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The film industry of the Weimar Republic, before the NAZIs seized power (1933), was one of Europe's most vibrant film industries in the world. Gradually the many small studios opened during World War I were consolidated intoi larger studios, especially UFA. The German film industry. The German indutry managed to compete with Hollywood in Europe. The film industry wonderfully chronicled the turmoil and uncertainty of post-World War I Germany. The defeat of Germany had shattered all the certainties and stability of German life. France and England experienced similar trends, but given the enormity of defeat, abdication of the Kaiser, and the resulting Vesailles Peace Treaty--the impact German on German society was even more severe. The era stimuklated creativity as it did political disorder. Most of the output of the German film industry during the Weimar era were silent films. I'm not sure when "talkies" were first made, but it would have been about 1930. This is significant because before sound, German and other European films could be easily viewed in different countries. It was a simple matter to translate the text pannels.
The Weimar Republic was officially proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann On November 9, 1918, a few days after Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated. Scheidemann was a tailor turned Social Democrat . The Weimar Republic was born after Germany's disastrous defeat in World War I. In the subsequent political upheaval, the Weimar Republic existed as an "amazingly violent, unbridled, often exuberant, often full of strange and clumsy poetry, regularly very hungry and very sad, with touches of high lunacy and crankishness" period of democracy in German history. [de Jonge pg. 7] The Weimar Republic proved a political failure which culminated in the NAZI Party's seizure of power. [de Jonge pg. 242]
The history of the Weimar Republic was marked by political conflicts which often broke out into open street warfare and severe inflation. After the collapse of Imperial Germany in 1918, a struggle for power ensued between differing prospective governments. [de Jonge, pg. 30.] For the first months of 1919, the German capital, Berlin, was in a constant state of disorder. Caotic street fighting between left and right wing factions of the German Army swirled from street to street. [de Jonge, pg. 38.] The fighting culminated in the Kapp Putsch (1920}, an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government by a private army known as the Freikorps. [de Jonge, pg. 65.]
The political disorder was exacerbated by the tenuous economic situation in Germany and the disatrous devaluation of the once proud German mark. [de Jonge, pg. 239.] The plunge of the German mark had a profound impact on middleclass Germans which is still felt today. Germans were agast at the plunge of the mark in the early 1920s. By mid-1921, 550 German marks were equal to one dollar. Most Germans felt the situation could not get worse. by November 23rd, however, 1 dollar was the equivalent of 4,200 billion marks. [de Jonge, pg. 240.] The mark eventually fell to the pouint that millions were needed to buy a dollar.
These extreme characteristics of the Weimar Republic were the result of a lack of political unity and direction on the part of the
German people. Germany's defeat in World War I occurred despite the assurances of the German military. This staggered most Germans as the IMperial German Army was one of the most respected institutiions in Germany. (Compare this with America, France, and England.) It was the Germany (Prussian) Army that united Germany in a series of wars with Denmark, Austria, and France in the 1860s and erly 1870s. Thus most Germans grew up thinking that the very existence of the country was due to the Army. Most Europeans regarded the German Army as the most powerful in the world. Thus Germany's military collapse came as a great shock to the Germans--especially because a series of military successes were reported in 1917 and early 1918. The Germans succeded in 1919 in knocking Russia out of the War and fiorcing a very severe peace treaty on the Bolesvick Government.
