Popular Artistic Stlyes

Popular Artistic Styles

As the number of motion picture productions increased, narrative and artistic styles soon emerged. Among the most influential were German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, French Impressionism, Surrealism, Italian Neo-Realism, the French New Wave and New German Cinema.

German Expressionism
German Expressionism was an avant-garde art that had, from 1910 onward, developed a significant presence in the world of art, literature, theater and architecture. The focus of expressionist film was mise-en-scène and psychology. Characters wore exaggerated costumes and make-up. Scenes were shot to juxtapose shape and angle with prop and performer. The images were heavily stylized and well suited to science fiction and fantasy. Some landmark films include: "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920), "Nosferatu" (1922) and "Metropolis" (1927)

Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927).

Soviet Montage
1924 marks the beginning of the Soviet Montage style. Using cuts and nonlinear editing techniques, Soviet filmmakers were able to heighten the emotional power of the story. Jumping between different aspects of story and emotional drama, they presented grand, nationalistic stories in an innovative, symbolic way.

Some of the most striking examples of Soviet Montage films are Sergei Eisenstein's "Strike" (1925), "October" (1927) and "The Battleship Potemkin" (1925).

"The Battleship Potemkin" (1925)
(Photo courtesy of Everett Collection)

Impressionism
French cinema between the First and Second World War developed a different kind of narrative from its American counterpart. Like German and American film, French film of this era was interested in the psychological and emotional state of its characters. However, French film adopted systems that allowed it to deal with memory, an essential element of storytelling. Using flashbacks and fantasy sequences, the impressionist films manipulated plot lines and the subjective qualities of a story to create a new form of narrative. Incorporating dreams, fantasies and emotional states, this genre rendered for the audience a new depth of understanding of a character's emotional condition.

Surrealism
Surrealism was short-lived (1924-1929), but it set an aesthetic form that continues to influence filmmakers in art cinema today. Like French Impressionism and German Expressionism, Surrealist film marked the adaptation of a plastic art form for film. It embraced film as a free flowing medium that needed no rationality. The genre is characterized by an apparent lack of causality; images and events are juxtaposed for shock effect rather than narrative consistency. Surrealism is intended to startle the viewer and instigate an uninhibited response. For a great example of surrealism watch Luis Buñuel's "Un Chien Andalou" (1929).

Italian Neorealism
This genre was born in the dying days of the Second World War. Italian studios had been destroyed, forcing filmmakers to turn to the streets for their settings and stories. Characterized by rough, raw shots and editing, the genre introduced a grittier, less polished style of filmmaking. Shortages meant that films were often shot on different kinds of stock, but the varying quality of the footage became an integral element of the design. Shooting out of doors forced the cinematographers to work with natural lights rather than the well-developed Hollywood lighting systems. Using untrained performers and improvising dialogue, the stories were contemporary and "of the moment", a quality complemented by flexible camerawork in the framing of a shot. For the best of Neorealism, turn to Vittorio De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief" (1948) and "Umberto D" (1952), and early Federico Fellini films such as "La Strada" (1954)

Fellini's "La Strada" (1954).

New Wave
The Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) of French Cinema was tied intimately to "Cahiers du Cinema", the journal founded by André Bazin, one of the most influential critics and theorists of film. The critics writing in this Parisian film journal denounced the contemporary French filmmakers as misguided, uncreative and unartistic. The few French filmmakers whom they did celebrate included Jean Renoir, Max Ophuls, Jacques Tati and Robert Bresson, directors who were generally seen as either outdated or too esoteric for audiences. Looking toward Hollywood film, the "Cahiers" writers defined and pronounced the superiority of film auteurs.

The auteur theory states that the craftsmanship of the director is as important a stylistic and creative contribution as is a writer's to a novel. According to these angry young film critics, the director's ability moved beyond craft into the realm of art. The director's identity is indelibly stamped, intricately and obviously, on the look, style, story and presentation of the picture.

This approach to filmmaking and the contribution it made to film theory was tremendously significant. It recognized the quality of some of classic Hollywood cinema and held it up as a stylistic marvel. It helped establish respect for the director as a key creative figure in the perception of both the public and the industry. The skill of directors like Howard Hawks, Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford in the development and pursuit of a particular style, even within the confines of the studio system, were unparalleled. Recognizing their contribution as a unique, seminal influence in the aesthetic history of film heralded a new generation in the telling of a film story.

Young New Wave directors like François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Eric Rohmer developed a new form of cinema. Shooting quickly, cheaply and on location, they used panning shots and long takes to create a new style of film in motion -- in other words, they applied documentary 16mm shooting techniques to feature films. This included hand held cameras, available locations, fast stock and non-sequential editing. Be sure to watch Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" (1960) -- a terrific example of French New Wave filmmaking.

Documentary Films
In its purest form, a documentary is a nonfictional, objective depiction of people, events, issues or cultures.

One of the earliest examples of documentary filmmaking is Robert Flaherty's "Nanook of the North" (1922). The film was heralded as a portrait of one of the last "primitive" cultures --the Inuit of Northern Canada. The images in this film and the story of Nanook became famous around the world. It also marked the beginning of a legacy for Canada and the National Film Board as makers of the world's best documentary movies.

"Nanook of the North" (1922)
(Photo courtesy of Everett Collection)

Audiences that saw "Nanook" perceived this film as a true depiction of traditional life in the Canadian North. In reality, Flaherty staged many of the scenes. Using creative directorial input, Flaherty presented the story he wished to show rather than an accurate portrayal of Inuit daily life in the 1920s. He adjusted the costumes, setting and action of the subject to align it with the story he wished to tell.

This brings us to an important point. That is, documentary films are often, if not always, manipulated by the filmmaker in some way. This process started out with Flaherty and continues in documentary films today. The process doesn't make these films any less "documentary" in style. Documentary filmmakers have points of view and agendas. They also need to tell interesting and entertaining stories to involve an audience -- and real life is often boring.

A documentation that has no interpretation from the documentarian is not a work of art; it's simply a recording of an event with an uninvolved camera. Documentaries are an art form like narrative cinema and, in the hands of a skilled documentary filmmaker, journalistic integrity and objectivity are maintained yet a clear and important message is delivered in an interesting or entertaining way.