artists who influenced the course of avant-garde
and experimental filmmaking around the world.
The French movies that we will discuss tend to
fit into one of three different types: (1) short dadaist
and surrealist films of an anticonventional, absur-
dist nature; (2) short naturalistic psychological
studies; or (3) feature-length films that also empha-
size pure visual form.
Dada and surrealism were two European move-
ments in the arts that sought, provocatively and
irreverently, to shock the viewer with surprises
and unexpected juxtapositions. Specifically, they
attempted to re-create the free play of the mind in
its perceptions, dreams, or hallucinations. Dadaist
and surrealist cinema attacks normal narrative
conventions by eliminating causality, emphasizing
chance and unexpected occurrences, and creating
strange and shocking relationships among images.
The result is a visual world that appears to be
neurotic, unnatural, and illogical, resisting analysis
and conclusion by the viewer. And because it
emphasizes free association over conventional cine-
matic language, it attracted painters who were
visual artists first and filmmakers second. (Although
dada preceded surrealism, they coexisted in the
1920s to such an extent that the two words are
often used interchangeably to describe works that
demonstrate these characteristics.) In France, the
major filmmakers working in these movements
include the American-born Man Ray (Emak-Bakia,
1926); Jean Epstein, whose The Fall of the House of
Usher(1928), inspired by one of Edgar Allan Poe’s
most famous tales, includes dreamy, impressionis-
tic visual effects (including slow motion, out-of-
focus shots, multiple exposures, and distortions);
René Clair (Entr’acte, 1924); Fernand Léger (Ballet446 CHAPTER 10FILM HISTORY
12Dr. Caligari’s influenceAlthough Robert Wiene’s The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari(1920) is traditionally cited as the best
example of German Expressionism, expressionist elements
figure strongly in F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, a Symphony of
Horror(1922), the first of many film adaptations of the
Dracula story, and The Last Laugh(1924), a charming fable
about social justice. Their narratives could not be more
different, yet they are linked by their reliance on
expressionist design. In contrast to Dr. Caligari, where the
expressionism relies mostly on graphic effects, those in
Nosferaturely primarily on cinematic effects: low camera
angles (as seen in shot [1]), makeup and costume design,
lighting, and editing create an eerie mise-en-scène. And even
though the vampire figure is truly scary (Nosferatu is played
by the memorable Max Schreck, who, pictured here with
Gustav von Wangenheim as the real-estate agent, looks like a
rat), the movie also manages to make him a sympathetic
human being. Far more sympathetic—and far more
realistic—is the principal character of The Last Laugh, an
unnamed hotel porter played equally memorably by
Emil Jannings. Here, expressionism can be seen in the mise-
en-scène and actor’s movements as well as in the
composition, play of light and shadow, and exaggerated
costume [2], all of which are subtler than what we see in
either Dr. Caligarior Nosferatu. The Last Laughis also
important for its impressive use of the moving camera and
the camera’s subjective point of view.