The political and economic collapse resulted in the "destruction of the inherited framework of beliefs and certainties which had given Germany its particular reassurance." [de Jonge, pg. 13)] This lead to a sense of aimlessness on the part of the German people. The
Allied occupation of the Ruhr and the harsh policies, such as censorship of films and books, enforced left a profound air of inferiority in the German psyche. [de Jonge, pg. 82.] Because of a lack of political unity from the outset of the Weimar Republic, the German masses found themselves without a strong, focused government- the former figurehead, the Kaiser Wilhelm II, had abdicated
his throne in the aftermath of the armistice signed by Germany with the Allies. [de Jonge, pg. 13.] "For teachers, civil servants
and above all for the nation’s elite, the officer caste this abdication had shaken the foundations of the German self image. [de Jonge, pg.14.] Adding to this discord was the sense of betrayal felt by the German people towards the politicians and revolutionaries who had surrendered Germany to the Allied forces at the end of World War I, and who had signed the harsh Treaty of Versailles. The German generals responsible for the defeat, did their best to transfer the blame to the Social Democrats of the Weimar Republic who in fact had nothing to do with the war. The Army and ferverant nationalists who still venerated the Army vilified the Weimar Republic. Hitler and the NAZUs were just one of many German politicans who pursued this theme. For the German people it was a struggle to accept the collapse of the imperial dream in the post World War I. [Eisner, pg. 9.] The Army was such a respected institution among many Germans that the NAZIs and the Army were able to transfer blame to groups that were not responsible for the debacle--the Jews and Social Democrats.
HBC believes that period's of crisis are often eras in which major changes occur in fashion. Wotld War I was one such cateclismic event that had a profound impact on Europe. Fashion chanfes in the 1920s were one of the many profound changes. This did not occur just in Germany, but throughout Europe and Amerca.
Despite the political failure, the Weimar Republic, in retrospect, saw a renewed interest in German culture and art. [Kracauer pg. 38] Advances in established arts such as theater, literature and visual arts, were followed by developments in the relatively new art form of cinema. [Ott, pg. 28.] The outpouring of creative work such as modern art proved unsettling to many. This work was quickly supressed once the NAZIs seized power. While it lasted, however, the articistic and cultural outpouring of German artists and writers was a bright light in the history of German culture. The disappearance of the old Germanic order heralded a new type of social disposition. It was in the destruction of the pre-
World War I mindset that a new, more decadent urban proclivity emerged in the German people [de Jonge, pg. 101.] World War I removed Germany’s self-image as a leading nation on the worls scene. Some parallels with modern Russia are ddeply disturbing. The rampant inflation of the eraly 1920s further eroded Germany's self estmere by destroying the country's financial structure, thus leaving Germany with very little in the way of a social backbone. [de Jonge, pg. 100.] The impossibility of maintaining a lifestyle adhering to the former German values in light of the many obstacles, for example the rampant inflation that destroyed savings and indirectly the belief in hard work and the lack of national identity, lead to a re-evaluation of the morals and values of their predecessors among the people of Germany of the time. [de Jong, pg. 101.] The impact of the destruction of the old order and certainties of German life was that "the German people had a unique opportunity to overcome hereditary habits and reorganize itself completely." [Kracauer, pg. 43.] An example of this openness in Germany was the increase in prostitution and drug use, mostly centered in large urban centers. [de Jong, pg. 102] This opportunity while creating an outpouring of creativity was to be utimately lost when the NAZIs seized power and quickly supressed the cultural creativity which had flourished under the Weimar Republic.
It was with this sense of lost purpose and self-exploration so pronounced during the Weimar era that Germany’s film industry would come to its own. The film industry of the Weimar Republic, before the NAZIs seized power (1933), was one of Europe's most vibrant film industries. Gradually the many small studios opened during World War I were consolidated intoi larger studios, especially UFA.
Like much of the world, the German film industry did not come into any sort of measurable existence until cinema’s acceptance by major stage producers as a suitable outlet for artistic expression in its own right. [Kracauer, pg. 16.] In Germany this maturity began around 1910, when Paul Davidson, a vocal proponent of early film, made contact with Max Reinhardt a highly regarded Berlin stage producer famous for his avant-garde sets, and formed the first guild for facilitating communication between screen and stage. [Kracauer, pg. 17.] This more open rapport allowed the free exchange of actors and other talent between the two mediums. [Kracauer, pg. 17] Unfortunately, a steady influx of foreign competition and the existing conception of film as merely an offshoot of stage severely hampered the development of German film as an independent art form. [Kracauer, pg. 17.] The First World War, and the subsequent exclusion of foreign films in Germany began the initial steps of the growth of the German
film industry. [Kracauer pg. 22.]
