The Influence of German Expressionist Cinema on the Films of Tim Burton
By: Dania Yamout
German Expressionist cinema has made a significant impact on contemporary cinema, with a unique visual style that can be found from American blockbusters to small animated short films. German Expressionist cinema has featured in the work of many prominent filmmakers, including the American film director Tim Burton.
Tim Burton, considered by Barrett (2018) as one of Hollywood’s most iconic filmmakers; is best known for his films Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice,The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, Batman Returns, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, and Alice in Wonderland.
Barrett (2018) describes Tim Burton’s instantly recognizable visual style as “Burtonesque”, a “world of skewed angles and twisted trees is the perfect accompaniment to his darkly humorous gothic tales of lonely outsiders.” One only needs to freeze a frame from any of his movies and would immediately recognize that it is a Tim Burton movie due to Burton’s unique style. According to Nathan (2016, p. 6), the stylized look, feel and subject matter of the visually distinctive “Burtonesque” can be described as: “gothic, whimsical, eerie, strange, haunting, and bursting with detail.”
German expressionism has not only influenced Tim Burton, but other prominent filmmakers as well. Other films heavily influenced by German Expressionism include Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth(2006), Alex Provas’ The Crow(1994), Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner(1982), and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo(1958) (No Film School, 2016).
Weinstock (2013, p. 38) states that Tim Burton’s influences include “pop culture, taking inspiration from animation and cartoons, television, children’s literature, Hammer horror films, Japanese monster movies and B-grade science fiction films.” However, how much has German Expressionist cinema influenced the visual aesthetic and storytelling of Tim Burton?
Roberts (2008, p. 8) states that German Expressionist cinema has a “preoccupation with notions of dream and reality, madness and sanity, and blindness and vision which all seem to be subsumed into a concept of ineluctable destiny for both the individual and the society.” Roberts (2008, p. 8) adds that expressionist cinema hopes “to show the world in a fantasy light, a liminal space where dreams, imagination and desire be briefly reconciled with harsh realities.”
According to Roberts (2008, p. 10) common themes used in German Expressionist cinema include “the use of artificial light and shadows, the atmosphere of unease, exaggerated acting styles, themes of psychological expression and a pervading sense of horror and the supernatural, can all be traced back to Expressionism in its literary, artistic or theatrical manifestations.” According to Eisner (1973, p. 21) the sense of unease was created by “deliberately distorted perspectives and from narrow slanting streets which cut across each other at unexpected angles.” Eisner (1973, p. 21) also recognizes that psychological reactions can be induced in the audience “by oblique lines is entirely different from that caused in him by straight lines. Similarly, unexpected curves and sudden ups and downs provoke emotions quite different from those induced by harmonious and gentle gradients.” Roberts (2008, p.15) also states that “expressionism in all its manifestations shared a common sense of optimism, albeit one tinged by a morbid anticipation of disaster which would bring about critical change.”
According to Swanson (2011) the best examples of German Expressionist cinema include Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari(1920), F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu(1922), Fritz Lang’s Metropolis(1927), and James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein(1935).
As Hitler rose in popularity in Germany, many in the German film industry moved to Hollywood in response to the rise of the Nazi party. As a result, Hollywood’s Film Noir films were heavily influenced by the German Expressionist style, especially in their use of shadows such as in The Third Man(1949) (No Film School, 2016). According to Kunze (2015, p. 201) Expressionism also influenced the visual style and storytelling of prominent directors including Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman.
According to Kunze (2015, p. 201), the earliest influence of Expressionism in American cinema is also prominent in the horror films of Universal Studios, which adopted “the stark visual style that depended on smoke, shadows, mirrors, and unnatural backdrops.” Kunze (2015, p. 203) states that Tim Burton was heavily influenced by horror films of Universal Studios, particularly the 1931 adaptation of Frankenstein directed by James Whale. This prominent source in Burton’s aesthetic can be seen in Vincent(1982), Frankenweenie(1984) and its 2012 animated remake. The Frankenstein influence can also be found in Edward Scissorhands(1990), the story of a misunderstood ‘monster’ that is feared and rejected by angry townspeople. Burton’s Sleepy Hollow(1999) also pays a tribute to Frankenstein by including a climactic action sequence that takes place inside a windmill in a small remote town.
Burton agrees: “I don’t think anybody can see any of my films and not know immediately that it’s mine.” According to Weinstock (2013, p. 217) the “Burtonesque” qualities especially found in the set and character design of Burton’s films, have only solidified his perception as a director with a unique artistic sensibility.
Another aspect of Burtonesque according to Weinstock (2013, p. 7) “is to make the afterlife much more colorful and lively than the washed-out and vitiated land of the living.” Burton clearly demonstrates this in his films Beetlejuice(1988), and his stop-motion animated classics The Nightmare Before Christmas(1993) and Corpse Bride(2005).
