GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM

The Influence of German Expressionist Set Design in Post Modern Cinema

The Influence of German Expressionist Set Design in Post Modern Cinema

Introduction

The term alternative cinema has certain connotations. To many, it is not alternative, instead it is the way cinema was meant to be viewed, in that the viewer should be able to define the film in their own personal terms. In the following essay, I will firstly examine what the term alternative cinema means, and secondly how Brecht's theories are evident in many elements of the films that have been pigeon-holed as alternative cinema. The word alternative is described in Collins English Dictionary as: "Denoting a lifestyle, culture, art form, etc., regarded by its adherents as preferable to that of contemporary society because it is less conventional, materialistic, or institutionalised, and, often, more in harmony with nature."(Makin, 1992)

Bullet etched buildings covered with mismatched checkered plaster and paint jobs are starting to become more prevalent then the original war vandalized structures. This same covering up that is occurring in Berlin is the same covering up which is hiding the evidence of German expressionism in film. In simplest terms German expressionism was created by World War 1 and was ended by World War 2. To also be concise on the definition of what German expressionism is, mind you it doesn't work in all cases, it can be said that it attempts to “re-approriate an alienated universe by transforming it into a private, personal vision.” So where exactly did it start, where did it go, who was part of it and why did it have such an influence on cinema (Willett, 1964).

On a recent trip to see the influences and grounds of its creation it was slightly devastating to not only find any evidence of it but on its own soil to see that even German film students no longer acknowledge its impact in there work or at least acknowledge its influence. After a while of thinking about all of this realizing the only thing that can be logical evidence is architecture, this statement came up to mind, “its like coming to America trying to look for the wild west, time erased it for it only served its purpose when it was needed.” So what is German Expressionistic cinema and where did it start.

The questions of who started it and where did it begin can be argued to death but there are some key points which are agreed upon by most historians and critics. The French filmmaker and former magician, Melies was and is still quoted as the first horror film director. His filmmaking career went from about 1902 to 1908 with such pieces as “Trip to the Moon”. He was the first to do something in a highly stylistic approach, which can be reasoned as his taste for theatrics for all his movies were made on sets and his actors' makeup, and costumes were likewise. From Melies was the first actual stylization of cinema to the degree that German expressionism was going ...