German Expressionist Films

by Paul Cooke

Introducing readers to one of the must influential film movements of the 20th century, responsible for such widely-known classics as Nosferatu, Metropolis and The Blue Angel, this Pocket Essential travels all the way from Germany in the swinging Twenties to explain the context and main themes of German Expressionism, to America in the '40s and '50s, where exiles such as Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang were transforming Hollywood. Packed full of facts and analysis of many classic films, this is the best starting point for anyone interested in this period of film history.

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jeff Miller]

Good little introductory book, from a great series.

So much to cover in this genre, but a good job is done overall, although could have done with a bit more criticism - not everything is 5/5!

However, if you are looking for an 'in', this is a good place to start.

[Stevedutch]

It would be hard to find an area of modern film-making that hasn’t been influenced by an earlier era in some way, if only by opposition. Certainly, even the faintest references to early Twentieth Century German expressionism can be found in almost all contemporary film making if one looks deeply enough. The most obvious legacy, of course, is to be found in the Hollywood noir films of the 40s and 50s made by early pioneer German émigrés such as Fritz Lang. But looking back even further, for example, at the 30s horror movies made by James Whale, such as Frankenstein etc. one can easily see the unmistakable imprint of German Expressionism in their mise en scene, which can be traced back to the work of German production designers such as Hans Poelzig in Der Golem and Paul Leni in Waxworks.

This slim volume covers all of the essential biographical details of those early pioneers focusing primarily on what might be considered ‘the big three’, Lang, Murnau and Pabst, after a short outline of the Expressionist movement and its birth as a reaction to nineteenth century naturalism. It’s written by an academic film historian but in a refreshingly non-academic style.