Film Lesson Plans

German Expressionism

This lesson introduces the formalist tradition in film history through a study of the German Expressionist cinema of the 1920s. “Of all national cinemas”, writes film historian Mike Budd, “the 1920s German films had the greatest influence on Hollywood.” The enduring legacy of these German silent film classics can be seen today in expressionist cinematography and mise-en-scene and in genres such as the horror film and film noir. In this lesson, we will explore their stylistic influence on several animators. In the next lesson, we will trace the influence of German Expressionism on the films of Tim Burton. The following areas will be covered in this lesson:

  • Formalism and Realism in the Cinema
  • German Expressionism
  • The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari
  • Expessionist Mise-en-scene in Caligari
  • Animation and Expressionism

The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari is the most famous German Expressionist classic. Made in Germany in 1919, Caligari is considered to be cinema’s first art film. In our close study of the Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, we will draw heavily upon the voice-over commentary provided by film historian Mike Budd in the Eureka DVD release of film. The extracts we have selected for viewing are best played with the accompanying commentary.

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is a journey into a strange and distorted world of horror and madness. The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari is therefore also an early example of a horror film. It can be used to study the use of genre within an alternative cinema culture from Hollywood.

This lesson also provides a useful stepping stone to the study of mise-en-scene in the films of Tim Burton in the next lesson.

Formalism and Realism in the Cinema

Introduction

The first school of thought to defend film as an art form were the formalists. Formalists argue that film’s specific property is its inability to perfectly imitate normal visual experience of reality. Formalists believe that these limitations define the expressive potential of film and offer the filmmaker the opportunity to manipulate and distort our everyday experience of reality for artistic ends.

 

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The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Introduction

In the chapter ‘The Moments of Caligari’ from the full study of The Cabinet of Caligari: Texts, Contexts, Histories, Mike Budd argues that although the film is often thought of as a modernist or avant-garde work of art, in many ways it is very conventional. He contends that we need to understand the unconventional aspects of the Cabinet of Caligari as transgressions of the norm of an otherwise commercial narrative film.

  

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Expessionist Mise-en-scene in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Introduction

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari uses stylised sets, with strange, distorted buildings painted on canvas backdrops in a theatrical manner. Caligari showed how studio-built sets could approximate the stylization of Expressionist painting. Performance works hand-in-hand with the other elements of mise-en-scene. Conrad Veidt’s dancelike portrayal of the sleepwalker Cesare makes him blend in with the graphic elements of the setting. According to David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, “the graphic design of the scene where Cesare’s body echoes the tilted tree trunks, typifies the systematic distortion characteristic of German Expressionism.”

  

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