It wasn’t until the breakdown of Imperial Germany and the political and social instability that followed that the national mindset was ready for exploration and experimentation in film that lead to expressionism. [Eisner, pg. 19.] The film industry of the Weimar Republic, before the NAZIs seized power (1933), was one of Europe's most vibrant film industries. Gradually the many small studios opened during World War I were consolidated intoi larger studios, especially UFA.
The NAZI seizure of power in 1933 resulted in findamental changes accross the spectrum of German life. No where was the change more visible in Germany than in the new films made under the NAZIs. The questioning expressionism of Weimar were replaced with the new certainties of NAZI film makers. The NAZI films used many of the technical features of Weimar filmakers, in fact many of the same individuals were were not Jewish or did not have strong political objections, continued to work in the industry. The focus and content of the films, however, were radically changed.
The German film industry rapidly consolidated after the War. May small studios had been founded. Most were too small to compete effectively with the more establisdhed studios. And the difficult economic conditions following the War created more problems. At the end of the War there were more than 00 mostly sdmall tudios. Gradually two major German studios came to dominte the industry. . Ufa was the largest and better known. Tobis seemed to have been more independent than Ufa.
German expressionism developed along the lines of stimmung, an intense atmospheric mood that creates a sense of
claustrophobia (an intense closed style created in part by the unified method of in studio productions.) It revolted
against Naturalism emphasizing the inner vision and personal emotional feelings of the filmmakers. This type of expressionism helped to give status to German films following World War I. Many critics define expressionism not by what it is, but by what it is not. It is not naturalism, the efforts to depict reality, the idea that there were artistic forms through which the "real" could be represented.
While expressionism cannot be defined by any enumerated parameters, expressionistic films are marked by certain
characteristics that occur with some regularity. The most apparent to the audience is the predilection for the distortion or
shaping of visual images, with shadow, lines or lens. [Eisner, pg. 130.] In films produced in the expressionistic style, the set
designer and technical staff play integral parts. [Eisner, pg. 19.] Creative use of special effects, wipes, fades and other camera
techniques were explored in search of capturing a certain state of mind. [Eisner, pg. 10.] Sets were often styled to create moods
at the expense of realism, the expression of a certain state of mind taking precedence over the careful portrayal of
reality. [Eisner, pg. 21.] In such distortions the artist is able to represent the "the complexity of the psyche" and
create images in the viewers mind. [Eisner, pp. 23-24.] In seeking to capture the form or eternal meaning of facts and objects, "expressionism set itself against naturalism with its mania for recording mere facts and its paltry aim of photographing nature or daily life." [Eisner, pg. 10.]
In the transience of Weimar society, deriving truth in form from the
ephemeral physical reality took on a greater importance.
Also manifest in the expressionist films of the Weimar era was the theme of control in both plot and production. Figuring
prominently in the ideas of these films was the domination of the weak by the strong, the individual in conflict with the larger
power such as fate, and struggle between chaos and authority. [Manvell, pg. 13.] How ironic that films would these themes were to be soon replaced with the films of the NAZI state--the protypical totalitarian state. In reference to the Nietzchean superman, the
protagonist in expressionist often struggled against higher powers and intellects. In contrast to the thematic elements of denial of
substance, expressionism’s carefully constructed, the sets, arranged lighting, distortion of images, showed that the director, in
his shaping of realism, was representative of man, who was able to freely shape his society and nature, gaining quick
acceptance among the German public [Kracauer, pg. 68.]
