Expressionist stylization functions to convey the distorted viewpoint of a madman.The world of the film is literally a projection of the hero's vision.

Scenes in German Expressionist style are distorted and unrealistic

End of German Expressionism?

             Because of the inflation in the early 1920's in Germany, the tumbling exchange rate of the mark made foreign purchases expensive. The last major films drive UFA deeper into financial difficulty, leading many German directors quit and try their luck in America. Because many German directors moved into America, Hollywood films also displayed expressionist style. Though German expressionist movement ended already, expressionism has never entirely died out as a trend in film style.

Film Noir: What is it?

            Last meeting we watched a documentary about Film Noir. As what I’ve learned from the video, Film Noir is a black film which usually focuses about the difficult circumstances and struggles that humans experience in their lives. Mostly, the theme is dark and mysterious, it centers on the jeopardy of life. It shows what really life in the world is, and often reveals dark secrets of human nature. The setting happens in urban area, particularly on the streets, where most crimes happen. As the story goes along in Film Noir, circumstances become harder to endure. We do not know what’s going on, but we know that something bad is coming. Characters become entwined in bad situations. When we see a film noir, we witness the character’s tales of survival. The story circulates on the character experiencing bad circumstances, and as one problem occurs, another problem will happen at the same time, until the character is in a downward spiral position.

Females in Film Noir (Femme Fatale)

            Emergence of male characters wanting sex is also a part of Film Noir. Females are often portrayed as extremely sexual, smart and powerful. She uses her sexuality not after the man, but after what she wants, something for herself. Female characters in Film noir can be seen with long hairs, long fingernails and often smokes, signs of a woman without morals. Sexual scenes are prominent in Film Noir, women getting a man into a bed, then into trouble. There is what we called “male fantasy” where women become uncontrollable. Sometimes you see an innocent young lady who is a demon. Love in Film Noir becomes obsession, it becomes more deadly.

Lights

          Lights are important element of Film Noir, it allows the film to be more dramatic.  Lighting technique is effective in creating mystery in the film. Usually, the lights are a part of the story in Film Noir. One uses of lights in Film Noir is altering the space through the lights to make the scene more interesting. Lights creates mood in the story. It gives emotion to the flow of the story and impresses the audience with its ambiance. A scene in Film Noir usually involves characters in a dark place where only lights and shadow are visible. This effect adds drama to the story, and at the same time, gives more life to the film.

Conclusion

            As mentioned in the video, Film Noir ended because color films already emerged in modern generation. It is considered a historical genre. But even though we cannot watch Film Noir every day, basic human problems are still the same whether it is portrayed in colored or black and white films. Film noir can be relived, not only in a black film, but also in a colored film.

It is the story and elements of Film noir that makes it unique to any other movie genre.

Trainspotting Reflection

Trainspotting is a 1996 British black comedy/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh

Short Summary
(Based from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trainspotting/)

        Trainspotting is a film about drug addiction. It centers on the life of Mark Renton, a young man with a little less objectives in life. Mark is a heroin addict, who loves the drug's blissful effect. For him, drugs provide excitement and challenges that his life lacks. He spends high amount of money just to satisfy his cravings on heroine. He lives in the city of Edinburgh where he is accompanied with his fellow drug addict friends, Sick Boy and Spud. The three of them usually hangs out with Begbie, a borderline psychotic who loathes mark and his friends, but is a heavy drunkard. After being rehabilitated by his parents, Mark left heroine and moves to London where he finds a job, a flat, and something close to peace of mind. However, Begbie, went to him in London and later on followed by Sick boy and Spud. He then was introduced to drugs again and lived like his past life. When the moment Mark and his pals earned money from drugs, something unexpected happened. Begbie became selfish and forgot their friendship. In the end, Mark realized that nothing can be achieved with drugs. He took the money for himself and ended up choosing life.

