Educational Media Reviews Online

This film essay by the late German film critic Peter Buchka describes and explains the astonishing draw that occult and fantastic subjects had for German filmmakers in the 1920's. Using clips from many films of the era, he pieces together a thesis involving the deep suffering of the Germans after WW1, the destruction of their social structures and the deep despair engendered by the horror of modern war. He points out that the Expressionist filmmakers' apparent retreat from reality was in fact a concentrated effort to grasp the true psychic state of the time. That state was so deeply damaged that only the language of fantasy and myth could possibly describe it. A major component of the essay revolves around the dream states described in the films, where boundaries are blurred, and an indifferent and inexorable fate determines the course of human affairs. In this world, the battle between good and evil is not so much over as irrelevant.

Buchka notes that the science of psychotherapy was born in the same year as film and this link between psychology and film is explored extensively and elaborated on through the use of works such as Nosferatu, Dr. Mabuse, Faust, and The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari and Metropolis. The discussion revolves solely around the content of the films, and its relation to the much wider society around them. The role of the cinema and the cabaret in the German society is not discussed, nor are the politics and events of the day. The essay is devoted to linking the subconscious of the post-war, Weimar Germans to the fantastic and malevolent apparitions on their film screens.

It should be noted that the blurb on the box and in the distributor's catalog is somewhat misleading. It states that the film examines the German cinema of the 1920's, "…from the disquieting images of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, to the castrating sexuality of Marlene Deitrich in Die Blaue Engel." In fact, beyond some standard comments on the macabre play between Death and Eros, there is little discussion of sexuality and none at all of Marlene Dietrich, or indeed of any actor. The essay focuses mainly on the narrative elements of the films, and the images that these films generated, rather than any cinematographic details. The only people mentioned are the directors, with no information being given about cast, crew, or technology.

The essay is compelling and interesting, especially for students of the era/genre, but has little new insight to offer. It is a splendid, condensed introduction to the study of German Expressionism, with no talking heads, or lengthy discourses. It points students and researchers in a number of different directions, through the work of several directors, without fully elaborating on any of them, which provides a starting point for many different discussions. It is an excellent addition to any film history collection.

Viewers with no concept of the history of Europe in the early part of the 20th century will find many references to be meaningless. The essay presupposes knowledge of history and social structure that may make it inaccessible to some students.

Highly recommended