Reflective of the larger German attitude, the expressionist directors
preferred the indoor studio, with it’s artificial environment to the outer world, with it’s random occurrences [Kracauer, pg. 74.]
he Weimar film industry was epoch-making in a variety of ways. The expresonistic motif was embraced by middle class Germany, with its "inherent need for order and decorum)," when political
freedom was thrust upon it in a relatively short period of time [Kracauer, pg. 59.] "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Metropolis" are often seen as the seminal films of German expressionism, and in each there are the different aspects of the movement. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" represented the irrational, primitive side of the human psyche, while the optimism for the future was seen in Metropolis [Ott, pg. 28.] Between the these two poles of expressionism comes "The Last Laugh" which creates an implacable fate which is turned away at the whim of the creator of the piece. In these three films can be seen the various aspects of the German mindset at the time of the Weimar Republic and how they reflected the development of expressionism in relation to German society. The sense of loss of control that pervaded the German people found a perfect outlet in the creation of truths through imagery in expressionist film. Notable is the starl exopressionism of the eimar era compred to the senimentality of the Heimat films that began to appear in the NAZI er.
One of the most famous German silent films was "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City" released in 1927. It contains wonderful images from an entire day in Berlin in 1927 and includes several interesting details of boys' clothes. The first scene shows two boys entering their school for classes in the morning carrying bookbags. One boy wears a flat cap, a belted jacket, knee pants, and long black stockings. The second photograph is a Berlin street scene showing a boy of about 14 wearing a cardigan sweater buttoned all the
way up to his neck. He also wear knee pants and long black stockings.
The German Government during World War I created a state run film company called Ufa in 1917. In 1919, Ufa produced its most startling and controversial film entitled, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, directed by Robert Wiene. Caligari is a film that turned limitations into virtues. It is a macabre fantasy with its classic illustration
of expressionism revealing a grand departure from screen naturalism. The storyline emerges from through the
imagination of an inmate in an insane asylum who recounts for another inmate a strange tale of a somnambulist who
commits a series of murders while under the spell of a mad doctor.
By asserting that the individual had control over his circumstances, expressionism reassured the German people that they were not subject to whims of fate. The first instance of expressionist film to come out of the Weimar Republic was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Released in
1919, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was the first seminal expressionist film of the Weimar Republic. [Ott, pg. 78.] In The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , a somnambulist murders innocents while under the control of a hypnotist, Dr. Caligari . An
investigation ensues, and the protagonist discovers Dr. Caligari to be the director of an insane asylum. Forced to observe the
corpse of his pawn, the somnambulist, the insane Dr. Caligari is lead away in a straitjacket. In its original form, written by Hans
Janowitz and Carl Mayer, the film would have ended at this point, however, the director, Robert Weine, added anterior and posterior scenes which changed the crux of the story entirely. [Kracauer, pg. 66.] The complete film begins
with a protagonist of the film taking the role of the narrator and ends with the revelation that it is in fact the narrator/protagonist
who is insane and resides in the asylum run by the altruistic Dr. Caligari, who is working to cure the protagonist of his affliction.
Originally intended in the initial version of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was the study of control and the individual, manifested
in the relationship between the semi-conscious somnambulist and his master, Dr. Caligari. [Kracauer, pg. 67.]
In an allegory against absolute authority, Dr. Caligari was meant by the original authors to represent the German government while the
somnambulist was a symbol the common man, forced into the military service as a mindless automaton. [Kracauer, pg. 67.]
However, in the final version of the film, the battle between authority and chaos is seen, in which Caligari’s authority is finally
triumphant over anarchy which is represented by various aspects of insanity within the film. [Kracauer, pg. 74.] This revised
version of the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari begins and ends with control comfortably in the hands of the learned, elder Dr. Caligari. [Kracauer, pg. 67.] By preserving the original story as the tale of a madman, "Weine’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari glorified
authority and convicted its antagonist of madness." [Kracauer, pg. 67.] The dichotomy between these two differing themes is
noticeable, and representative of the conflict between the German individual and the society in which he resided. While one side
believed in the liberation of man, the other called for a return to absolute authority.
