Dark City: German Expressionist Film

            German Expressionism is an artistic genre that invented in Europe in the late 1920s. It is refers as a number of related creative techniques that began in Germany before the First World War. These expressionism developments in Germany were associated with the European culture in aspects of architecture, dance, painting and cinema. The German Expressionist movement was initially confined due to the economy crisis of the country during the World War One. The government banned the foreign films and the demand of the local Germany film increased. In that particular period, Germans had more freedom in creating the film because it helps in increase the country’s economy. However, in 1920s and 1930s, German Expressionism influences the Hollywood films where these German directors found U.S. movie studios who willing to embrace them (Andrew, 2002). As a result, the German Expressionism able to doubtfully far ahead of Hollywood film during the same period (Merton, 2009). Therefore, in this essay, I would like to discuss the traits and characteristic that can be recognized in a German Expressionism film.

          

            German Expressionist style can be identified through the Mise-en-scene of a film. A formal element that can be found in a German Expressionist films is the Chiaroscuro lighting, which the lighting in the scene that shows extreme contrasts of light and dark in order to create a sense of dramatic shadows in the scene. The use of low key lighting able to give the filmmaker to stress the links between the character and the setting in order to create the distortion and tension sense of feeling. As the contrast and imbalance of the visual elements shows the characters are trapped and reigned by their madness, revolt, self-analysis and primitive or sexual savagery. Next, the next element represents the German Expressionist film is the use of anthropomorphism, which is a non-human form character that attributed from human form, human characteristics as well as human behaviour in creating it. In addition, abstraction is the one of the style that used in German Expressionism film. It is a style of art that privileges internal from over pictorial representation. It is different to the traditional styles of art because it more centred on the use of imagination or ideas expressed through emotion or perception. Besides, the content of a German expressionist film is usually surreal and gothic which refers to unnatural acts or realities those are not usually perceived in everyday life. Moreover, the distorted bodies and shapes of the props can be found in the German Expressionist film where we can identify by its unrealistic form that we recognized in our life. As these distorted elements in the film is to counter the sense of balance and with the heavy shadowing in the scene which suggest a warped or perverted perspective of the world in the film. Therefore, German Expressionist film can be explained as a film movement that emphasizes on the expression of inner thoughts or emotion through the design of the stylistic elements of the film.

            Dark City is a 1998 American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Alex Proyas. In order to further understand the influence of German Expressionism toward the contemporary film, we will look at the thematic and stylistic elements that can be adapted from the film Dark City. Dark City is a story about a world where an unnatural human form creature known as “Strangers” have taken control over the human’s mind. John Murdoch, the main character who awake in a strange hotel and lost his memory. While trying to piece together his past and fight for the truth toward the current world, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by these “Strangers” who possess the ability to put people to sleep and “tune” the city structure and human memories. He will find a way to stop them before they take control his mind and destroy him as they realize Murdoch has possess theirs power. 

            There is a few German expressionist traits can be identified in the film Dark City. Firstly, the primitive sexual savagery where occurs on the kid form Stranger who have violent and primal instincts. For an example, he is the one who idealizes the intention in killing Murdoch. He loves and finds pleasure in killing women and craft arts on the dead bodies. Besides, the kid Stranger bites Murdoch’s hand instead of using knife or proper weapon is an act as a representation of dark primal instincts. Next, the distortion of the reality can be seen in the film where buildings and interior of the house undergo tuning as the shape changed. These buildings able to twist, turn, expand, and become higher, longer and others form when Strangers undergo tuning process. For instances, the dining table becomes longer and the setting of the dining room becomes luxurious as the Strangers tuned them. These unnatural or counter reality traits enhance the feeling of unpredictability and insecurity in experiencing the film. Besides than building or props, the distortion form of human can be found in the Strangers too due to their gothic and dark appearance. The strangers have longer finger, pale face, rigid and constricted movements where is abnormal form of human that we perceive in reality. They even have the ability in putting human to sleep. This emphasizes the Strangers are not human and their dark appearances outfit represents as evil. Next, the chiaroscuro lighting of the film creates heavy and dramatic shadows which play a significant part in the film to create an intense mood and sense of tension. The film plays with this technique of lighting in the starting of the film where the Murdoch is in the bathtub and a very low key lighting in the bathroom. This enhances the sense of instability and leads audiences to evoke their fear. 

            In conclusion, we can still identify the convention of German Expressionist traits in the contemporary films. It is commonly used as the technique being practice by the filmmaker to create the certain sense of the story. Therefore, it is consider as one of the successful convention had done during the development of film from the past until present day. Besides, it is a very important for the filmmaker or film practitioners to understand and analyse the convention of others film’s canon or expressionist in order to learn more about the element of film.