Germany in the 1920s Summary
During the 1920s, Germany caused a lot of turmoil. Starting off Germany dealt with their defeat
of World War I in which caused political and economical hardship around the country. From
1918 to 1933 when the Nazi rose to power, Cinema continues to play a large role within the
country coming only second to Hollywood in world influences and technical sophistication.
However, Foreign films were banned in 1916 due to isolation created by the government after
the German industry’s expansion during World War I . During this time, the formation of the
Universum Film Aktiengesellschaft tended towards mergers and large companies . New aspects
and features of cinema were introduced during this time in his history. In addition, many
different styles and innovations of cinema were introduced such as strange, distorted buildings
painted on backdrops as well as flat in theatrical manner in which was introduced through the
successful film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This time also introduced The German
Expressionism which rejected realism. German Expressionism was part of the very dark part in
history for Germany’s hardship. The content of The German Expression cinema reflected what
the country was going through with the turmoil of World War I as well as the Nazis. It was
known to be very dark , haunting and gloomy. The films and performances consisted of
unshaded color and actors would shoot, scream, move in choreographed patterns and gesture
broadly. This allowed the performances and films to express the emotion and feelings of the
narrative and stylization in literature. These frame stories quickly began to be adopted by
screenwriters for German Expressionist films. German Expressionism was a very important part
of Germany's impact on cinematography. As cinema evolves The German Expressionism dark
and haunting aspects continue to play a significant role in the development of the history of
cinematography.
Interesting Topics:
As I was reading a few interesting things that stood out to me was when The Cabinet or Dr.
Caligari film was first used from a story of a madman to notice the unfamiliar Expressionist
distortion for the movie audiences. In addition, another topic that I found interesting was the
entfesselte camera was part of Germany’ technological innovation that were internationally
influential.
Questions:
How would German Expression Cinema be different if there were no such thing as Nazi or if
World War I never happened?
What innovation made the biggest impact on German Expression?