Throughout The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the willful distortion of objects abound to create a mood of anxiety. The sets in
Caligari follow no precepts of form put forth by reality, there are almost no perpendicular or parallel lines that adhere to the
audiences conceptions of order. The country town in which the film is set primarily consists of "dark twisting back alleys boxed
in by crumbling houses whose inclined facades keep out all daylight." [Eisner, pg. 21.] Inanimate objects such as chairs and
lamps take on human qualities, creating a sense of unceasing scrutiny in the audience [Eisner, pg. 24.] Equally important in the
film is the usage of light and shadow. In keeping with the dark tone of the film, shadows were painted directly onto the
backdrops and sets. [Ott, pg. 49.] The first glimpse the audience has of the somnambulist is in a shadowy sideshow tent where
the solitary light is placed on the pawn of Dr. Caligari. By isolating solitary human figures in areas of light, and surrounding
them with illogical representations of reality, the film attempted to show the futility of the single man attempting to solve the
eternal problem of tyranny versus chaos [Kracauer, pg. 74.]
The plight of the solitary man is also examined in The Last Laugh, in which , an elderly man who derives a small, but gratifying
measure of dignity in his existence from his position and uniform as a doorman, is stripped of his rank because of his age and
inability to perform his tasks. The film, directed by Friedrich Wihelm Murnau and released in 1924 studied the psychological
effect of the doorman's humiliating demotion to lavatory attendant and his subsequent ostracism from his family [Ott, pg. 63.] In
an openly contrived and ironic twist of fate, the man is made rich through an inheritance given to him through the will of an
eccentric millionaire, in arbitrary circumstances. Before this final, optimistic sequence unfolds, the only captions to appear in the
entire film inform the audience that the author has given the doorman ironical twist of the plot, out of pity for the broken man.
[Kracauer, pg. 101.]
In his uniform the doorman is a symbol of power in the poverty-ridden tenement house in which he lives. The air of authority
created by his uniform instills a sort of awe in his neighbors, which the doorman revels in. [Kracauer, pg. 101.] His authority is
solely based on the resplendence of his uniform, which symbolizes the grandeur of the cosmopolitan life to the tenement
dwellers and when he is demoted, the former doorman is no longer representative of the upper world. [Kracauer, pg. 100.]
Thus the influence that former doorman exerted upon his fellow residents was based on the empty respect of his perceived
higher social position. Once his position is compromised the former doorman is met with derision from those who had once
greeted him with reverence . Representing the destruction of the Imperial dream, Murnau captured the humiliation of the
German people in the ignoble fate of the elderly doorman stripped of his dignity.
To capture the trauma of the protagonist’s fall, Murnau makes creative use of lens distortion and light. After his demotion, the
former doorman is unable to accept his fate and, under cover of night steals the uniform that once was his. As he makes his way
through the dark halls of the hotel, he adheres to the shadows, hiding in the dark to escape the night watchman. The lamp of the
night watchman takes on a harsh, threatening air as it moves ever closer to where the doorman is hidden. [Eisner, pg. 214.] It is
the truth that the light represents the shadows in which the doorman hides within only serve to delude him further.
When the doorman returns to his tenement after word spreads of his demotion, the audience sees the ridicule of his neighbors
through his eyes allowing for some groundbreaking camerawork. [Eisner, pg. 213.] The camera sways as he makes his way
past a sea of faces gaping with mocking laughter. As the doorman continues his long walk to his tenement, the camera blurs and
the faces are distorted into a barely human sea of "gargantuan laughter- enormous gaping mouths, immense black cavities
twisted in infernal mirth." [Eisner, pg. 218.] The doorman’s confusion at the capriciousness of his fate and situation manifests
itself in the tentativeness of his gaze, as he moves from one face to the next in a desperate search for any offerings of sympathy.
His decreased position at the hotel is seen by his neighbors as a rejection of them by the outer world [Kracauer, pg. 100. ]
The final two Expressionist films were made at Ufa studios. They were F. W. Murnau’s Faust, 1926 and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, 1927.
