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The Golden Age of German cinema began at the end of the First World War and ended shortly after the coming of sound. From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari onwards the principal films of this period were characterized by two influences: literary Expressionism, and the innovations of the theatre directors of this period, in particular Max Reinhardt. This book demonstrates the connection between German Romanticism and the cinema through Expressionist writings. It discusses the influence of the theatre: the handling of crowds; the use of different levels, and of selective lighting on a predominately dark stage; the reliance on formalized gesture; the innovation of the intimate theatre. Against this background the principal films of the period are examined in detail. The author explains the key critical concepts of the time, and surveys not only the work of the great directors, such as Fritz Lang and F. W. Murnau, but also the contribution of their writers, cameramen, and designers. As The Times Literary Supplement wrote, 'Mme. Eisner is first and foremost a film critic, and one of the best in the world. She has all the necessary gifts.' And it described the original French edition of this book as 'one of the very few classics of writing on the film and arguably the best book on the cinema yet written.'
Price: $34.95
Pages: 360
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
29 September 2008
Trim Size: 8.25 X 5.75 in
ISBN: 9780520257900
Format: Paperback
"A sumptuous meal for those interested in the dark and brooding days of German cinema."
Film critic, poet, and historian Lotte H. Eisner (1896-1983) was Chief Archivist for the French Cinematheque and a member of the French Légion d'honneur.
Foreword to the English language edition
1 The Predisposition towards Expressionism
2 The Beginnings of the Expressionist Film
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Genuine; Von Morgens bis Mitternachts; Torgus;
Raskolnikow
3 The Spell of Light: the Influence of Max Reinhardt
The Student of Prague (1913); Max Reinhardt; The Go/em (1920);
Die Chronik Pon Grieshuus; Vanina; Carl Boese on the special effects
for The Go/em
4 Lubitsch and the Costume Film
!vfadame Dubarry; Sumurun; Anna Boleyn; Danton; Othello; Pola Negri
5 The Stylized Fantastic
Der Miide Tod
6 The Symphonies of Horror
Nosferatu; the demoniac bourgeois; the sway of the Doppelgiinger
7 'Decorative· Expressionism
Waxworks; the concept of space; the obsession with corridors
and staircases; Paul Leni on set designing
8 The World of Shadows and Mirrors
Warning Shadows; the Expressionist actor
9 Studio Architecture and Landscape
Die Nibelungen; geometric grouping
10 The Expressionist Debut of a 'Realistic' Director
Der Schatz
11 Kammerspielfilm and Stimmung
Hintertreppe; Scherben; Sylvester; Paul Czinner; Elisabeth Bergner; Stimmung
12 Murnau and the Kammerspielfilm
The Last Laugh; the mobile camera
13 The Handling of Crowds
Metropolis; the influence of the Expressionist choruses and Piscator
14 The Fritz Lang Thriller
Die Spinnen; Dr Mabuse der Spieler; Spione; Die Frau im Mond
15 Tragedies of the Street
Die Strasse; The joyless Street; Asta Nielsen; Dirnentragiidie;
the Absolute film; Asphalt
16 The Evolution of the Costume Film
Tartuffe
17 The Eye of the Camera in E.A. Dupont
Das Alte Gesetz; Variety
18 The Climax of the Chiaroscuro
Faust
19 Pabst and the Miracle of Louise Brooks
Pandora's Box; Diary of a Lost Girl; Censorship and Pabst's realism
20 The Decline of the German Film
The coming of sound; Die Dreigroschenoper; M; Das Testament
des Dr Mabuse; Miidchen in Uniform; the Ufa style; Leni Riefenstahl;
the post-Nazi era
Appendix: The Dreigroschenoper Lawsuit
Principal Works Mentioned in the Text
Selective Filmography, 1913-33
Index
Sources of Illustrations
1 The Predisposition towards Expressionism
2 The Beginnings of the Expressionist Film
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Genuine; Von Morgens bis Mitternachts; Torgus;
Raskolnikow
3 The Spell of Light: the Influence of Max Reinhardt
The Student of Prague (1913); Max Reinhardt; The Go/em (1920);
Die Chronik Pon Grieshuus; Vanina; Carl Boese on the special effects
for The Go/em
4 Lubitsch and the Costume Film
!vfadame Dubarry; Sumurun; Anna Boleyn; Danton; Othello; Pola Negri
5 The Stylized Fantastic
Der Miide Tod
6 The Symphonies of Horror
Nosferatu; the demoniac bourgeois; the sway of the Doppelgiinger
7 'Decorative· Expressionism
Waxworks; the concept of space; the obsession with corridors
and staircases; Paul Leni on set designing
8 The World of Shadows and Mirrors
Warning Shadows; the Expressionist actor
9 Studio Architecture and Landscape
Die Nibelungen; geometric grouping
10 The Expressionist Debut of a 'Realistic' Director
Der Schatz
11 Kammerspielfilm and Stimmung
Hintertreppe; Scherben; Sylvester; Paul Czinner; Elisabeth Bergner; Stimmung
12 Murnau and the Kammerspielfilm
The Last Laugh; the mobile camera
13 The Handling of Crowds
Metropolis; the influence of the Expressionist choruses and Piscator
14 The Fritz Lang Thriller
Die Spinnen; Dr Mabuse der Spieler; Spione; Die Frau im Mond
15 Tragedies of the Street
Die Strasse; The joyless Street; Asta Nielsen; Dirnentragiidie;
the Absolute film; Asphalt
16 The Evolution of the Costume Film
Tartuffe
17 The Eye of the Camera in E.A. Dupont
Das Alte Gesetz; Variety
18 The Climax of the Chiaroscuro
Faust
19 Pabst and the Miracle of Louise Brooks
Pandora's Box; Diary of a Lost Girl; Censorship and Pabst's realism
20 The Decline of the German Film
The coming of sound; Die Dreigroschenoper; M; Das Testament
des Dr Mabuse; Miidchen in Uniform; the Ufa style; Leni Riefenstahl;
the post-Nazi era
Appendix: The Dreigroschenoper Lawsuit
Principal Works Mentioned in the Text
Selective Filmography, 1913-33
Index
Sources of Illustrations