The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari Essay

Artists in the early 1900s commonly utilized techniques of distortion and exaggeration, characteristics of expressionism, to establish the element of emotion. According to Wolf (2017), expressionist artists often incorporate “swirling, swaying, and exaggeratedly executed brushstrokes to convey the turgid emotional state of the artist reacting to the anxieties of the modern world” (p. 1). Amplification of the human figure often evokes strong emotions for audiences of many different cultures. Additionally, the style reflects the consequences of urbanization, such as the alienation of individuals in society (Wolf, 2017). Expressionism allows artists to surpass realism and reflect the tribulations of living in a modern society.

German Expressionism is a kind of art that is supposed to make you feel something. When you look at a painting such as “The Scream” by Edvard Munch (1863-1944), you ask yourself what kind of emotions does this painting give you. A group of early 20th century German artists used the term “expressionism” to desribe the way they produced art. The title later turned into “German Expressionism”. This art movement was prominent during 1905-1925. In German it is known as “Die Brucke” and “Der Blaue Reiter”. Unlike Impressionism, its goals were not to reproduce the impression by the surrounding world, but to express the artists feelings on the surrounding world. Expressionism comes from the route word “expression” which

She discusses how Weimar Cinema came to be and how it did so well financially, moves onto the introduction of Expressionism into film from its origin in theater and painting, and finally describes the characteristics of Expressionism in Cinema as opposed to other artforms. From there, she discusses how the various members of the Prana cinema team came together and how their expertise contributed to the movie, how they prepared the masses for Nosferatu, and how they presented the movie. However, she provides the counterpoint of how Florence Stoker’s lawsuit against the Prana film company damaged the movie’s reputation and popularity. From there she describes how the plot of Nosferatu follows the pattern established by Noel Carroll in Philosophy of Horror of an onset phase, a discovery phase, a confirmation phase, and a confrontation phase. As the chapter progresses, Massaccesi’s description of the plot includes lengthy and in-depth analyses of each character in terms of their interactions with each other and with the setting(s). From there she considers the significance of various aspects of the film in relation to the film’s events and characters, such as camera angles and symbolic imagery, She also discusses the significance of other aspects of the film in relation to the sociopolitical situation in Germany and Europe as a whole, applying themes such as the defeat of a tyrannical villain figure or the supernatural wonder associated with Romantic artwork.

Surrealism is a movement that built off of the burgeoning look into art, psychology, and the workings of the mind. Popularly associated with the works of Salvador Dali, Surrealist art takes imagery and ideology and creates correlation where there is none, creating new forms of art. In this essay I will look to explore the inception of the surrealist movement, including the Surrealist Manifesto, to stress the importance of these artists and their work in the 20th century and beyond. I also will look to films from our European Cinema course to express how films incorporate the influence of surrealism both intentionally and unintentionally.

Like many of Dix’s generation in Germany during the 1920s, he drew from the German expressionist movement in his use of distortion, directness, media and subject matter in plate 1. German expressionism involved directness, frankness and a desire to startle the viewer. Their works embraced printmaking and focused on the emotions expressed rather than reality. Dix heightens the emotions effects through his meticulous rendered, horrific images. The brilliant white bones stand out against the darker background. He experimentation with printmaking and used multiple acid baths to eat away at the image, to mimic decaying flesh. This horrifying focal point does startle the viewer through its direct disposition. Expressionists often felt the need to confront the devastating experiences of WWI, as plate 1 documents through it’s shocking yet realistic representation of the war and its effect. The common expressionist technique of distortion is utilised to exaggerate the skull and expose it as disgusting and confronting. Otto Dix’s attempt to confront the viewer through the depiction of emotions rather than reality. Dix’s incorporation of German Expressionist characteristics and techniques, the art movement of the time, in Plate 1, is a documentation of cultural art practises in the

Defined by www.news.artnet.com/, German Expressionism is defined as “an artistic genre that originated in Europe in the 1920s, and is broadly defined as the rejection of Western conventions, and the depiction of reality that is widely distorted for emotional effect.” In Nosferatu, the film contains a plethora of distorted realities in an attempt to evoke the “emotional effect” from the audience. This is shown by the director of the film, F.W. Murnau’s usage of lighting and makeup & costume design.

Poetic Realism was a film movement in France during the 1930’s that combined qualities of both Impressionism and Surrealism to create a unique way to tell stories through narratives, long, continuous shots, and sets that took a slice of reality and made it their own. The various techniques used to create shots “more real than life itself” were groundbreaking for this time period. In the past, sets of films were unrealistic and exaggerated; they were telling stories outside of reality, so their sets were not attempting to immerse their viewer in the film’s location. The 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari used very simplistic sets to tell its story, but the filmmakers did not expect or want the audience to take them as reality. They were entirely aware that the walls

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a German Expressionist film that was released in 1920. The film was directed by Robert Wiene. Expressionism is defined as a visible world that is reshaped and even, distorted by internal forces such as soul, spirit, subjectivity, and emotion. A major component of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is it contains various examples of mise-en-scène, which is associated with visual aspects such as props in the background or clothing and the makeup the actor is wearing. Moreover, “boxes within boxes” is seen numerous times throughout The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. One example where “boxes within boxes” is seen in the film is in Dr. Caligari’s tiny shack, where he has Cesare

The cinematography of the film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was very effective to the audience at the time. During the 1920’s, it wasn’t common to have a horror movie like this with a dark and twisted visual style. Because of the cinematography of this German film, it actually had a major influence on the American films in horror and film noir genres. To get the cinematography right, they had to exaggerate the lighting to give off the feel of it being a horror film.

Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the

German expressionist theatre began in the late 19th century and continued into the early 20th century. At this time, the expressionist movement as a whole made its way into other countries as well. The general idea of the movement was to take issues and present them in a greatly exaggerated fashion. This created the almost “other-worldly” sense that was very popular amongst expressionist works and dramatists. For example, “In realism, [one] might say, actors sit about on chairs and talk about the weather, but in expressionism, they stand on them and shout about the world” (Styan 1).

“Sunset Blvd” is not subtle in stating illusion will win out over reality. After all, Norma Desmond, the aged silent movie star who deludes herself into believing that she will be famous again, kills Joe Gillis, our involved narrator and voice of reason. But before we analyze the dramatic pool scene, which dispels any idea that “Sunset Blvd” sides with reality, we must first look at the characters, the embodiments of dreams and of reality in this movie. Norma Desmond, who dreams of rising to greatness again, refuses to believe that time has passed and that she no longer has any fans. Max, her butler and first husband, feeds into this facade by writing her fan mail, encouraging her

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the first film by Germany to be an Expressionist film. Authorities of an avant-garde movement believed that by using Expressionism in films (as they did in paintings, theater, literature, and architecture) this might be a selling point in the international market. The film proved that to be true and because of its success other films in the Expressionist style soon followed.

Like German Expressionist cinema, Lang is able to create something that may appear to be innocent at the surface and

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is praised worldwide for its anti-authoritarian message and expressionistic style with its framed narrative. The film is cited as one of the first horror films and influenced the development of film noir. Caligari remains to this day an important part of the history of German