The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Robert Wiene, Germany, 1919)
The film which established the movement on the world stage. It was released in America in 1920 and created an immediate impact especially on the burgeoning film community in Hollywood.
Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, Germany, 1922)
The first film version of Bram Stoker's Dracula, which remains one of the most important horror movies ever made and established its director of one of the masters of expressionism. The name of the film and the main characters were changed to avoid paying royalties to the Stoker estate.
Metropolis (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1927)
Considered by many the towering achievement of German Expressionism and a touchstone film in the science fiction genre. After fleeing the Nazis, Lang was to have a long and distinguished career in Hollywood.
Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, USA, 1927)
Murnau's Song of Two Humans was his first American film and remains one of the greatest achievements of the silent screen, a masterclass in two of the most important stylistic components of expressionism, lighting and motion, chiaroscuro and the "unchained camera".
The Blue Angel (Josef Von Sternberg, Germany, 1930)
The film which made Marlene Dietrich a star, and momentarily bridged the German expressionist tradition with that of Hollywood, as the Austrian-American director shot two versions of the film simultaneously (one in German, one in English) at Ufa's Berlin studios. This film also sets in motion the complex collaboration between the director and the film's star, a fraught partnership which are some of the most visually stunning examples of the male gaze in operation.
The Blue Angel (Josef Von Sternberg, Germany, 1930)
The film which made Marlene Dietrich a star, and momentarily bridged the German expressionist tradition with that of Hollywood, as the Austrian-American director shot two versions of the film simultaneously (one in German, one in English) at Ufa's Berlin studios. This film also sets in motion the complex collaboration between the director and the film's star, a fraught partnership which are some of the most visually stunning examples of the male gaze in operation.
Nosferatu (Werner Herzog, Germany, 1979)
M, (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1931)
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927)
The 39 Steps, Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1935.
One of Hitchcock's early masterpieces, and a film which still rewards repeated viewing with many Hitchcokian (and expressionistic) motifs in clear evidence; theatricality as a framing narrative, nature as oppressive and full of danger, blonde obsession, high contrast lighting matched with a fluid camera and so on.
