How much influence have the European film movements of the 1920s and 1930s had on contemporary cinema?

1)   How much influence have the European film movements of the 1920s and 1930s had on contemporary cinema?

The content and style of films are shaped not only by the example of previous creative works but by cultural and political events and the urge for contrast and change. Bold film movements were born out of the 1920’s and 30’s which developed very strong and individual cinematic devices that have directly influenced contemporary cinema. The mood of the 1920’s and 1930’s in Europe was a consequence of  World War One which finished in 1919. This brought about a ‘combination of war-weariness and cynicism’ (Pg17, Ian Roberts, 2008) which prompted creative types to implement this atmosphere in their work.

As a result of World War One the whole ‘political landscape changed with bigger conflicts Europe was facing serious, deep-seated economic and political problems’ (Pg.44. Ruth Henig. 2002) and filmakers and artists wanted to adress this.

European film movements especially Soviet Montage adopted a very opiniated theme of national traditionalism when faced with the threat of American cinema’s influence saturating their culture along with it’s capitalist messages. Soviet expressionism aimed to promote communist ideologies through an individual style of filmaking. An urge for rebellion against previous classical styles of cinema was felt across Europe which led many to question and pull apart conventional cinematic rules. Contemporary cinema borrows ideas from the European movements of the 20’s and 30’s to achieve narrative, emotion and also to tackle issues which run parrallel to the struggles felt in this era.

German expressionism is known by most to be the style of ‘extreme angles and looming shadows.’ (Pg54 ,Barry Salt, 2006). But these things would been ‘better described as "expressivist" features, since they had already begun to develop well before’ (Pg54, Barry Salt, 2006). German expressionism certainly took these elements and adopted them exclusively for the dark and moody atmosphere that they aimed to produce. However ‘Germans only developed trends that were already well underway elsewhere’ (61 Barry salt 2006). This is a great example of how all-different types of cinema influences each other, so of course European film movements have influenced contemporary cinema as well.

German expressionist film evolved from German expressionist art, a movement which started evaporating by 1922 (Pg55, Barry Salt 2006). Artists found the medium of film to be well suited to the task of accommodating for expressionist themes. Barry Salt says that the German expressionist films were the six films:

‘made between 1919 and 1924: namely Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (RobertWiene, 1920), Genuine (Wiene, 1920), Von Morgens bis Mitternacht (K.H. Martin, 1920), Torgus (H. Kobe, 1921), Raskolnikov (Wiene, 1923), and Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (paul Leni, 1924).These are the only films in which most of the features are indebted to Expressionist painting and drama. The only arguable addition to this list is Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1926).’(Pg 55. Barry Salt. 2006).

 In German and French film movements filmmakers wanted to convey political messages. There was a fear of the unknown and this was reflected in Fritz Langs Metropolis arguably the last German Expressionist film. Here the dystopian future of fascism is scary and will lead to doom. ‘The cityscape of Lang’s Metropolis, to focus on just one film, is acknowledged influence for Ridley Scott’s seminal science fiction film blade runner’ (Pg 2 Ian Roberts 2008) and has continued to be an inspiration to contemporary filmmakers such as Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan and The Wachowski brothers.

There is symbolism in Metropolis found in the image of a heart machine driving the underbelly of the city to work. It transforms visually into a Monster, which the workers are offered to as a sacrifice associating the machines with man-eating monsters. If this isn’t a portrayal of the threat of technology then I’m not sure what is. Stylistically Metropolis’s tower and heart machine is uncanny to the architecture in Tim Burtons Batman Returns. In Batman there’s also a scene with a set of statues pulling levers that is a direct reference to the M machine. It’s interesting to note the similarity between Mr penguin and Dr Caligari in Robert Weines The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.

