Thursday, October 13, 2016
Bride of Frankenstein
Think about the films we have watched over the past two years that come from the horror genre (or its predecessor, German Expressionism) and choose one film to discuss with Bride of Frankenstein. Think about the films' geographical region, time period, unique approach to film style and genre. Discuss how each film was affected by political, economic, social, and cultural conditions at the time. How did these things affect the narrative as well as the cinematic elements?
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James Whale’s 1935 Hollywood horror blockbuster “The Bride of Frankenstein” was a monster movie similar to those of the time, yet always remembering to pull from the recent German Expressionist movement in order to effectively execute the genre. Wiene’s Caligari represents the birth of the “horror” genre, made in the turmoil following the Treaty of Versailles in Germany. The German people were lost, distraught, and broken after WWI. Wiene’s film captures these fears and hardships with the monster of Cesare, wrecking the town at night. Cesare is a mode utilized to instill the idea in the German people to keep their eyes open to the unusual, as anything could happen. By connecting these economic hardships with a sleep walking killer, Wiene attempts to frighten the Germans of their state. Like Caligari, Bride of Frankenstein uses a monster to instill fear and distract the American people from economic hardships. Released during the heart of the American Great Depression, the film makes a representative scapegoat of the monster. The film warns of the danger scpegoats can create, and how issues will still be present. Whale wants to make sure America does not create scapegoats or overreact as Wiene’s Germany did (Nazi rule). In times of distress, the distraction and lessons of film can help all, and can nullify the damage done by catastrophe.
ReplyDeleteAs for cinematic elements, the main similarities between the two films are usage of differing shots and shot types. Both Calgary and Bride utilize the Dutch angle shot of monsters sparingly, but highly effectively. These Dutch angles are representative of the distress and flip sided nature of the narrative and the inner meaning of the films. The film world is shifted and twisted, just as the real world is.
DeleteGerman expressionism is known as the birth of the horror genre with greatly influential films, one of the most famous being Murnau’s Nosferatu. Nosferatu was produced in Germany in 1922, very shortly after World War One where Germany was blamed as the main cause of the war. Most German expressionist films were supported by the Weimar Republic through propaganda, and we see that due to the evil and terrifying character of Nosferatu the public would fear fake monsters rather than their actual government. Germany was also going through a depression during the 1920’s which plays a big role into the central implied meaning of this film. I believe the role of nosferatu’s character is meant to symbolize the Great Depression Germany was facing. We see the power Nosferatu has by the way he rises to a high angle shot and his ever presence in the final scene which is interpreted by Eisenstein “third meaning” theory. The sense of hopelessness and lack of individualism of the people of germany is also seen in the single shot of the police officer going door to door and marking each door as dead.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to the Germans in the 1920s, Americans were facing the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. Hollywood first got involved in horror in the 1930s with grotesque monsters replacing the dreamlike imagery of German Expressionism. James Whale’s monster movie of 1935, The Bride of Frankenstein explored horrors that were rare to find by the public, he accentuated cold blooded scenes over violent ones to achieve fears from audiences who had already been through the violence of war. Due to the ongoing depression and most Americans only being able to get their news from radio, I believe Whale’s intent for this film was to show humans possess more evil than the monsters themselves because the camera angles and lighting in this film makes the viewer feel sympathy for Frankenstein due to his ignorance and inability to oppose his maker. When Dr. Frankenstein is feeding the monster his face is face lit at a point of view shot from the monster, implying there is a lot that he does not know about his maker. Also the technique of the Dutch or skewed angle is always used when showing the mad scientists but never used when showing Frankenstein, which again goes along with the theory that the people are far more evil than our common feared evil (a monster).
In my opinion, the 1935 film “The Bride of Frankenstein” best relates with the 1920 German Expressionist film “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari”. From a more superficial level, these films relate through the fact that they both involve a story within a story background. In “Caligari” this includes mostly a flashback from our main character, Francis, but it is then later revealed to the viewer that he was telling this story in an insane asylum, giving it a bit of a twist ending. In “Frankenstein”, the film opens to a story being told, but doesn’t conclude so nicely, it simply ends with the end of the story, and not the three original storytellers concluding it. On a more cinematic level, the films relate in more than one way. For example, low angles are used for both the portrayal of Frankenstein and Caligari early on in each film, to convey to the audience who the supposed villain was. Both of these “villains” are pretty misunderstood, considering that Frankenstein has an entire interaction with a blind hermit without hurting or disturbing his life, and Caligari was just a regular joe who happened to walk in his sleep.
