New Objectivity (a translation of the German Neue Sachlichkeit,MoMA|German Expressionism Style: New Objectivity alternatively translated as "New Sobriety" or "New matter-of-factness") was an art movement that emerged in Germany in the early 1920s as a counter to expressionism.Cultural changes: developments in architecture, art and the cinema - The Weimar Republic 1918-1929 - Edexcel - GCSE History Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize The term applies to a number of artistic forms, including film.
History In film, New Objectivity reached its high point around 1929.Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of ...by Bernadette Kester, page 123 It translated into realistic cinematic settings, straightforward camerawork and editing, a tendency to examine inanimate objects as a way to interpret characters and events, a lack of overt emotionalism, and social themes.
Notable directors The director most associated with the movement is Georg Wilhelm Pabst.Private Anxieties/Public Projections: "New Objectivity", Male Subjectivity, and Weimar Cinema on JSTOR Pabst's films of the 1920s concentrate on subjects such as abortion, prostitution, labor disputes, homosexuality, and addiction. His cool and critical 1925 Joyless Street is a landmark of the objective style.Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era, edited by Noah William Isenberg, page 140 Pabst's 1930 pacifist sound film Westfront 1918 views the World War I experience in a bleak, matter-of-fact way.Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of ...by Bernadette Kester, page 123Westfront 1918 (1930)|The Criterion Collection With its clear denunciation of war, it was soon banned as unsuitable for public viewing.
Other directors in the style included Ernő Metzner, Berthold Viertel,The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945, by Klaus Kreimeier, page 113 and Gerhard Lamprecht.
Decline The movement ended essentially in 1933 with the fall of the Weimar Republic.New Objectivity - Didactics_0.pdf
Films
Films with New Objectivity themes and visual style include:
Joyless Street, 1925Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era, edited by Noah William Isenberg, page 140 Secrets of a Soul, 1926 Uneasy Money, 1926 The Love of Jeanne Ney, 1927 Police Report: Hold-Up, short subject, 1928 Pandora's Box, 1929 People on Sunday, 1930 Westfront 1918, 1930 Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films from the Weimar Period (1919-1930) on JSTORAn Endless Number of Great Deeds: Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of the Weimar Period (1919-1933) by Bernadette Kester — Senses of Cinema
References