Developments in film history and film movements

Kirsty Louise Dunn

Film Movements

Contrast and compare developments in film history between the earlier and later movements within the field.  What are the changes in focus, if any?  Make reference to at least TWO movements and at least TWO films.

“A film movement consists of not only films but also the activities of a specific filmmaker. We must go beyond noting stylistic and formal qualities, for each period and nation we shall also sketch relevant factors that affect the cinema” (Bordwell and Thompson, 2001, p399) Bordwell and Thompson’s quote helps us to try and define or explain in depth the term film movement and discuss their own ideas on the subject of matter. Film movements can be seen in the perspective of history or art focusing specifically at a moment in crisis. History is made up of events and facts. Eh Carr says that “History is not simply the gathering of facts - it is also about interpretation” This expresses how one’s interpretations can change what history is. This makes it hard for us as critics to really define a film movement. This essay will demonstrate the developments in the film history between an earlier movement and a later movement within the field and express the changes which occur due to the incredible transformations. I will do this by analysing two key films:  The film water directed by Deepa Mehta an indo-Canadian film maker which was produced in 2005  when discussing new Indian cinema  Secondly the film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Directed by Robert Wiene  which was produced then released in 1921 when looking at German expressionism as the film movement. Many Film Movements in the 20^th century have risen and fallen and this is still happening today but developments in the film history are shown through both of these films and movements due to the the movement being from an earlier and later stage.

India is the second most populous country in the world. It is also known due to it being the world’s largest film producing country which was even larger then Hollywood. Indian films are seen in many different places such as: United States of America, south Asia, Europe and the Middle East, almost all over the world. New Indian cinema can also be seen as world cinema due to the timing and dates. Clifford Geertz a social anthropologist quoted: “culture is a ‘way of life...webs of significance that people spin around themselves’.  This expresses that Cinema itself opens up a window in and on to a culture and its study brings immediate unavailability to other media sources. “Cinema in India thus has been uses as a propagandist tool, exploration of the orthodoxy” This also connotes the caste system and the use of entertainment” through Indian cinema and how it focuses directly at culture. The Indian film I will be discussing fits into the movement of new Indian cinema for many reasons such as realism and cultural theory’s. Comparing India’s history to the German film industry we see comparisons and contrasts as Germany was suffering severe economic problems. However, due to the post war Germany’s film industry emerged with a vibrant approach. The film industry for Germany was ranked second only to Hollywood between 1918 and 1933. Straight away we see the difference in the film industry through both movements. However we see the developments in the industry and how it was getting better due to many different aspects as both industries were doing well for the time the films were created. German expressionism began in the 1920’s and New Indian cinema did not have a specific time period due to the movement changing its name as it was first known as the new Indian wave to begin with and then became New Indian Cinema which started occurring around 1970 to present. The film has New Indian wave conventions throughout.

Water differs from popular Indian cinema due to its realistic conventions portrayed throughout. We see this through the main themes of the narrative: Religion, widow community and poverty issues; whereas The Cabinet of Dr Caligari represents the unrealistic expressionism style through themes of, death, horror, fantasy and many more.  The reason Robert Wienes film helped the film industry to develop is because it was known as the most influential film in the expressionism movement.  Though Roberts’s film does have parts of shocking content which relates to German’s society it does not show on screen throughout the film compared to a film like water. This is because water was produced in 2005 and there had been a great change in the film industry to allow this to happen. This shows a dramatic change in focus. This was the change in directors being allowed to express themselves more through narrative and visual style etc. Somewhat like an auteur. It also expresses how the industry developed over time from the movement German expressionism to new Indian cinema as the film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was produced in 1921. Furthermore, it was also known as “Haunted screen” and connotes “a world of shadows and mirrors” (Bradley & Palmer 2006 pg.17) this signifies the troubled minds of the German society and the history behind the making of this film which represents the core of a film movement. As their was a crisis of war and social issues at the time. ‘Film movements arise as distinct alternatives to the style of ordinary filmmaking of their day, they often employ unusual techniques.’ (Bordwell & Thompson 2003 pg. 83) This quote connotes what both films are trying to portray. Roberts’s film shows unusual techniques such as exaggerated use of shadows throughout and the use of stylised and highly symbolic aspects of the film. Water can relate due to the narrative unusualness and the difference it has to an ordinary film such as extreme realism. This also shows a development as more things were happening in the time of each movement and the industry was getting better and it also represents the aesthetics of art in both films which was a great change for most industries.

Water is a Hindi film created at the time of when productions had become greater and this became the principle national language as many films started to choose Hindi dialogue. However Deepa’s film was not filmed in the place of what is said on screen and took seven years to make. This is because of the Indian governments and laws.  A quote from the film maker herself said: “They go through the script with a very fine tooth comb, to ensure that there's nothing derogatory in the script. Or, anything in it that reflects badly on India or Indians” (Mushy 2005) this connotes why Deepa had to shoot her film in Sir Lanka instead of India due to strong complications and it expresses the difference in Indian cinema to World cinema as there was still boundaries. Compared to Robert Wienes film there was no complications when making or creating The Cabinet of Dr Caligari as it was more about the horror genre and the stylised sets on screen which could not be seen as offensive. This film helps bring on the genre Horror and film Noir whereas the film water was already a genre. This shows a development in the film industry for Germany in contrast to Indian new cinema and how the horror genre was changing and becoming a popular main genre. However Water has strength in capturing important aspects of the Indian reality and the ethnographic themes and explains important areas of the Indian experience such as the Hindu traditions. This is shown through the narrative when Chuyia a seven year old widow is sent to spend her life in renunciation and is forced to have her head shaved and made to wear particular clothing. This shows a specific time in India’s traditions and religions. Comparing this to The Cabinet of Dr Caligari the way in which it expresses he horror genre was through the creepy silent vibe of the film and the through the narrative. We see this when the character Alan dies in a violent manner and becomes a part of the many murders which have occurred during this film. “A relationship that proves both duplicitous and dangerous.” (Bradley & Palmer 2006 pg. 16) this quote analyses and discusses the narrative and explains the idea which fits into the horror genre. This shows the incredible development of the film industry as the plots and narrative were getting more in depth, specific and could now be categorised into genres.

