Comparing German Expressionism And Soviet Montage

German Expressionism and Soviet Montage are two styles of filmmaking that emerged in the early 1920’s. German Expressionism can be seen as a reactionary art movement to the poverty stricken Germany in the wake of a crushing defeat in WWI. Its stylistic techniques as well as subject matter embodied the tone of the German masses in the post war era. Soviet Montage was also stylized by the current state of the Soviet Union that created it, it was popularly used as a form of propaganda and the political messages of the time are hard to miss.
While German Expressionism and Soviet Montage have various characteristics to distinguish themselves from each other they also have similarities. Both styles revered the importance of a strong narrative structure, …show more content…
Soviet Montage did not premier many films during this time; however, the films that were produced were very influential since it was often seen as propaganda. It was considered to be very objective, and due to the impact that the films had on society, a society film industry was created. It was a small yet influential school that taught filmmakers how to focus on the mass rather than the individual. Vladimir Lien believed that films were able to teach more than art due to their visually expressive nature and inclusive properties. Artwork was viewed as a machine, and thus a message should be able to be told through a story and not a character. In Strike directed by Eisenstein in 1925 only one character was identified throughout the film. Soviet Montage made films around controversial issues such as strikes and other clashes of history of revolutions, and conveyed a story through their large number of shots. The unique style of editing helped the filmmakers to visually express the propaganda in the films, and the Kuleshov effect has become the most recognizable characteristic of this editing style. The Kuleshov effect dramatized the existing concentration of joining shots together, forming jump cuts, in order to create a juxtaposition that would elicit an emotional response. The Battleship Potemkin exhibits a masterful display of shots cut together. The film uses eighteen shots to show a mother get shot and a carriage go down a stairs. The editing style of Soviet Montage was intentionally not as easy to follow. The more chaotic editing approach was in direct contrast to German Expressionism and its emphasis on a linear plot.
Between the years of 1919 and 1933, cinema developed rapidly. Techniques were formed, styles changed, and the impact of the film industry thrived. German Expressionism and The Soviet Montage are two film styles that created an era and influenced basic filmmaking for the rest of the world moving