Similar to the German Expressionist audience’s appreciation of the supernatural, according to Salibury (2000, p. 94) Tim Burton states his appreciation for “fairytales, folktales, myths, are these very extreme images, very heightened, but with some foundation to them. It means something, but is fairly abstract and if it’s going to connect with you it will connect with you, and if it’ not then it won’t.” Tim Burton continues to say: “There’s a certain amount of symbolism, a certain amount of interpretation and abstraction which I appreciate. I much prefer to connect with something on a subconscious level than to intellectualize about it. I prefer to intellectualize about it slightly after the fact.”
According to Weinstock (2013, p. 26) many of Tim Burton’s films “celebrate the Gothic literary, cinematic, and televisual traditions, insistently referencing them and appropriating and deploying themes, motifs, and images associated with the Gothic but they do so in the context of films that persistently undercut the horror of the Gothic mode through humor and sentimentality.”
According to Weinstock (2013, p. 99) Tim Burton has stated the following about his cinematic influences: “I try not to draw too heavily on those types of influences, because then you’re just trying to emulate something as opposed to creating something new… I might like to draw a certain feeling or flavor out of an older movie, but I’m not trying to make a Xerox copy of it.”
Salisbury (2000, p. xv) states that he is not surprised that Burton started his film career in animation, “a medium in which anything is possible, where constraints of imagination, time and place have little meaning. In many ways Burton’s movies can be seen as animated exercises shot as live-action, since they deal with characters and situations that exist outside the realms of reality.”
Nathan (2016, p. 8) states that “Burtonesque can be very political, revealing a director infuriated by authority and class distinctions. American small-mindedness, as embodies by suburbia, is never far away.”
Salisbury (2000, p. xiv) also states that “Burton’s characters are generally outsiders, misunderstood and misperceived, misfits very often encumbered by some degree of duality. They operate on the fringes of their own particular society, tolerated but pretty much left to their own devices.”
Salisbury (2000, p.3) Tim Burton states that: “Growing up, I guess it was a reaction against a very puritanical, bureaucratic, fifties nuclear family environment — me resisting seeing things laid out, seeing things exactly as they were. That’s why I think I’ve always liked the idea of fairy tales or folk tales, because they’re symbolic of something else. There’s a foundation to them, but there’s more besides, they’re open to interpretation.”
Kunze (2015, p. 199) claims that “Burton appropriates the German Expressionist style and fuses it with the Hollywood aesthetic that demands clean and tidy stories with happy endings.” Kunze (2015, p.199) continues to say that he “appreciate Tim Burton’s ability to adopt subversive styles and incorporate them into mainstream products without impairing their potential for success. Despite German Expressionism’s often counterhegemonic intentions, its stylistic complexity often alienated the group it aimed to awaken and inspire. Burton’s appropriation demonstrates one incarnation that attempts to marry avant garde aesthetics with the studio’s necessity for popular consumption. While it might not spark a revolution, it does work to undermine the stale conventions that continue to anesthetize the mainstream audience by reifying the values and practices of the dominant ideology.”
Kunze (2015, p. 200) finds that “whether the scheming doctor of Caligari or the immoral industrialist of Metropolis, the antagonists of these films revealed bourgeouis machinations to control, subdue, and exploit the underclass through physical force or ideological manipulation. Unsurprisingly, the horror films that personified and dramatized fear of the science fiction films that created dystopian microcosms to speculate (cynically) about the future of the human race. Burton draws from both of these strains, crafting playful films that are both fantastic in their vision and satirical in their tone.”
Perhaps like the German Expressionist directors before him, Weinstock (2013, p. 8) Tim Burton is telling stories from the point of view of the alienated individual who is “oppressed by restrictive social expectations and jeopardized by inflexible authoritative structures.” Most of Tim Burton’s characters are outsiders and are misunderstood by their own society, and how society does not tend to look kindly on those who are perceived to be different.
When German Expressionist cinema classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari(1920) was first released, its incredible set design and imaginative visual aesthetic caught the filmgoer’s attention. According to Roberts (2008, p.23) “the startling zigzags, the swirling arabesques and the outrageously exaggerated furniture which created the world within which the actors moved were a novelty in film at the time and must have gone a long way to establishing the film’s fame upon its release.”
One of the major characteristics of many expressionist sets is the use of painted effects to create the impression of light and shadow, and so it was common practice to use artificial lighting rather than natural light sources to ensure better control of the lighting on the set.
Roberts (2008, p.25) claims that in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari “shadows are painted onto the flats which form the walls of the town or the various interior locations, and even across floors and up and down staircases” in order to achieve the effect needed to create the illusion “between dream and the waking state, the conscious and the subconscious.”
The success of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari can also be attributed to a common theme in Expressionism, according to Roberts (2008, p. 36) in which “many in the movement were more concerned with invisible terrors than the inner conflicts and emotions of the individual.”
