The document discusses the 1922 German expressionist film Nosferatu and how it was influenced by events in Germany following World War 1 such as the Spanish influenza pandemic. Some of the key influences discussed are how the film reflected the trauma of war through themes of death and insanity, used the vampire Count Orlok to represent the threat from the East, and employed innovative film techniques like stop motion and unchained camerawork. German expressionist cinema of the 1920s, including Nosferatu, was known for its distorted shapes, shadows, and themes of outsiders.

1. Nosferatu
Weimar Cinema and German
Expressionism

2. History
• WW1 – (1914 – 1918)
• Outbreak of Spanish Influenza – 1918
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
• The Golem (1920)
• Freud (1856 – 1939)
• Nosferatu (1922)
• The Women’s
movement (1920’s)

3. German Expressionism
• Anger a bitterness, death and suffering
• Shapes, angels, distortion and shadow
• Fairytales, the Grimm brothers
• Aspires to be an art form – not just
entertainment
• Comes from expressionist theater, literature
and paintings

4. Features of German Expressionism
• The outsider/Insider
• Double/Split personalities
• Lack of continuity
• Anxiety
• Insanity

5. Nosferatu and the Great War
• Murnau (Director) and Albin Grau
(co-scriptwriter), soldiers of the war
• Buried Soldiers
• The young being sent to die
• The returning soldiers
• Uncertainty of the future of Germany

6. Nosferatu and the Spanish Influenza
• 1917 – 1919
• 50 million dead
• 3 outbreaks in Germany
• The Rat and the spread of
disease

7. Nosferatu and anti-Semitism
• The appearance of Nosferatu
• Threat from the East
• The rat
• Nazi’s

8. Nosferatu and Film techniques
• Stop motion
• Horrific movement
• Entfesslte Kamera (unchained camera)
• Negative shot
• Half Speed
• Nature vs. Nurture

9. The Influence of German
Expressionism on Hollywood
?

10. You’re Welcome
• Alex Railing
• George Vano