Konstantinos Argianas / Introduction to the History and Theory of Cinema

Lobby Card from the 1920 film 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' as doctors examine his somnambulist, Cesare

This lecture sketches the development of German and Soviet film as well as film theory of 1920s. First, I examine the aesthetic, political, ideological, and other parameters of both German and Soviet cinema. Particularly, through emblematic examples (Robert Wiene’s, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920, and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's silent film Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens, 1922), I analyze the Mise-en-scène of German Expressionist cinema and I show the extent to which German Expressionism has influenced contemporary cinema, such as Tim Barton’s films. Afterwards, I explore aspects of Soviet Montage Theory (The Kuleshov Effect and Sergei Eisenstein's Intellectual Montage), which can be found from contemporary films to tv advertisements and video clips. Finally, I argue that both the German Expressionist cinema and the Soviet Cinema have made a notable impact on contemporary cinema as well as on mass media.