ReplyDeleteFor a more socio economic standpoint, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” came out directly after WWI in Germany, an extremely war torn country. The dark, eerie themes portrayed in this film directly correlate to such disparity found in 1920s German society. Some even relate the twist ending and the seemingly totalitarian rule of Dr. Caligari in the asylum to the dictatorship of Hitler during the third Reich, saying that Robert Weine may have even predicted some unrest before the Weimar republic. “The Bride of Frankenstein” came out before WWII in the USA, right in the middle of the great depression, and Whale’s depiction of the monsters and sort of puppetry done by the scientists in this film elucidate the distractions needed by the American public during such a time of economic hardship. The way that Henry and Pretorius fiddle with Frankenstein’s life could show how the American people felt that the government needed to be playing a larger role in getting a stronger economy back, or even how some people felt distaste toward Roosevelt’s strong lack of laissez faire governing style. Altogether, these two films are very similar in using a strong monster to portray problems within the native country’s government or economy.
Interesting, Sophie. I like what you have to say about what was going on at the time of both productions. Good work.
Delete"The Bride of Frankenstein" can be seen as an American parallel to "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari". Both films were results of political turmoil and employ stylized visuals that would otherwise be ridiculous in a narrative that makes them natural and believable. "Caligari"'s set design became iconic for its jagged, exaggerated shapes and sprawling shadows that were painted as part of the set itself. Compare this to scenes from "Bride" such as the ones that take place in the forest, with a canvas backdrop to display stormy skies, and the obviously fake trees. In another movie, the unrealistic design would be cheesy, but for this over-the-top horror story, the fact that the trees look as cobbled-together as the monster himself is brilliant, and adequately verisimilar. Both films generally steer away from explicit violence in favor of jarring visuals and depraved notions.
ReplyDelete"Caligari" was produced in the wake of the first World War, and its jarring visuals and macabre content (just like other German Expressionist films) mirror the political and economic chaos existing in Germany at the time. The mess of inefficiency and economic depression wrought upon Germany by the treaty of Versailles was manifested in the ghouls and shadows of such films. "Bride", in a similar manner, was created during a time in which the world was on the brink of war. Its narrative is centered around Dr. Frankenstein's reluctance to take action again and the concept of men playing god. The doctor's reluctance, and inevitable succumbing to Pretorius' threats, mirror the prewar Western powers' fear of starting another conflict like the Great War and their eventual mobilization against the Axis powers. Just as the two men toy with life itself, the major nations involved in WWII sacrifice life and limb, drop bombs, devastate nations, and wield unprecedented destructive power. While "Bride" came out before the war, rather than after the war like "Caligari", the writing was on the wall, and the movies' contexts were similar enough for such parallels in their cultural commentary.
Comparing the social context of The Bride of Frankenstein and The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari provides an interesting possible message in the creation of these stories of the unnatural. Bride of Frankenstein came out in 1935 amid the height of the dust bowl and great depression america was in dire straits and to ease its fears a movie about a man made monsters that destroy their creators is released. In 1920 Germany is governed by the Weimar Republic possibly the least successful governing body in history the country is reeling from the treaty of Versailles and its creators release a movie about a man creating a monster under the control of an evil doctor that plagues a village with murder in his mind. In both the problems of the protagonist are self created Implying that the creators of the stories believe this of their own countries’ problems. The cinematic similarities come from the angular and often unnatural sets in both films although these are created in different ways. In Bride it comes from the strange lab equipment and the pointed castle tower, whereas Calargari features sharp, angular, painted windows and shadows that are a staple of german expressionism.
ReplyDelete“Bride of Frankenstein” and “the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” are extremely similar, not only in terms of the social setting behind them, but also in their appearance on screen.
ReplyDeleteBoth films were made in a time of turmoil in their respective nations; Germany was in a chaotic state after losing the first world war, and America was in the middle of the depression and the dustbowl when their respective movies were made. We can see the general sense of insecurity of the people in both movies, since both are heightened by very frightening imagery and exaggerated sounds. The films both have stories with people playing God, which is a natural thought in a time of chaos. People were desperate to get out of their crappy situations, and the films show that people having an obscene amount of power is not a good thing. The setting in the movies reflects society and the countries, with the jagged, exaggerated, huge objects in them. It shows an immensity in the bad situation that the people weren’t able to deal with.
1935's "Bride of Frankenstein" was born of the principles of German Expressionism. The mid 30's in America were years of the Great Depression and the beginning of German rearmaments. The horror genre tends to gain traction during times of crisis, and "Bride of Frankenstein" delivers as the monster in question is subject to both his born disposition of terror and his state of isolation, yearning for a relationship in his turmoil. The product of German Expressionism also spawns from isolation in the midst of war... The Great War. Germany was also under economic inflation and the demand for cinema was high.
