German Expressionism

German Expressionism

German Expressionism was a cinematic movement rooted in the nascent impressionist art movement which came into force during the late 1800s. German Expressionism was also based on gothic art and concepts, and the scenery of German Expressionist sets tended to incorporate unnatural angles and twisted jagged shapes. Perhaps the best known German Expressionist film was the early Metropolis, which was born out of a rising fear of machines, a bleak image of the future and the rise of fascism primarily in Germany and Europe.

The movement begun during the politically volatile and bleak period before the first world war, and developed and adapted its attitudes during the world war, where machines were used for the first time to kill people and warfare assumed an impersonal facade.

During the interwar years German expressionism went through a period of renaissance, as it was inspired by the rise of fascism in the war traumatized areas of europe and the rapid industrialisation of the United States of America. Another influential factor upon German Expressionism was the paralleled art movement called "Futurism" which pictured a future society dominated by machines and science and encased in new fascist ideologies.

Coupled with Metropolis, Edward Scissor Hands was also a famous exemplar of German expressionism in action, as it was based on a concoction of Gothic and modernist concepts and set in a classical gothic setting which became a visual signature of German Expressionism.