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Sunrise: A song of two humans - Coggle Diagram
Sunrise: A song of two humans
German expressionism
AESTHETICS
Set design that was impossible and anti-realist
Strange asymmetrical camera angles (Dutch tilt/canted frame) and high angles
Atmospheric lighting and harsh contrast between dark and light - CHIAROSCURO
Deep shadows and silhouettes - an important feature of expressionism
Sharp and jagged edges
THEMES
Insanity
Linked with post war themes - PTSD
Obsession
Death
Paranoia
Manipulation and invasion
Fear of violence and disease
Dual or fractured identity
A distrust of authority
All themes link with post world war one
Fear of British and French invasion and forced to sign Treaty of Versailles
Paranoia, manipulation and invasion
Germany believed they were winning WW1
A distrust of authority, dual or fractured identity
Poverty in Germany due to post war and Wall Street Crash
Fear of violence and disease
Dawes plan - loan from USA in 1924
paranoia
OTHER GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM FILMS
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)
Often read as an allegorical response to the first world war, with Cesare representing the innocent soldiers who were driven to murder under the instructions of an abusive authoritarian government (Calgari).
Represents the anxiety and distrust in Germany at the time - ART IMITATING LIFE
Nosferatu (1922)
Deep shadows used in Nosferatu conform to German expressionism
Metropolis (1927)
The workers move in symmetrical, jerky patterns, as mechanical as the giant machines they serve, and the mob follows the robot Maria as helplessly as Cesare sleepwalks at the command of Calgari
BEGINNINGS OF EXPRESSIONISM
Expressionist films were initially born out of Germany's relative isolation during the 1910's, and quickly generated high demand due to the government's ban on foreign films
The films' appeal soon spread to an international audience, and by the early 1920's, many European filmmakers had begun experimenting with the absurd and wild aesthetics of German cinema
What is expressionism?
Art that seeks to convey the emotional and psychological instead of conveying realistic representations of the world
Meaning and response
REPRESENTATIONS
The woman from the city represents the 'flapper' figure from the 1920s.
Flappers were women who enjoyed a new-found freedom and American Jazz movement. They rejected Victorian modes of dress, favouring short bobbed hair, short skirts and straight dresses.
In Sunrise, the flapper is represented as a threat to the stability of marriage
The characters don't have names
This is representative of how the experience is probably universal and common. Anyone can fit into the roles these people play
Universal themes in the film: No names, betrayal, passion, murder, guilt, conflict, forgiveness, reconciliation
The woman from the city vs the wife
The wife
Lighter colour clothes
Innocence
Traditional Victorian clothing - modest, unrevealing, practical
First time we meet her she is cooking
Reinforces domestic role of women in the 20s
Her hair is long but put up
Associated with being a mother
Her face is always lit up
The Woman from the city
Dressed all in black
Associated with darkness and dark shadow
Short hair and loose clothes
Flapper
First time we meet her she is in her underwear and smoking
Loose morals, unladylike, sexual
Silky dress
Snake-like
AESTHETICS
Realism vs expressionism
Realism = simple
Expressionism = highly constructed
Lighting
Low key and chiaroscuro
Exaggerated false perspective
MISE-EN-SCENE
MARSH SCENE
Ambient lighting used and low-key lighting - moon
The moon watches from above, watching their evil acts take place
Use of low lighting suggests that the act is something that should be concealed and is being hidden from the wife - or so he thinks
The lighting represents betrayal and evil
Darkness = evil
Adds a layer of realism to the film as moonlight is not a bright light source
The natural world - moon - watches the Man betray his wife and therefore, later, when he finally appreciates her properly, the natural world punishes him, making him think his wife has died in the storm
It spares the wife though, as she is an innocent victim
The fog
creates a sinister feeling around the environment suggesting that what they are doing is wrong
Fog also adds to feeling of concealment and wrongdoing
WFTC clothing
Dressed all in black
Mysterious, dark, evil
She is representative of the flapper - short hair, makeup, short and straight dress
Contrasts the wife who is dressed traditionally and in light coloured clothes
She applies more makeup as she sees him approach
She puts on a mask for him - she is fake, a façade
Props
WFTC holds a flower before the man arrives and then throws it away as he approaches
Mud
Wade through mud - hard terrain especially in heels
Pulls their shoes down
Idea of wrong doing - they shouldn't be doing this
Could say the mud tries to stop them
She is going to extreme lengths to get the reeds for the man
Dangerous, desperate, willingness to do anything
OPENING SCENE
Woman from the city
First meeting of WFTC
She is just in her underwear and smoking
Connotes loose morals and a sexual nature
Short hair and loose clothes
Meant to resemble a flapper
1920's - wore loose clothes/dresses, smoked, loved jazz, short hair, drank
Came from post WW1 period - life was short and could be taken away at any moment so why not live it
Makes the older woman shine her shoes
She has no respect for the people she is staying with - views them as slaves
Expects the best treatment
Later when she gets them muddy shows the lack of respect for the work the old woman did to shine them for her
Posh, high maintenance
House WFTC is staying in
Slanted table
Link to forced perspective and German Expressionism
The angles of the walls and the ceiling don't seem to match up correctly
Implies the hardship and dismay of the people in the countryside
Chiaroscuro lighting
Lighting used to add realism, verisimilitude
Shadow of the husband at the window
Represents the shadow of doubt he has, yet lust outweighs it
Makes the story and setting believable
Double exposure of all the ways they could travel at the time
Cinematography
Editing
Sound
Performance
Critical debates
Context