Juan Monroy — History of Cinema I: Class 12, Germany after Expressionism

New Objectivity
- German art movement
  - established after World War I
  - reaction to Expressionism
- realistic style
  - socially critical
  - anti-war
  - attacked evils of society
  - criticized persons in power
- Verism
  - Otto Dix
  - George Grosz
- features, according to the [Art History Archive](www.arthistoryarchive.com—arthistory_neuesachlichkeit.htm l <http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/neuesachlichkeit/arth istory_neuesachlichkeit.html>)
  - fidelity to the outlines of the objects
  - unsentimental, largely emotionless way of seeing
  - Concentration on everyday things, betraying no aversion for what is “ugly.”
  - Isolation of the object from any contextual relationship
  - general preference for the static over the dynamic
  - Eradication of the traces of the process of painting
Kammerspiel
- based on Kammerspiele Theater
  - chamber drama
  - opened by Max Reinhardt
  - opened in 1906
  - stage intimate dramas for small audiences
- opposed to expressionism
  - concentrating on a few characters
  - exploring a crisis in their lives in detail
  - slow, evocative acting
  - sets tended to be dreary
  - avoidance of fantasy
- films
  - very few films made
  - movement ended in 1924
  - most written by Carl Mayer, cowriter of Caligari
- shot entirely in studio
  - insured control over
    - lighting
    - decor
    - architectural shapes
    - B&W contrasts
  - unlike outdoors and vastness by Swedes and Americans
- emphasized importance of designer (art directors)
  - designers came from painting, theater or architecture
  - in conversation with contemporary major art movements
  - combination of artists working together, unlike competitive nature of Hollywood
  - UFA emphasized repertory company system over star system
G. W. Pabst
- Georg Wilhelm Pabst
- Austrian born filmmaker
- prominence of women in his films
- filmography
  - Joyless Street (1925) with Greta Garbo and Asta Nielsen
  - The Loves of Jeanne Ney (1927) with Brigitte Helm
  - Pandora’s Box (1929) with Louise Brooks (“Lulu”)
F. W. Murnau
- Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
- most celebrated filmmaker of Weimar era
- established studio with Conrad Veidt
- Nosferatu (1922)
  - most famous film
  - written with Carl Mayer
  - filmed by Karl Freund
  - released in 1922
  - sued by Bram Stoker’s estate and all prints were destroyed
- Last Laugh (1924)
  - written by Karl Meyer
  - example of Kammerspiel
    - film revolves around doorman played by Emil Jannings
    - film told without intertitles
    - international success, brought Murnau to Hollywood
  - subjective camera
    - entfesselte kamera
    - unfastened camea
    - camera will spin with him as he gets drunk
  - subjective narrative
    - emphasizes psychology rather than action
    - complex morality
      - we sympathize for doorman but is depicted as vain, class-conscious, and deluded
      - lower class are callous and petty
      - define people by their uniforms
      - honored doorman until he fell
    - strange ending
      - uses an American character to motivate the happy ending
      - seems like parody of Hollywood happy ending
      - almost Brecthian that the American character introduces the American ending
Growth of UFA
- German films enjoyed international success
  - Kammerspielfilms helpied to bring down prejudices
- Controlled by bankers
- Rivaled Hollywood
  - enormous backlots
  - technical sophistication
  - artificial lighting
  - backlighting
  - miniatures for false perspective
  - unfastened camera
- Changed dramatic by the end of the 1920s
  - filmmakers lured to Hollywood
  - imitations of US product
  - inflation made big budget films less common, more difficult to produce
  - UFA nearly went bankrupt in 1925 with producing Metropolis (1926)
    - most expensive silent film
    - about $200 million in today’s money
Metropolis
- directed by Fritz Lang
  - painter and screenwriter
  - directed expressionist films prior to Metropolis
- called for expensive sets at 2 different studios
- story
  - set in 2027
  - future divided by the ruling class
  - dominating at towering urban world inspired by Lang’s trip to New York
  - planners and thinkers live above ground in luxury
  - workers go underground to hellish factory
End of Expressionist cinema
- excessive budgets
  - head of UFA was forced to resign
- departure of filmmakers to Hollywood
  - few filmmakers remained interest in the style
- new genres
  - New Objectivity in the arts, revived realism
  - Bertolt Brecht
  - Street Films, focus on city environments such as Joyless Street (G.W. Pabst)
- influence
  - atmospheric settings for horror
  - dark style of film noir