European Cinema

Class Minutes for 1/22/01:

1. Professor Reimer began the class by explaining how the first free write should be written: after watching a pre-1950 European film, a two to three page paper explaining the usage of film techniques in relation to the film’s story should be written. He then passed out a paper with grammatical parallel construction problems to correct as a class exercise.

2. He then proceeded with the lecture about European films in the 1920s:

A.  French films from the 1910s and 1920s:

-         In the early days of cinema, French cinema was the strongest amongst all others, including American cinema.

 -         In 1895, the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière and in 1900 Georges Méliès set the main styles of filmmaking.

-         The brothers Lumière followed the style of realism—moving the camera to portray a real set.

 -         In “Leaving the Lumière Factory” (1895-1896), Lumière filmed a documentary, where they just turned on a camera and filmed factory workers coming out. Although Lumière told the workers when to come out, and not to look at the camera, and tough he shot the same scene a lot of times, the environment was fairly natural, and so the short film was in the realistic form (with a touch of formalism).

 -         On the other hand, Méliès filmed formalist short films—he manipulated what was in front of the camera. He also colored in the films by hand, which was another way of manipulation. He used, what can be called, the first special effects to achieve what he wanted.

 -         In the beginning, films were silent, but by the 1910s, directors recognized the need for some kind of sound, and so, piano players followed them with music.

 -         French films, in general, were interested in political and social problems, and thus, by filming in natural settings, they were realistic in form.

-         Abel Gance was the first director to use rapid cutting (even before Eisenstein in The Battleship Potempka, though he was the first to use it to create a political image). In his masterpiece, Napoléon, from the 1920s, he used rapid editing to create urgency and tension for the audience.

 B.     German films from the 1910s and 1920s:

-         German films were based more in formalism (almost expressionism—the extreme form of formalism) than in realism.

-         The Student of Prague (1913, and 1926) became the example of German film. Based on an E. T. A. Hoffman story, a student sells his mirror image to a stranger (who happened to be the devil) for money and to obtain the girl of his dreams. In the end, he decides he wants his image back to regain happiness, but instead he ends up dying after having tried to get it back. Two versions of this story were made—one in 1913, and the other in 1926. The first version resembled a play, since the camera could not be moved, and so the director had to manipulate the set around it. It gave it a feeling of falsity. By 1926, there had been enough technological advancements so the camera could follow the actor, instead of disappearing out of the frame. The director could also work better with the close-ups, and so a change of style occurred.

 -         Thus, starting around 1919, an exaggerated formalist style came about—expressionism. Films were concerned with the portrayal of psychological characters more than with political and social themes.

 -         The idea of the Doppelgänger (double image) was also introduced. Like the mirror image in The Student of Prague, double images were common.

 -          One of the best examples for expressionism was Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr Caligary (1919/1920). It was the perfect example of portraying the psychology of characters, as well as the complete unreality of German films at the time.

 3. At this point, Professor Reimer finished the lecture, and said he would continue with European films from the 1910s and 1920s the following class.