Another development in the film industry which we can draw upon from these particular movements is the aesthetic artistic nature both films portray. Before German expressionism the film industry did not create art type shots due to having no inspirations and suffering economic problem due the War. Robert Weines film however does create art through the stylised sets in every scene. An example of this is when you see at approximately 5 minutes and 35 seconds when two characters are walking together. We see extreme jagged buildings and abstract designs. This happened due to a style created in 1908 of paintings and drama which was then taken and put into film. “When first brought to the screen in the post-first world war era, seemed to bear a clearly subversive visual potential (Bradley & Palmer 2006 pg. 17) This represents the clear change and development for Germany as German expressionism became even greater when The cabinet of Dr Caligari was produced due to it being a little after expressionism came about. The main aim in expressionism was to show emotions in the most explicit and exaggerated way possible. Roberts’s film perceived this idea throughout and it achieved what it was meant to achieve.  A development and change we see because of this is the fact it went from painting to stage to film. Deepa’s film Water also shows improvement in an aesthetic art nature due its bright colours and lighting throughout the film. Indian movies are known to be vibrant with colour and we see this through the mice en scene almost in every part of the film. Both films are also a low budget production and succeeded in different ways. This expresses the contrast and comparisons of the changes and developments in the film industry around these specific times. Germany became part of the international film industry due to Robert Wienes expressionism film. The cabinet of Dr Caligari expresses the real life crisis of what was happening in Germany through unrealistic art and expressions just like theatre. An article by Polar said it was the “answer to the grim reality of daily life” (Kolar 2012) comparing this to the film Water: water represents the traditions of India back in 1932 and also expresses realism of the crisis which happened too. Another key development in the new Indian cinema was that the government encouraged film finance body to support low budget marketing’s. This was an extremely great change in the industry. As well as that the term “Diasporic films” were also a change in focus in the Indian cinema. Deepa Mehta film Water came under this category due to her film being made abroad but with a strong sense of Indian component and the fact she was a non-resident of India. The tradition of ‘socially aware’ films has been supported by Indian filmmakers such as Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta” (Stafford 2006) this quote discusses the developments of India and the film industry. The way in which this happened was Indian cinema became more “politically orientated” and a more “socially aware form of cinema” which then made the film Water very successful in the new Indian cinema.

Carrying on from that, The themes of expressionism films carried on and integrated into new films in the late 1930’s this connotes a significant change and development due to films getting inspiration from Robert Wienes film The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari.  As well as Robert many other directors such as: “Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Curtiz introduced the expressionism style” (Begum 2011) this expresses the developments from other directors in the industry because of the film and movement of German expressionism by Robert Weines. Comparing this to Indian directors and Diasporic films it was hard for females to direct in most industries however the director of water Deepa Mehta is in fact female. “Gurinder Chadha in the UK and Deepa Mehta have all made headlines with films set in India.”(Stafford 2006) For Indian new cinema this represents one of the biggest changes in focus in the film industry to date as woman were being seen a lot more in the directing world. As the film was made in 2005 this shows how this movement began to create this change significantly as this is still one of the cases in the film industry today.

To conclude this essay there has been a significant number of developments and changes in the film industry between the earlier and later movements in the field. I discussed the film The Cabinet of Dr Calgari directed by Robert Wienes when discussing the developments through German expressionism and the film Water directed by Deepa Mehta when discussing the developments through New Indian cinema and the key changes which occurred.  When discussing German expressionism where I compared and contrasted them both. The main strong developments were the creation of the Horror genre, how it was the most influential film in German expressionism and how it influenced other directors and auteur’s and brought about aesthetics of art. When discussing New Indian Cinema one of the greatest key changes was the fact that female directors were becoming the headlines. Other main developments I analysed was the use of strong content which was now allowed to be shown due to the different times of the movements,  Diasporic films, aesthetic art and many more. Over all we see great changes in focus and developments happening throughout these movements in the German film industry and Indian film industry and the film industry as a whole.

Bibliography:

Badley, L., Barton Palmer, J., & Schneider, S. J. (2005). Traditions in World Cinema. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press

Bordwell, D, Thompson, K (2003) Film Art: An Introduction Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Geertz, C (1977) The Interpretation of Cultures  Princeton, New Jersey

Begum. S.A (2011) German expressionism Slide Share [Online] Available at: <http://www.slideshare.net/rubykhuntaecwoochanhosu/german-expressionism-3099687> [Accessed 01 June 2013]

Stafford. R (2006) Indian Cinema: The world’s biggest and most diverse film industry [Online] Available at: <http://www.cornerhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/old_site//media/Learn/Study%20Guides/Indian%20cinema.pdf> [Accessed 02 June 2013]

Kolar (2012) German expressionism: The World of Light and Shadow [Online] Available at :< http://mubi.com/lists/german-expressionism-the-world-of-light-and-shadow> [Accessed on 02 June 2013]

Mushy (2005) EXCLUSIVE: Deepa Mehta talks water [Online] Available at: <http://www.movieweb.com/news/exclusive-deepa-mehta-talks-water> [Accessed on 02 June 2013]