History and Development

In beginning of 1905, German Expressionism first started as an artistic movement which encompasses film, theatre, painting, and other arts which sought to give shape to psychological states through highly stylized visuals. Until the end of World War One, the art of cinema was a fairly simple one as the German had just recovered from the consequences of World War One. This is the stage where the political statement evolved into the negative energies surrounding the German society at that time. The directors felt disillusioned with reality and the world around the. So they make the films looked warped and distorted and were merely surreal.

In year 1916, the government had banned the foreign films for screens such as America and France, so the demand from theatres to produce films had risen. The German produced films freely to make their money worth enough.

At the end of World War I (from 1920 to 1927), German Expressionism was a film movement which surfaced after the fall of the Kaiser and the rise of Weimar Republic. Suffering economically and politically from the war, Germany started to ban import and encourage export for foreign country, thus causing the German film industry to prosper. It was then when the German Expressionism cinema was stated to broadcast for public. And it also became the most well-known and influential movements in cinema. (Thompson & Bordwell, 2010).

In 1920s, the first most considered German Expressionist film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, premiered in Berlin and United States, France and other foreign countries. Because of this film, all the German films style followed suit after it.  German Expressionism in other forms of art was well established back then, and critics, along with the premiere of this film, acknowledged that the style has already crept its way into the cinema. The film was a huge success domestically and internationally because it made the films industry more largely developed within the industry. The most prominent German films were widely regarded as among the best in the world. Thus, many of the big firms as well as smaller companies invested in Expressionist films because it can compete with American films.  (Thompson & Bordwell, 2010).

The extreme German Expressionism was short-lived, fading off after few years. However it was later integrated into films of 1920s and 1930s, where the placement of scenery, light, etc. was so artistically enhanced in the mood of the film. This style of filming was brought back to United States when the Nazis gained power and a number of German filmmakers immigrated to Hollywood. They were willing to embrace them and produce a repertoire of Hollywood films that had a profound effect on film as a whole.

German Expressionist Film was one of the greatest achievements in the early cinema history. The expressionist artist realized the inherent possibilities and potential of their respective media. The condition was generated which opened up a new creativity in the art of filmmaking. The elements contain long term German cultural mind-set, especially the literary fascination with Gothic. This new form of art had met a great impact ain international market and opening the world's eyes to new ideas. Although it did not last long, but the ideas lived on and it is influential. It can be traced to many different genres of cinema today.

Directors today still point to German Expressionism as the source of their inspiration. The two most well-known examples are Ridley Scott, Paul Verhoeven and Tim Burton. Tim Burton would go onto emulate the German Expressionist vision for many of his early works and continues to create Expressionist world in some of his later films like Sweeney Todd. However the most clear cut example would be Burton's film Edward Scissorhands, who is actually a take on the character in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Ridley Scott would emulate German Expressionism in his epic science fiction movie, Blade Runner. In it, we see many of the same themes highlighted in the movie Metropolis and many set pieces which emulated earlier works. Paul Verhoeven cited Metropolis as the most important film to him while filming RoboCop, wanting the design of the titular character to be a male version the robot Maria.