Its not just the visual aspect of the dystopian future which connects to conventional films. The whole ideology of the threat of technology translates in The Wachowski Brothers The Matrix with the machines taking over the humans and the same idea in Ridley Scotts Blade Runner with the replicants causing havoc. Metropolis also had the aim of showing a Marxist theory of how bad society gets with a large class gap, the bottom world and the top world symbolise the upper class and the working class. They are literally worlds apart and this is a large part of the symbolism in Blade Runner. (Pg 2. Ian Roberts. 2008)

Lets get back to stylistic conventions found in German expressionism. As I have already highlighted there was the use of contrasts, shadows and emphasised low-key lighting but a huge part of expressionism was the mise en scene, which was the composition, cinematography and set design. Filmmakers juxtaposed the acting with the mise en scene ‘the expressionism associated with the human figure extends into every aspect of the mise en scene’ (Pg106. Bordwell. 2002)

Bordwell says that the sets should be ‘acting or blending in with the actors’ (Pg 108 Bordwell) to emphasise the atmosphere. Many of the sets in German Expressionist cinema such as in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari have a very distorted surreal nature to reflect the mystical and otherworldly narrative and the emotion felt by the characters. Many of the buildings and streets in the film are twisted and uneven highlighting the unease felt by the characters and also making the viewer feel uneasy themselves. Guillermo Del tauro’s Pan’s Labyrinth feature creepy settings to the main characters imaginary world, the little girl’s psych is explored with beautiful and also scary otherworldly scenes which the audience can connect with as a dreamlike yet daunting journey. Tim Burton’s film Big Fish also has this otherworldly narrative because within the film a man tells his son the story of his life that is full of exaggerations and made up fantasies.

Often dark dingy underworld scenes have a gloomy and harsh aesthetic of muggy dark corners and the emphasised low-key lighting helps this. Conventional films such as Seven owe a lot to this style, Sin City particularly with its use of just black and white. Film Noir adopted the highly emphasised low-key lighting to add mystery to dark characters and a seedy atmosphere to the urban landscape. Its not just the lighting that film Noir borrowed however it was also the heavy exploration of the psyche which expressionism captured. The moral dilemmas that the protagonist has to overcome often resulting in them playing dirty to achieve good. Contemporary Neo Noir films such as La Confidential explore these moral conflicts with the main protagonist Sgt Exley having to disregard his strict legal police work principles in order to achieve the greater good.

Original Film Noir is neither German expressionism or contemporary cinema yet its important to note its bold stylisation of set design within relation to lighting. Often stark light is shone through blinds to cast a shadow on a character to symbolise that they are trapped. Other set design conventions of German expressionism ‘included the use of stylised surfaces, symmetry distortion and exaggeration and the juxpostition of similar shapes’ (Pg 107. Bordwell. 2002). In Metropolis there is an industrial aesthetic to the M machine which works with the clockwork movement of the workers. These workers are so oppressed that they have been forced move like machinery devoid of human emotion. Filmmakers sought to portray ‘stark images of city life emphasising the dehumanised individual’ (Pg. 14, Ian Roberts. 2008). In German expressionism actors use emphasised gestures to portray emotion and ‘actors dancelike movement may combine with a stylised shape in the set’ (Pg. 107, Bordwell. 2002).

‘Directors could portray the horrors abroad in the world which threatened to oppress and overwhelm the weary individual; depictions of the individual ground down by the twin beasts of capitalism and explorations of the human psyche and its extreme states’ (Pg. 17. Ian Roberts. 2008)

Not only are the actor’s movements juxtaposed with the scenery but also with the directing. Strong attention was paid to the timing of movements of both the actors and the camera aiming for them to move in tandem. Soviet montage focused on the arrangement of scenes around each other concentrating on the timing and layout of editing. Montage is from the French to assemble and Soviet filmmakers concentrated on assembling scenes of films in different ways to achieve different cinematic effects.

