Film History & Movements Codexery

Cinema of Germany

German cinema shaped early film technology and global storytelling.

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During the Weimar period, an average of 250 films were produced each year, a total of 3,500 full-feature films.[1] UFA was forced into a partnership called Parufamet with Paramount and MGM in 1925, then taken over by Alfred Hugenberg in 1927.[2] Expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), produced by Erich Pommer, is credited with sparking the popularity of expressionism.[3] The arrival of sound at the end of the 1920s produced a final artistic flourish before the Weimar Republic collapsed in 1933.[4]

By 1932 Germany had 3,800 cinemas equipped to play sound films.[4] After 1936 the import of foreign films was legally restricted, and the German industry was effectively nationalised in 1937.[5] Eight short films, totaling 15 minutes, were presented; this event marked the initial instance of films being shown to a ticket-buying audience.[6] Germany's first purpose-built cinema opened its doors in Mannheim during 1906, and by 1910 the country had more than 1000 such venues in operation.[7]

What the cited sources add

The Harvard Film Archive’s program notes that the Weimar Era resulted in an extraordinary flowering of German cinema, straddling the silent and early sound eras.[8] A remarkable confluence of talent and opportunity characterizes Weimar cinema, according to the Harvard Film Archive.[8] The Harvard Film Archive states that Weimar cinema reflected the uncertainties of the era and is a hugely influential period in film history.[8] The Harvard Film Archive’s program emphasizes how Weimar films captured a society in crisis, combining artistic experimentation with themes of social unrest.[9]

Among the directors and writers who later escaped to Hollywood, those who created their initial, pioneering films in Weimar include F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, William Dieterle, Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Billy Wilder, and cinematographer Karl Freund.[8] According to film historian Lotte Eisner, German Romanticism and the pioneering work of director Max Reinhardt were major influences on the Expressionist style.[10] Siegfried Kracauer viewed the films of the Weimar period as mirroring the collective psychological condition of the German nation.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rogowski, "The Many Faces of Weimar Cinema", Camden House, 2010, p. Xi-12 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Macropedia – Volume 24 – Motion Pictures", Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2010, p. 376–378 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hayward, "Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts", Routledge – Taylor & Francis, 2000, p. 175–178 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristen. (2003) "Film History An Introduction". New York: McGraw-Hill, p.200. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kinobesuche in Deutschland 1925 bis 2004 Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft e. V (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brockmann, "A Critical History of German Film", Camden House, 2010, p. 13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brockmann, "A Critical History of German Film", Camden House, 2010, p. 18; Brockmann, "A Critical History of German Film", Camden House, 2010, p. 18; Brockmann, "A Critical History of German Film", Camden House, 2010, p. 19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. “Decadent Shadows: The Cinema of Weimar Germany.” Harvard Film Archive, Dec. 2010. http://harvardfilmarchive.org/programs/decadent-shadows-the-cinema-of-weimar-. facts only, no text reused. harvardfilmarchive.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: KRACAUER, "From Caligari to Hitler", Princeton University Press, 2019-04-02; Sadowski, "The semiotics of light and shadows: modern visual arts and Weimar cinema", Bloomsbury Academic, 2019; “Decadent Shadows: The Cinema of Weimar Germany.” Harvard Film Archive, Dec. 2010. http://harvardfilmarchive.org/programs/decadent-shadows-the-cinema-of-weimar- (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Cinema of Germany" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pettey, "Film Noir", Edinburgh University Press, 2014-11-01, p. 58–79; Eisner, Lotte H. The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt. University of California Press, 1994. https://www.uc (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cinema of Germany (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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