German Expressionism
Expressionismus · Weimar cinema
After the First World War, the studios of the Weimar Republic turned inner fear into décor: painted sets with crooked walls, shadows drawn onto the floor, actors moving like puppets. Stories of sleepwalkers, golems, vampires and doubles reflected a country in shock.
Moreover, the look outlived the movement: when Murnau, Lang and many technicians left for Hollywood, they carried this chiaroscuro with them, hence the shadows of American horror and film noir.
- Painted sets
- Chiaroscuro
- UFA studio
- Weimar Republic
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01
Robert Wiene 1920
Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Start hereA fairground hypnotist and his sleepwalker, in a town of painted, crooked streets. The founding film of the style.
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02
Paul Wegener, Carl Boese 1920
Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam
The Golem
A rabbi in medieval Prague brings a clay giant to life to protect his community.
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03
F. W. Murnau 1922
Nosferatu
Nosferatu
An unauthorised Dracula, with Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok.
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04
F. W. Murnau 1924
Der letzte Mann
The Last Laugh
A proud hotel doorman is demoted to washroom attendant. A moving camera tells it with almost no intertitles.
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05
Fritz Lang 1927
Metropolis
Metropolis
A futuristic city split between workers underground and rulers in the towers.
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06
Fritz Lang 1931
M
M
A whole city, police and criminals alike, hunts a child murderer. Lang's first sound film.