Also noteworthy in Metropolis, is the use of light. Light is alternate used to represent salvation and implacable doom. In a chase
scene between a deranged scientist the aforementioned daughter of a worker, that occurs through catacombs deep beneath
Metropolis, the darkness offers refuge for the fleeing party as an obscuring agent in which one can hide. As in The Last Laugh,
the single circle of light from the pursuer’s lamp takes on an ominous tone as it inexorably finds it’s target. Soon it is not her
searchers that she is that running from but the light. However once the chase is over and the captured party is placed within a
cell, a skylight, with the light that shines through, offers the only hope of salvation for the prisoner. Here, instead of fleeing from
the light, she clambers up towards the brightness in hopes of escape. In a matter of minutes, what once represented doom, is
changed to be the way of escape.
"Nosferatu" was the first vampire movie, "The Blue Angel" (with Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings) and "M" with Peter Lorre are classics.
The down fall of the Expressionism movement was expense of final films, the departure of Expressionist directors to Hollywood and a changing cultural climate. There would arise a trend known for its departure from the contorted emotionalism of Expressionistic film to a more realistic and cool-headed social criticism. It never truly became a movement, but did signal the demise of the Expressionists.
Another style to emerge in the Weimar film industry was called Kammerspiel films. These too were a far contrast to Expressionists dramas. Each film concentrated on a few characters and explored a crisis in their lives in detail. The emphasis was on slow
evocative acting and telling details rather than extreme expressions of emotions. Kammerspiel films avoided the fantasy and legendary elements so common in Expressionism; these were films set in everyday, contemporary surroundings, and often covered a short span of time. Kammerspiel films used no intertitle cards and relied on simple situations, details of acting and setting, and symbolism to convey the narrative events.
The influence of Weimar films, especially the expressionist films, and their explorations of light can be seen in genres such as film noir and detective films, especially
in films such as "Double Indemnity" and "The Maltese Falcon". In it’s affinity for symbolism in characters, objects and surroundings, expressionism focused attention on the traditions passed to film from stage. Its manifestations of psychological states in a visual context allowed for the exploration of the nuances of other, film specific areas of study, such as the montage, deep-focus and the unchained camera or roving point of view. Of course part of this influence came from th influx of talent from Germany. Many actors, producers, and technicians fled Germnany after the NAZIS sezed power (1933).
Germany during the Weimar era had one of the leading film industries in the world. It copmeted with Hollywood. Even after the NAZIs took power, Germany continued t have one of the most important European film industries.
This was in part because of the importance of the German economy and the destribution system established set up during the Weimar era. Technically the Germans outclassed all but the German and French cinena, Even so, fe of the films made during the NAZI era are considered important film classics. This was in part because of the scores of directors, actors, composers and technicians ended up in Hollywood after Hitler came to power. The German film industry never fully recovered. Modern German films do well in Germany, but few German films have much of an impact outside of Germany.
The Weimar period was very innovative, not only in the film industry, but also other fields like expressionist paintings, Bauhaus school of design, music by Kurt Weill ("Three Penny Opera"). Only the musical scene remained at a high level in Nazi Germany, because Furtwängler, Böhm, Karajan and Richard Strauss stayed on. Of the great composers only Mendelssohn was Jewish, his music was no longer heard in the Third Reich and his statue in Leipzig had been removed.
No information yet is available on the films which showcased children's films during the Weimar era. HBC does not yet know of any Weimar films tht featured children. Children seen to have had more of arole, both in the NAZI era aand in West Germany after World War II. I'm less sure about East Germany.
de Jonge, Alex. Weimar Chronicles. New York : Paddington Press Ltd.,1978.
Eisner, Lotte H. Haunted Screen. Los Angelos: University of California Press,1969
Gray, Peter. Weimar Culture. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1968.
Kracauer, Siefried. Caligari to Hitler. Princeton: Princeton University Press,1966.
Manvell, Roger, and Frankell, Heinrich. German Cinema, New York, Praeger Publishers, 1971.
Ott, Frederick W. The Great German Films. Seacaucus, NJ: 1986.
(The) Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Decla-Film Ges. Holtz and Co., 1920
(The) Last Laugh, Union-Film der UFA, 1924
Metropolis, UFA, 1927
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Created: August 18, 2000
Last updated: 3:11 AM 8/16/2012