German Expressionism

Cinema

There was an Expressionist style in German cinema, important examples of which are Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Paul Wegener's The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920), Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) and F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922) and The Last Laugh (1924). The term "expressionist" is also sometimes used to refer to stylistic devices thought to resemble those of German Expressionism, such as film noir cinematography or the style of several of the films of Ingmar Bergman. The techniques that correlate with this movement includes distorted set design, chiaroscuro lighting, stylised acting, distorted camera angles, and superimposition. These stylistic devices appear prominently in some classic Hollywood films, such as F.W.Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), which suggests the impact of the new wave of German film makers on American cinema.