Reflection

       The movie has a great impact for me because it showed me the consequences of drugs on people. Young people are often the subject of drugs. They think that their life is too bland and boring so they would rather take drugs to escape the reality of life. Mark is the example of this. In the first part of the scene, he asked himself “why would you choose life?” He is afraid of being part of the world, afraid of facing circumstances and difficulties of life. He chose to take heroine to experience pleasure and delight, which his life lacks. Drugs are the ones which destroy young people’s lives. It makes them self-centered and makes them living in an imaginary world. Through drugs, different crimes can take place. Stealing money is one of them. In the movie, money is used to trade drugs. It even is the reason why Mark and his friends broke their friendship. Drugs also make you neglect yourself and the people around you. There is a scene in the movie where the baby died in hunger because his parents were addicted to drugs. Dirty surroundings and evil temptations are part of this drug addiction. However, one can make himself out of this trouble by rejecting drugs. Mark was rehabilitated by his parents. It was not easy for him to withdraw drugs because you can experience hallucinations from drug withdrawal. But he managed to get through this. Later on he was tempted again to take drugs. But in this part of his life, he realized that taking drug is not life, rather, it is death. He compared the Mark who has a job in London from the Mark who is addicted in drugs. In the end he chose life. And that life I mean is having a job, a wife, a family, a son, and everything that is the source of happiness. That is what Mark wants be. He neglected drugs and chose life. Life is not something which you escape from, life is a man’s most peculiar gift and something to be thankful of. The moral in the story is, reject drugs and choose life.

Film School Generation

    There are two types of directors in film school generation, the one who minds the public when they make their own films and the one who doesn't mind the public at all. Some of the major directors of all time include Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas and many others, which are known from producing remarkable films. But what kind of directors are they? Do they mind the public or not when they produce their own film?

             Directors such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Coppola, Paul Schrader, John Milius, Brian De Palma, Kathryn Bigelow, Robert Zemeckis, Spike Lee, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Martin Brest, George Miller, Martha Coolidge, Joel Coen, and Edward Zwick all studied film in college and/or graduate school.  They are the types of directors who mind their own perspective, and not the public when they make movies. Star Wars (Lucas), Jaws (Spielberg), and The Godfather saga (Coppola) to smaller, quirkier films such as The Comfort of Strangers (Schrader), Strange Days (Bigelow), and Barton Fink (Coen), these films reflect the tastes and worldviews of the individuals who directed them.

             However, directors such as Michaelangelo Antonioni, Francis Coppola and Brian De Palma focused in the theme of postmodernism when they made films like Blow up, The Conversation and others which are about the problems of understanding and connecting with the world.  They are the directors who consider the public when making films. These directors may be understood in terms of postmodernism, a cultural phenomenon that spans the arts from architecture to MTV. Broadly defined, postmodernism is an artistic style that seeks both to appropriate and dismantle the conventions of earlier periods.  Seen in the light of postmodernism, then, the film school generation’s adaptation of classical Hollywood references toward their own ends is part of a much wider cultural phenomenon of the late 20th century. To use a favorite postmodern term, they deconstruct not only the world they explore through art but the art itself, not to mention the consciousness of the listener, reader, or spectator.

The Golden Age of Hollywood

     

          When we speak of Hollywood movies today, we think of productions that are done elaborately, grandeur and innovative. These are possible with the help of our technology. But when we go back to the late 20's to 60's which is called the "golden age" of Hollywood, we can see how American cinema before is different from what we have today. Classical Hollywood cinema is based from the ideas of the Renaissance, and its main point is commonly the revival of mankind. Filmmakers do the production as seamless as possible, or what they call the "invisible style". This is important to smoothen the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.

             Mostly, classical Hollywood style is adapted from the western. From what I've observed last meeting, characters in the movies speak in a formal language, like of that when you watch western films today. A production is considered a success if the audience are taken to a different world. From the editing of the movie, to the way it is delivered to the audience, is a vital work. All part of the production staffs help to achieve this harmony. Old Hollywood is like a factory, everybody is influencing one another.  The directors, producers and specially the actors should do their job on its best. This is where the "point of view" comes in. Audience reception is important, that is why cinematographers do things to assume expectations from the audience. Point of view should be exactly as it is seen as a person. The way how the camera acts with the scene, the way the actors act out their characters, the way the music blends with the appeal, are all important to retain that classical Hollywood style. Take for example the movie "E.T" by Steven Spielberg, the emotional point of view is strong and clearly presented. It draws the audience along with the story.

E.T Film by Steven Spielberg

            One part of the Hollywood classical style is exaggerating characters in the story, particularly the way they speak with one another. Simple dialogue will only bore the audience. Many films before were successful in capturing the attention of the viewers such as Casablanca, Gone with the wind, Chinatown and many others. All of life's riddles are answered in movies. No wonder why American cinema was among its peak during the time these films were produced.

            I believed that classical Hollywood style has not yet ended today, what was changed are the tools you work on. Elements of style from classical time to our generation today are developing. Cinematographers, directors, producers and such, should experiment forward movement, creating, and improving Hollywood style from time to time.