The era of the Weimar Republic was a time of great uncertainty for the people of Germany despite the post-war peace, progressive attitudes, and economic successes with which it is associated. This insecurity is commonly represented in much of the era’s popular film, from the eerie darkness of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to the destructive chaos of Metropolis. Robert Siodmak’s People on Sunday, however, is different. Produced in the summer of 1929, People on Sunday was loved by German critics and audiences alike for its refreshing perspective on life in Berlin. Its light-hearted realism initially struck a note in hundreds of thousands of viewers, and it continues to captivate viewers nearly a century later – but why? The answer seems to lie in the all-encompassing independence of the camera as it explores a city that could drown in the depths of its …show more content…
It cuts to the sight of hundreds of people walking on crowded city streets, almost as a reminder that the people on Sunday do, in fact, come from the city. This establishes an interest in the people once more, so the film cuts to where the people are on Sunday: the beach. Here, the film cuts back and forth between various camera shots as it observes individuals and expands to show the entire beach filled with hundreds of people. Various shots of people playing and relaxing in the water were cinematographically revolutionary at the time of the film’s publishing due to the camera’s placement over the water, which speaks volumes for the simple yet stunning execution of this scene. Within the span of about a minute, the film allows the camera to explore multiple perspectives, thus reflecting on the unity of history and the people on Sunday observed previously. This, of course, establishes a basic understanding of Berliners’ culture and can even create a point from which the audience can relate and connect to the people as a
The film illustrates the common social and sexual anxieties that the Germans were undergoing at that period of time. It also employs cinematic aesthetics alongside with new technology to create what would be considered as one of Germany’s first sound-supported films. Furthermore, it was the film that popularized its star Marlene Dietrich. The film is also known for combining elements of earlier expressionist works into its setting without becoming an expressionist film itself. It is important also to point out that the visual element has helped to balance the film easily against the backdrop the nightclub lifestyle that Lola leads the professor to fall into.
In the Early years of film one can easily say that Germany lead the way in experimentation, with such striking examples as Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler. How when looking at two of these film, Nosferatu and Dr Mabuse the Gambler one can find a similar theme that run throughout. This theme is that of Weimar’s insecurity about outsiders and otherness different cultures. While both films have different stories at their very simplest both films see someone come into the idyllic lives of the protagonist not only wrecking their lives but the lives of ordinary people as well. It’s worth noting that borth Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler were filmed in the turbulent early 20’s of the Weimar period where Germany was still dealing with the aftermath of the war and outside powers such as France encroaching on German territory and at the same time political unrest had reached its high. With all these changes going on it easy to see why Germany might have felt that outsider were at work trying to remold modern Germany. This is why in these turbulent early years befor the Weimar Golden age we see such strong use of the other/outsider as a stand in for events taken place in Germany
Calhoon, Kenneth S. “Horror vacui.” Peripheral Visions: The Hidden Stages of Weimar Cinema. Wayne State University Press: Detroit, 2001.
The presence of an overwhelming and influential body of government, dictating the individuals of contextual society, may potentially lead to the thoughts and actions that oppose the ruling party. Through the exploration of Fritz Lang’s expressionist film, Metropolis (1927), and George Orwell’s politically satirical novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948), the implications of an autocratic government upon the individuals of society are revealed. Lang’s expressionist film delves into the many issues faced by the Weimar Republic of Germany following the “War to end all wars” (Wells, 1914), in which the disparity between the upper and lower classes became distinctively apparent as a result of the ruling party’s capitalistic desires. Conversely, Orwell’s,
In her narrative essay, “FYB”, Zadie Smith expresses her belief that if one redirects their mindset to a more limited perspective and uses the limitless Manhattan mentality at certain times, one can arrive at their beach. A beach is a mentality, and Smith finds her beach by coming to peace with Manhattan’s beach. The idea of a person’s “beach” being hard to discover may be observed through Smith’s personal background, as it is almost mythical for this English writer living in Soho, Manhattan to come by a beach.
Metropolis is a silent film written by Thea Von Harbou in 1927, and directed by Fritz Lang. This film was very significant for its time. Although it had very mixed reviews by critics, it pioneered the work of the science fiction genre. The film also gained recognition by political leaders, such as Adolf Hitler, for recognizing the divides between the working class and the aristocracy. The divide between the working class and the aristocracy was the most significant idea I took away from this silent film.
German Cinema since Unification. Edited by David Clarke. Continuum, in association with University of Birmingham Press. 2006
The movie On the Waterfront begins with a long shot and the surroundings on the edge of a waterfront. There is a dark lighting like sunset is about to hit, and we are able to see a giant cruise liner in the harbor. The giant boat stands out in the light, and the much of the water is dark. There are many horizontal lines that define the giant boat, and a few vertical lines are able to get distinguished by the small boat with the mast on it as well as the shed on the side. The music has rapidity and suspense that leads you to think that something bad is about to happen. The camera has a long shot that moves to medium. The long shot is balancing with the rapid music because since there is a long short is not as suspense with the hurried music and you feel more comfortable. The Men come out of the small shed by the dock. They walk in a linear form, one behind the other, wearing long dark coats with a mysterious look on their faces. Most of them are wearing the long coats that fall to their knees, and one of them is wearing a square pattern shirt with his right hand in his jacket , his and expressions unhappy.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920’s German silent-horror film. Robert Weine, the director, collaborated with the German cinematographer, Willy Hameister to create this German Expressionist masterpiece. The idea was taken from the screenplay written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Meyer. It is also considered one of the greatest horror films during the silent period. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and its historical context in terms of the German Expressionist movement will be discussed further in the essay.
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
Andreas Huyssen. “The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.” New German Critique: and Interdisciplinary Journal of German Studies. (1982)
The aim of this report is to discuss Italian Neorealism (Neorealismo); looking at how the movement played a significant element in European cinema during and after the times of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime. The report not only looks at how but why Neorealism became a growing phenomenon for filmmakers during its debatable 10 year period, and what implication of messages these Neorealist directors were trying to send out through their films. Backed up by several reliable book sources, the evidence for this report will also highlight the influences Neo-realism has created in modern filmmaking today.
All the settings appear movie-set-ready and nothing about the look of the film provides the grit we’ve come to expect from similar movies set in this time. And while it’s true that the film is tied into a nice little bow in terms of tone (it’s clear the studio wants this to be a controversy-free drama the entire family can see throughout the holiday season), the events are always presented through Liesel’s doe-eyed curiosity, so it somehow make sense that the look of the film is so clear cut and tidy. This is, after all, a 13-year-old’s perspective of World War II and all the perfectly dangling Nazi flags should look like dramatic, bold red carpets in the mind of an imaginative young girl who is looking to the world to heal her familial wounds. Everything feels and looks incredibly perfect – even James Newton Howard’s nuanced score comes on just at the right sentimental moment – though that’s exactly how the optimistic Liesel views the world and it makes the film version’s toning down of the source material’s heavy nature something that can be artistically justified. While you wish this cleanness would crack as the events of WWII become more severe, it’s clear this film is catering to all audiences
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
‘Then came the films’; writes the German cultural theorist Walter Benjamin, evoking the arrival of a powerful new art form at the end of 19th century. By this statement, he tried to explain that films were not just another visual medium, but it has a clear differentiation from all previous mediums of visual culture.