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JUNE 2005
GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM SUMMER FILM SERIES
Thursdays in August, The Wolfsonian and the Miami International Film Festival present a film that considers German Expressionism and its influence on international cinema. This film movement arose as a result of two major forces in German life in the early twentieth century: expressionist art and the loss of World War I. Remarkable for conveying a character’s psychological state by reinventing the vocabulary of film—the angular, gothic set design, distorted camera positions, and the use of high contrast, or chiaroscuro, lighting—these pioneering films reveal the potentially nightmarish landscapes of the subconscious mind. Many German Expressionist filmmakers fled Germany during the rise of the Third Reich, taking with them the roots of film noir. Each screening is preceded by a 6pm exhibition tour, a light reception and film short.
Films are presented with the Florida Moving Image Archive. Receptions sponsored by the German Consulate, Miami. Admission is free for Wolfsonian and MIFF members; general public $10.
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Thursday, August 4, 7pm
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany, Robert Weine, 1920, silent with score, DVD, B&W, 67 min.) One of the first and most famous examples of German Expressionism, this is a fantastic tale of a fairground entertainer who hypnotizes a sleepwalker into murdering innocent residents of a small town. Widely considered the first true horror film, the final shocking twist leaves one questioning what is reality or fantasy. Feature film is followed by a brief discussion on this highly influential genre.
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Thursday, August 11, 7pm
M (Germany, Fritz Lang, 1931, German with English subtitles, DVD, B&W, 110 min.) The first big German “sound film” is a classic noir thriller that also launched the career of Peter Lorre. Director Fritz Lang creates a corrupt urban landscape where vigilante justice rules when a psychotic child murderer stalks a city. Lang’s indirect yet scathing critique of the power exercised by Nazi street thugs led to the film’s banning two years after its 1931 release.
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Thursday, August 18, 7pm
The Killers (U.S., Robert Siodmak, 1946, English, 16mm, B&W, 105 min.)
A neglected screen classic, German émigré director Robert Siodmak translates German Expressionist techniques into the shadowy, double-crossing world of American film noir. Ernest Hemingway’s favorite adaptation of his 1927 short story, the film features the screen debut of Burt Lancaster and stars a strikingly beautiful Eva Gardner as an alluring femme fatale. When two professional killers invade a small town, a complex tale of treachery and crime begins to unravel.
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Thursday, August 25, 7pm
Stray Dog (Nora inu) (Japan, Akira
Kurosawa, 1949, Japanese with English subtitles, DVD,
color, 122 min.) A classic film noir steeped in postwar,
occupied Japan, Stray Dog is arguably one of
Akira Kurosawa’s finest films tackling a traditional
theme—the thin boundary between criminal and crime
fighter. When a homicide detective’s gun is stolen, he
launches a heated pursuit through Tokyo’s underworld as
his moral compass spins out of control. |
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