The Art Movement That Changed Film Forever

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From Euphoria to The Tragedy of Macbeth, the stylistic influence from one of the earliest and most radical film movements, German Expressionism, is still strong today.

Films Referenced (in order of appearance):
Euphoria (HBO)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Nosferatu (1922)
Metropolis 1927
Touch of Evil (1958)
Double Indemnity (1944)
The Third Man (1949)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Brazil (1985)
The Shape of Water (2017)
Eraserhead (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Trainspotting (1996)
The Humans (2021)
Taxi Driver (1976)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Inland Empire (2006)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Blood Simple (1984)

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Select images licensed by Getty Images.

[ThomasFlight]

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[sanchitaghosh]

It's rare that a video essay makes you want to finally get to that unfinished list of film movements that you'd always wanted to study. Thanks for jolting me out of my procrastination.

[serjack]

Stunning video! The Lighthouse is also a great example of neo-german expressionism

[pizzaisbetterthanyou]

Interestingly, surrealism's predecessor (Dadaism) took off in Europe around a similar time that Expressionism became popular too. Dadaism wasn't nearly as popular in Germany, but there was a small yet prolific group of Dadaists who resided in Berlin. Thinking about the influences and similarities between the two is fascinating, especially considering the historical context of the Weimar Republic! I think keeping the distinction between surrealism and expressionism is important, but they were both borne out of similar conditions.

[imaginnova]

I learned recently that in Munch's painting, it's illustrating the main character's reaction to The Scream rather than him unleashing one himself--he is hearing "the scream of nature" (the actual German title). It completely recontextualized the scene for me, thought it was worth sharing and fantastic video as always!

[isadorastrokes]

Love the idea of this video, but I would caution that Expressionism is more stylistically specific than it is often made out to be. Simply displacing internal turmoil into external is also a characteristic of several other artistic movements. In gothic fiction, for instance, the setting often reflects the characters' feelings and fears. Nosferatu, being based on Dracula, reflects its source material's gothic roots much more than expressionism. The film was shot with natural light and on location, two things that are contrary to the expressionist aesthetic. Fritz Lang also always denied being influenced by Expressionism, and while I do think we shouldn't take creators at their word (death of the author and all), it is still worth investigating why he would say that. Expressionism was very extreme in its rejection of realism. Interestingly, another German movement called "New Objectivity" was at least as influential when it comes to film noir. It was gritty and made stark use of contrast, but to tell more realistic stories about seedy city life. Films like "The Blue Angel", "Pandora's Box", "Joyless Street" or even Fritz Lang's "M" are examples of this. They also abound with proto-femme fatale characters, which we don't find as much in expressionist films.

[idadahlanderssen]

The scream is, as Munch himself explained, a feeling. He wrote a story about it when he was in France, which in summary says that he was walking along Ekebergåsen, which is a hill in Oslo overlooking the city, with his friends. When he felt a "scream" of anxiety sweep across nature, and which left him with a feeling of utter dread and left him full of fear, while his friends continued walking.The scream represents the very feeling of this experience. He actually made 5 scream paintings, some more known than the others.

[ALFirebird]

Thomas could you pleaser consider adding the movie title names to every clip you use, like studio binder does? It would be really helpful for us film newbies who want to watch a particular film after seeing a clip in one of your vids🤓

[MyMomDrank]

Great video, I couldn’t put my finger on just what made Euphoria so visually breathtaking. I knew the lighting was incredible and the cinematography… but I didn’t know WHY.

[luismarioguerrerosanchez]

One element of film I'm infinitely interested in, is lighting, and how fixed lighting can alter or distort the subjects of a given shot. In most articles and essays, both written and on video, they talk about the influence of noir in this regard.

The fact that you not only went further in film history (The German Neo Expressionist movement) but went even farther by aknowledging the influence of a diferent form of art in film is something to applaud.

This is one of my favorite videos you've done so far.

[xandrafuhrer]

This was wonderful. I hope you do one on Impressionism too, if you find the time. Even more underlooked than its "opposite, " the only directors I kind think of who use it comprehensively are Tarkovsky, Malick, Reichardt, and Weerasethakul--but as you said, with expressionism, traces of it are everywhere. It's a bit harder to identify, too...

[bingewatcher]

''Scream is not just a feeling but something he sensed outside of him.
Expressionism blurs the boundries between subjectivity and the external world, and how we feel affects the way we see the world around us. But the world around us also affects the way we feel when the environment seems more off balance, littered with shadows or unreal perhaps that's when artists start looking for ways to express that.'' Noted. 💯🌟

[MichaelHeide]

I think it's important to note that Alfred Hitchcock got his start in Germany in the mid-20s. He was directly influenced by Expressionism, and he carried it over to his work in England. You can trace the influence from Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari directly to The Lodger, and even to Downhill, and from there to his later work in the US, especially Psycho. And since Hitchcock was one of the most influential directors himself, that led to directors being influenced by German Expressionism filtered through Hitch.

[gabrielidusogie]

Idk if you’ve done this already, but you should make a video essay about how you analyze a film and turn it into an essay. Thatd be awesome. I definitely caught the neon noir vibe of Euphoria but I wouldn’t have guessed to think about the nuances about the expressionism within the episode.

[kyleliegel]

Thomas this may just be the best video you have produced thus far. Compelling, educational, and relevant. I think I speak for many when I say thank you so much for your work!

[JoseMorales-lwnt]

#ThomasFlight: May I add another great example of Expressionism shaping modern television shows.... BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Showrunners Paul Dini and Bruce Timm have admitted to being heavily influenced by the German movement. They made it a point to have animators work on black paper in order to draw out light from the darkness! The end result was literally the near illegal airing of barely visible background art. Apparently, BTAS pushed the legal limit of how visibly dark a network show can be.

[etashelinto]

Had to pause 3 minutes in to come say, Thomas, you are a brilliant human being.

I came across your work this year and am impressed by your ability gather interesting ideas, to connect disparate dots, and explain them all clearly.

It’s just 💯 impressive.

[EvlinDuBose]

Favourite film movement from my favourite video essayist? Yes please, I'm in heaven. As an artistic reaction to social trauma, expressionism is pretty much peerless. Makes it one of the more timeless movements in cinema because it's so rooted in feeling. Reminds me strongly of the Night Window scene from 1917: seeing those shadows warping and stretching across the broken landscape finally made it click in my brain what German Expressionism was talking about.

[loganwelty]

I loved this. Learning about expressionism and surrealism makes me realize just how many of my favorite films lean on those methods of creativity.

[andrew_nayes]

Munch is pronounced Moonk, like monk but with a long moo (like cows), or like the moon (plus k).