‘Such editing reflects the directors belief that cuts, in and of themselves stimulate the spectator’ (Pg131. Bordwell. 2008)

Lev Kuleshov a student of Russia’s film school in Moscow (the VGIK) proved so innovative that he was allowed his own workshop. Here they studied editing and dissected other films researching the impact that different edits had. The Kuleshov effect is best shown by his experiments of putting the same shot of a man’s face in three separate films each followed by a different shots, a bowl of soup, a dead person and a seductive girl. Although the shot of the man is the same the spectators were amazed at the range of emotions that he portrayed, of course it was the context of the clip after which gave him the emotion. Another technique used by Soviet filmmakers was the use of ‘similtanous actions in different places’ (Pg133. Bordwell. 2008), which work together to symbolise the power or political consequence of the other action such as a massacre being like a slaughter:

‘In the final scenes of the film Strike the shooting down of work­ men is punctuated by shots of the slaughter of a bull in a stockyard. The scenarist, as it were, desires to say: just as a butcher fells a bull with the swing of a pole-axe, so, cruelly and in cold blood, were shot down the workers. This method is especially interesting because, by means of editing, it introduces an abstract;concept into the consciousness of the spectator without use of a title.’(Pg 125 – 126. Pudovkin. 1992)

Soviet filmmakers experimented with slowing down some scenes and quickening up the pace of others for cinematic effect. Quicker pace would denote frenzy whilst slowing down might show a contemplative mood, moment of clarity or a realisation of what has happened. Scorsese uses all these techniques in The Departed and The Aviator as well as freeze framing to emphasise important pauses as well as elements of time and nostalgia. Wes Anderson is a perfectionist when it comes to mise en scene; in Moonrise Kindgdom his tracking shots are perfectly choreographed. He synchronises the scene with objects coming in and out the shot at exactly the right time like Fritz Lang’s persistence for the action in Metropolis to be perfectly composed. The long shots capture a tension and play the character through a scene with the setting opening up to the viewer whilst it opens up to the character. His visuals are stylised with a storybook, surreal aesthetic, which transports the viewer into the otherworldly scene much like how Robert Weiner creates a surreal setting in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.  

Menilolment by Dimitri karsenov was one of the later French impressionism films which was made in 1926 it used circular fade outs, overlaying video and clips running parallel. Like Soviet Montage and German expressionism, French impressionism featured heavily the importance of mise en scene. In fact it was Georges Meiliers Trip to the Moon in 1903 which was the first to use surreal mise en scene to set a fantasy so many argue that it was Georges Melies who first used Mise en scene in film:

‘Georges Melies (1861 – 1938), whose films explored new frontiers within fantasy fiction, trick film, and elaborate mise-en-scene’ (Pg32, R.F. Lanzani, 2002)

Unlike German expressionism French impressionism didn’t have a narrative as such because impressionists said that cinema should not have theatrical narratives:

‘The idea stems from the impressionists belief that emotions, rather than stories should be the basis for films’(Pg91, Bordwell. 2002).

Movement was juxtaposed with shot lengths, which created a rhythm to the film. French impressionists tried to give an object a new expressiveness by using different perspectives. They coined this term photogenie and the function of achieving photogenie was by camerawork be it through using optical devices that enhanced the beauty of an image or through optical tricks such a filters that suggested subjectivity. An example of this is in L’Herbier’s El Dorado (1921) where the performer is lost in worry about her sick son. A filter blurs her figure out with the women around her in focus suggesting how’s she’s vacant, when the women speaks to her the filter disappears and she comes into focus. (Pg91, Bordwell. 2002).

In the Bourne series the main character Jason Bourne has flashbacks prompted by what he see’s in real time which engulf his vision and distract him. This juxtaposition of flashbacks with real time owes itself more to Soviet Montage than to French impressionism. Yet the aesthetics of the visual interpretation of the flashbacks are subdued by filters creating a dreamlike, fragmented memory and this relates directly to optical tricks used in French impressionism. Clips were also overlaid such as in Menilmontant, when the heroine is contemplating suicide a clip of a flowing river is overlaid to portray her emotional turmoil (Pg. 92, Bordwell. 2002).

At the same time in the 1920’s futurist artists such as Hans Richter were experimenting with abstract film. Richter would show different shapes moving in and out of each other and around the screen in different tempos to give the sensations of agitation, peace or time. Alfred Hitchcock adopts the movement of shapes and colour in a scene in Vertigo. In Scotty’s nightmare spirals, flashings of colour and shapes move in and out the frame psychedelically creating the impression of him going crazy about the death of Judy.

