New Objectivity (filmmaking)
New Objectivity (a translation of the German Neue Sachlichkeit,[1] alternatively translated as "New Sobriety" or "New matter-of-factness") was an art movement that emerged in Germany in the early 1920s as a counter to expressionism.[2] The term applies to a number of artistic forms, including film.
History[edit]
In film, New Objectivity reached its high point around 1929.[3] It translated into realistic cinematic settings, straightforward camerawork and editing, a tendency to examine inanimate objects as a way to interpret characters and events, a lack of overt emotionalism, and social themes.
Notable directors[edit]
The director most associated with the movement is Georg Wilhelm Pabst.[4] Pabst's films of the 1920s concentrate on subjects such as abortion, prostitution, labor disputes, homosexuality, and addiction. His cool and critical 1925 Joyless Street is a landmark of the objective style.[5] Pabst's 1930 pacifist sound film Westfront 1918 views the World War I experience in a bleak, matter-of-fact way.[6][7] With its clear denunciation of war, it was soon banned as unsuitable for public viewing.
Other directors in the style included Ernő Metzner, Berthold Viertel,[8] and Gerhard Lamprecht.
Decline[edit]
The movement ended essentially in 1933 with the fall of the Weimar Republic.[9]
Films[edit]
Films with New Objectivity themes and visual style include:
- Joyless Street, 1925[10]
- Secrets of a Soul, 1926
- Uneasy Money, 1926
- The Love of Jeanne Ney, 1927
- Police Report: Hold-Up, short subject, 1928
- Pandora's Box, 1929[11]
- People on Sunday, 1930
- Westfront 1918, 1930 [12][13]
References[edit]
- ^ MoMA|German Expressionism Style: New Objectivity
- ^ Cultural changes: developments in architecture, art and the cinema - The Weimar Republic 1918-1929 - Edexcel - GCSE History Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize
- ^ Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of ...by Bernadette Kester, page 123
- ^ Private Anxieties/Public Projections: "New Objectivity", Male Subjectivity, and Weimar Cinema on JSTOR
- ^ Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era, edited by Noah William Isenberg, page 140
- ^ Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of ...by Bernadette Kester, page 123
- ^ Westfront 1918 (1930)|The Criterion Collection
- ^ The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945, by Klaus Kreimeier, page 113
- ^ New Objectivity - Didactics_0.pdf
- ^ Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era, edited by Noah William Isenberg, page 140
- ^ Isenberg, Noah, ed. (2009). Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era. Columbia University Press. p. 236. ISBN 9780231503853. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Google Books.
- ^ Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films from the Weimar Period (1919-1930) on JSTOR
- ^ An Endless Number of Great Deeds: Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of the Weimar Period (1919-1933) by Bernadette Kester — Senses of Cinema
