Noir and German Expressionism

Originally appearing on the (now defunct) Apex Publications blog, March 2013   Ahhhh film noir: black and white and gritty, low-budget never looked so good. But one of the most striking things about film noir is its roots in German Expressionism. German Expressionism is a twentieth century art movement focused in Germany (natch) from the pre-WWI era through WW2. So while the rest of Europe and America was doing Art Deco, Germans were experimenting with…well, everything. Art, sculpture, theatre, film…if there was media the Germans expressed it. Expressionism was supposed to be the answer to, the reaction to Impressionism. Whereas Impressionism was meant to capture a moment in time, a memory, an impression, if you will, the purpose of Expressionism was to...