Although Hitchcock is not contemporary cinema its important to mention how he was a great advocate of Soviet Montage editing with the scene at the end of north by northwest of the train going into the tunnel symbolising the two lovers having sex. Stanley Kubrick also used this type of editing to emphasise the development of man from bone wielding ape to astronauts with the bone spinning into the air to cut to a spinning spaceship in 2001 a Space Odyssey. Kubrick like Wes Anderson and Fritz Lang was obsessed with timing of action in a scene and the composition of shapes in a space. In 2001 the movement of different shaped spacecraft’s in space composed aesthetically on the screen makes for a mesmerising and at times hypnotic experience.

Finally we can look at how composition in conjunction with camera angles and other objects in a scene puts across emotional feelings in the characters such as dominance or desperation by using the example of American Beauty (1999). In the scene where Lester is meeting with his boss Brad, Lester is presented in a certain way. He occupies a small part of the frame in the middle of an almost empty room totally exposed. The room is utilitarian, ugly, dark and grey with a dying plant in the corner symbolising how the company sucks the life out of its employees. The composition of the shot is ugly filling the viewer with the feeling of discomfort mirroring Lester’s annoyance. In comparison Brad occupies a large portion of the frame and the camera is looking up at him presenting him as dominant with hard, sharp and threatening objects on his desk giving powerful dominance of Lester.

In conclusion contemporary cinema without doubt takes influence from the European film movements of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Soviet Montage concentrated on the editing of scenes around other scenes to create various cinematic devices. By showing different scenes in parallel, one can act as an analogy of another and this has transferred into Hitchcock’s films. It is also used in some contemporary films such as Hot Fuzz as a comic device. The surrealist settings of German expressionism films are used to display emotion and filmmakers such as Tim Burton and Ridley Scott do this too. Guilermo Del Tormo on the other hand have used surrealist settings to denote a characters dreamlike world or hallucinations. German expressionism emphasised low key lighting and shadowy corners and this has had the most influence on Film Noir. Contemporary Neo Noir has expanded on this and films such as Sin City have combined the stark lighting with surreal aesthetics. Contemporary films owe almost everything to these innovative film movements of the 1920’s and 1930’s and filmmakers will continue to look back at these films for inspiration for many years to come.

Bibliography
Ian Roberts, German Expressionist Cinema: The World of Light and Shadow Wallflower Press, 2008
Ruth Henig, Versailles and After, 1919-1933, Taylor and Francis 2002
Barry Salt, Moving Into Pictures: More on Film History, Style, and Analysis. Starword 2006
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film History an introduction, McGraw-Hill Education, 2010
Batman Returns. 1992. Tim Burton
The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari. 1920. Robert Weine
Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang
Fievre. 1921. Louis Delluc
Genuine. 1920. Robert Weine
Von Morgens Bis Mitternacht. 1920. Kit Martin
Torgus. 1921. H.Kobe
Raskolnikov. 1924. Paul leni
Blade Runner. 1982. Ridley Scott
The Matrix. 1999. The Wachowski Brothers
Pans Labyrinth. 2006. Guilermo Del Tauro
Hot Fuzz. 2007. Edgar Wright
Big Fish. 2003. Tim Burton
Seven. 1995. David Fincher
Sin City. 2005. Frank Miller
LA Confidential. 1997. Curtis Hanson
The Departed. 2006. Martin Scorsese
The Aviator. 2004. Martin Scorsese
Moonrise Kindgom. 2012. Wes Anderson
Trip to the Moon. 1903. Georges Melies
L’Herbier. El Dorado. 1921
Bourne Ultimatum. Paul Greengrass. 2007
Menilmontant. Dimitri Kirsanoff. 1926
Vertigo. Alfred Hitchcock. 1958
2001. A Space Odyssey. 1968. Stanley Kubrick
American Beauty. 1999. Sam Mendes