The Similarities Between German Expressionism And Film

Started as a trend in Germany to reflect the feelings of the German people in World War l, German Expressionism became an universal movement that influenced film noir and comic books films like Sin City.

After being ravaged by World War 1, a failing economy, and no strong political power, German Expressionists directors film felt disillusioned with reality and the world around them. As a result they made films that looked warped and distorted and were extremely surreal. The German Expressionism was a expressionistic film style, where the aesthetics were marked by distortions and exaggerations. They presented their films in these dark worlds by using chiaroscuro to reflect their inner feelings. German Expressionists directors illustrate the darker side of human experience like insanity, betrayal, obsession, paranoia, and anxiety. Often, directors would warp and twist the characters, settings and even camera angles to give it that stylize moody feel. A

After his rise to power, Hitler took full control of every aspect of art and destroyed anything that he see as "destructive to culture"(Naas). This cause many German directors to move to the United States where the film industry was rising exponentially. Bring with them their styles and techniques, a new genre formed in the mid-1930s called film noir. Film noir, like German Expressionism, focus on negative emotions like being powerless and madness while using some the same aesthetics such as black and white contrast. Unlike German Expressionist directors, American film noir directors brought a new motif to the American audience: femme fatale.The dark, strong femme fatale of noir is the main female character in these movies. These women are given not only sexual powers, but also ambitions (Belton). These women clash with the male protagonist, who usually is antisocial and have to be strong in their crime ridden