ReplyDeleteA film in comparison to "Bride of Frankenstein" is one of the iconic films of the time, "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror". The time period between the two films is 13 years, the genre of monster horror is apparent. "Bride...", an American film, is set in Britain and "Nosferatu" is set in Wisborg, Germany (both of which are European nations).
The style of "Nosferatu" is similar to that of its predecessors, its set design's geometry is unusual, but nothing extravagant in the likes of "...Caligari". Similarly, "Bride" shares intriguing set design without the atmosphere of obvious jagged edges, but structures like spires are commonplace in both films. One obvious difference is the use of color filters in "Nosferatu" in order to portray time of day and tone of the scene, whereas "Bride" uses the standard Hollywood black-and-white color-scheme. Both films utilize the closeup and medium close-up to capture character's expressions, particularly in faces of wonder and horror in witness to the monsters, while using wide angle shots to encapsulate whole events or important imagery, especially set-properties and pieces like the shipyard and deformed tree in "Nosferatu" and The electric laboratory in "Bride of Frankenstein". Almost all lighting in these films are low key lighting, this creates sharp contrasts on objects and people, allowing things to hide in shadows and show more distinct expressions on faces.
I think there is a very obvious parallel between the bride of frankenstein and the cabinet of dr caligari’s mise en scene. They both play on the unrealistic setting and much like Robert Weine, James Whale uses this to his advantage the create something extremely different from what most films were doing at the time. You can tell Whale really pulled from the German expressionist movement. In the scene where they chase Frankenstein through the trees into the forest the trees look unreal and create a feeling of a different world. The same way that in Cabinet the whole world is the same style of artistic expression that affects how you view the film. Even if you compare the movie posters. Frankenstein and Caligari on the poster have similar art styles. They use stark contrast to accentuate the points and divots in their faces. Which is similar to the way that the shadows were drawn in the setting of Cabinet of Dr Caligari. The style of Cabinet of Dr Caligari spread from German Expressionism stemming from the darkness of war and the likes of it. It is no wonder that horror became a big market after World War 2 following the wave of avant garde. Which if you take a look at avante garde films you see a lot of connections of that with german expressionism because of the way they look at colors and shapes. Most avante garde films were black and white and used that to their advantage with lighting and shadows. Much like they did in Nosferatu another famous German expressionist film. Nosferatu used natural shadows to create an eerie effect where Avant garde films took those shadows and did experimental things with them.
ReplyDeleteA similar thing that you notice in the films is that there is a lot of sympathy on the side of the monster. We see everything from Caligari’s point of view in this plot and similarly the Bride of Frankenstein we see most from the scientist's point of view mixed with the monster. One of the things that really struck me with the mise en scene is the architecture of Frankenstein’s house. It is particularly sharp shaped there are a lot of arches which resemble the victorian era. It really speaks generic horror and again parallels to the shadows in Caligari. “German Expressionist painters rejected the naturalistic depiction of objective reality, often portraying distorted figures, buildings, and landscapes in a disorienting manner that disregarded the conventions of perspective and proportion. This approach, combined with jagged, stylized shapes and harsh, unnatural colors, were used to convey subjective emotions.”. This in every word explains the parallel that they share in their mise en scene. Specifically how in Cabinet they painted shadows onto the wall and then in the Bride of Frankenstein the way that shadows made sharp shapes on their faces that have the same feeling. Not only that the the way the frame is composed. In both movies they had jaunty frames that told you things in the world were out of balance. I.e when Caligari is rushing to tell his monster that they have to leave. In his room the shadows make the room almost tilt. In the Bride of Frankenstein when they are creating her the angles they have on the Scientist’s faces off put you and these things are really almost siblings. Overall both of these movies are almost identical in style and even close in story. Both really revolutionary films and there is no wonder why.
When you think about James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein, it is easy to make the mental connection to Robert Wiene's Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Indeed, both films are very similar in genre and portrayal of the monster. Both movies, with their set design of towering spires and sharp shadows, have obviously come from shocking and turmoil-filled times. Bride was made in 1935 in America, at the peak of the Great Depression. Caligari was produced in 1920 in Germany, right when the Weimar Republic had come around, signaling hyperinflation and a destruction of the economy and German way of life. People were looking for a distraction, and what better way to distract from real life monsters than with fake ones?
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing about these two films is that neither of them are what we would describe as “horror” nowadays - they are neither slasher/gore nor psychological thriller. They live in their own genre, that of situational horror. To us nowadays, it is easy to see the monster as non frightening, maybe even funny. But to them, it felt much closer to home. Another film that could be compared to this was Japan’s Gojira. To those people, in that situation, it was a horrific depiction of what was really occuring around them. So to conclude, these films cannot be looked down upon because they do not scare today’s mainstream viewers, those people living in the world of jumpscares and creepy music. They hint at something much darker, which is the fear of reality in all of us.