Expressionism Has Been Described as ‘the Dark Side of the Soul’ – Discuss This Statement in Relation to German Film-Making 1919 to 1930.

2044 Words9 Pages
Expressionism has been described as ‘The dark side of the Soul’ – Discuss this statement in relation to German film-making 1919 to 1930. Sigmund Freud said that German expressionism was ‘the dark side of the soul’, in this essay I will be examining this statement and looking at German expressionism and if what Freud said could been deemed as true. German expressionism started after the First World War; because of the depression that had swept the country after not only losing the war, but losing a lot of wealth and for many German’s they had lost family due to the war. This developed the German expressionism movement. After the war, German was highly isolated from the rest of the world because of the war. When expressionism first took off, it didn’t really spread as Germany was so disconnected from the rest of the world. However, also in the 1920’s Europe began to explore a new way of film making, and began to watch the new and strange films the Germans had been making. Although starting as an art form, film soon took over German expressionism and many filmmakers began interrupting their own views and feelings at this time onto film, in this way. After the war, Hans Janavitz and Carl Mayer, both shocked from the war that had just occurred, were both fantasied with psychoanalysis and this is when they began to write ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ (1920), a silent horror film, filled with key elements of an expressionism film of that era, and one of the first and finest. The sets, which were all hand painted, were eerie and almost dream like. The elements used instantly sets the theme of the film, its dark and sinister looking, but also extravagant, and over the top. At a similar time UFA, a German film making company create just after the First World War was created, also known as Universum Film AG. It was at the heart of the German film industry at the time. UFA

More about Expressionism Has Been Described as ‘the Dark Side of the Soul’ – Discuss This Statement in Relation to German Film-Making 1919 to 1930.

Open Document