GERM 3160 : Fall 2004

                                                       August 30 : MINUTES

                                                        (Stephanie Koch)

Political Governments and Events

1914 – 1918     World War I

1919 – 1933     Weimar Republic (Germany’s attempt at democracy)

1919 – 1924     political unrest, high unemployment, hyperinflation

1925 – 1929     prosperity (for some), economic growth

1929 – 1933     economic downturn, unemployment, political clashes

1933 – 1945     Third Reich

1934            Nuremburg Party Conference (seen in “Triumph of the Will”)

1936             Berlin Olympics

1938            Night of Broken Glass (depicted in “The Wall”)

1939 – 1945     World War II

1942             Wannsee Conference (Final Solution for Jews, etc.)

1943             Stalingrad (turning point of WWII)

1945 – 1949     Allies control Germany

1949            East (Soviet) and West (Allies) Germany are created

1949 – present  Federal Republic of Germany

1949 – 1990     German Democratic Republic

1951 – 1958     (West) German economic miracle

1961            Berlin Wall built (to separate the Communist East from      Capitalist West)

1968 – 1970s    time of radical unrest/rebellion (also occurring in the US)

1989            Berlin Wall collapses, Cold War ends

1990            West Germany merges East into the Federal Republic

German Silent Film

Major movement : expressionism (seen in painting, drawing, film, etc.)

§       Visualization of sociopolitical angst and fear

§       Elements explored beyond their surface reality

§       Extreme stylization/distortion of mis-en-scéne

§       Chiaroscuro lighting

§       Surrealistic/unrealistic settings

§       Stylized acting

§       Romantic/gothic themes

§       Anti-authority, father/son conflicts (“Metropolis”)

§       Extreme pessimism/extreme optimism

“The Student of Prague” (Der Student von Prag, 1926)

                        directed by Henrik Galeen

The accompanying organ music is heavily suspenseful, but turns triumphant toward the conclusion.  Deep, exaggerated shadows hide most of the background, except for a few dynamic objects, such as waving willow branches and billowing drapes.  These objects – moving randomly, erratically – sharply contrast with the movements of the actors, whose bodies move in a slow, deliberate fashion.

Balduin, seeking love and money, sells his mirror image (his soul) to a Mr. Scapinelli (the devil).  Balduin (played by Conrad Veidt) achieves his dreams, but without his soul; by having no soul, he is ruthless and immoral, thus willing to make any necessary efforts to realize his desires.  To free himself from his soulless, but “successful” existence, he shoots his mirror image.  By breaking the mirror, he breaks his contract with Scapinelli.  The film emphasizes existentialism; not only is Balduin alone in the world, he is the only figure on-screen.

“The Student of Prague” (Der Student von Prag, 1913)

                        directed by Stellan Rye and Hanns Heinz Ewers

      The original version of the film, starring Paul Wegener as Balduin,   varies little in plot, but widely in style.  The variations between the films are due to trends in technology and theatre.  The 1913 version is more melodramatic, as seen in both the music and the over-emphasized, theatrical style of acting.  In terms of technology, this film, unlike its predecessor, was shot with a more primitive, inflexible camera – one unable to follow the actor as he walked to answer the door, or even as he fell to his death.