According to Eisner (1973, p.21) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari visualizes “a small medieval town, with its dark twisting back-alleys boxed in by crumbling houses whose inclined facades keep out all daylight. Wedge-shaped doors with heavy shadows and oblique windows with distorted frames seem to gnaw into the walls.” Several of Tim Burton’s movies showcase visuals that are similar to the distorted scenes shown in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, can be seen in Vincent(1982), Beetlejuice(1988), The Nightmare Before Christmas(1993), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(2005), and Corpse Bride(2005).
In the case of Tim Burton’s beautiful stop-motion animated film Corpse Bride, Nathan (2016, p. 89) proclaims that “it takes place in a distorted, vividly colored, meticulously crafted world where whimsy and gleeful ghoulishness mix freely.”
As per the preceding screen captures taken from the Anna Owens (2015) video essay, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, expressionistic influence can be seen in the tone of Corpse Bride, as well as its gothic architecture, character design, and even the scene composition. Although Tim Burton does take the visual aesthetic further by utilizing today’s significantly more advanced cinematic technology in his storytelling.
As per the above screen capture from Sem Lei (2015) video essay, there are clear similarities between the visual style of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Tim Burton’s animated short Vincent.
When Salisbury (2000, p. 19) asked about Vincent’s expressionistic set design and photography influence by Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Tim Burton had this to say: “I certainly saw pictures of it, in any monster book there were pictures of it. But I didn’t see it until fairly recently. I think it probably has more to do with being inspired by Dr. Seuss. It just happens to be shot in black and white, and there’s a Vincent Price/Gothic kind of thing that makes it feel that way.”
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis(1927), is another masterpiece of German Expressionistic cinema, whose stunning visual aesthetic has influenced countless filmmakers including Ridley Scott’s neo-noir science fiction classic Blade Runner(1982). Roberts (2008, p. 2) also acknowledges Metropolis’ influence on the music videos of “Madonna, Queen, Pink Floyd and others have popularized the image of the robot Maria and the shuffling, downcast workers.”
According to Kunze (2015, p. 205) Fritz Lang’s Metropolis(1927), a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema; has clearly influenced the creation of the spectacular Gotham City in Burton’s Batman and its sequel Batman Returns.
According to Nathan (2016, p. 69) Batman Returns designer Bo Welch drew upon Metropolis and the Brothers Grimm as sources of inspiration to create Gotham City, “temporally speaking, the film simultaneously Bat-tech and big business with nineteenth century Europe.”
Kunze (2015, p. 205) is also quick to point out the German Expressionist influence in Burton’s Gotham City: “the scope of the sets, however demonstrates a recreation of an urban landscape on the scale of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. The city is populated with soaring statues, like the mirror images of kneeling lever operators in Batman Returns.” Kunze (2015, p. 205) believes that these statues contribute a cold and mechanical feeling to Burton’s Gotham City; and its conscious use of shadows and steam from the street grates creates “an environment that obscures what lies beneath and conjures an air of mystery and malice” similar to Lang’s Metropolis.
As can be seen in the above screen captures of Sem Lei (2015) video essay, there is a clear Expressionist influence, not only in the production design of Burton’s Batmanand its sequel Batman Returns, but in the attributes of the villains as well. Kunze (2015, p. 206) claims that “the Joker’s disfigured grin recalls the eerie smile of Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt), the protagonist of Paul Leni’s 1928 Expressionist masterpiece The Man Who Laughs(Veidt also portrayed Cesare, the somnambulist in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.)”
In Batman Returns, Kunze (2015, p. 206) points out that the Penguin’s “menacing waddle and grotesque appearance seemingly conflates the striking figures of Count Orlok and Dr. Caligari.” Kunze (2015, p. 206) also suggests that the name of the villainous industrialist Max Schreck in Batman Returns, is a tribute to German Expressionist cinema since it is the real name of the star of F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. As can be seen in the above image, there is also a clear resemblance between the villains of Metropolis and Batman Returns, as can be seen in their long white hair, wide-eyed gaze, and dark suits.
The influence of Metropolis does not stop at Batman and Batman Returns. As can be seen in the above images from the Sem Lei (2015) video essay, there is also clear similarities between Metropolisand Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(2007), in the character poses, costumes, and the shot composition.
Ferenczi (2010, p. 23) also suggests that Burton cast Sylvia Sidney, an actress who appeared in a number of Fritz Lang movies including Fury,You Only Live Once, and You and Me,in his films Beetlejuice(1988) and Mars Attacks!(1996) in another tribute to Lang.
In the above screen captures from Sem Lei (2015) video essay, F. W Murnau’s Nosferatu has also influenced the aesthetic of Burton’s Edward Scissorhands and Vincent. Nosferatu’s wide influence can also be seen in Burton’s Dark Shadows(2012), where the vampire Barnabas Collins also shares Nosferatu’s pointy ears, long fingers, and quiet sinister gaze.
In a 1979 article, film historian Barry Salt claimed that “Expressionism is well on its way to having so many vague meanings attached to it that it could become meaningless, and also useless as an analytic tool as has happened with ‘realism’ (2006, p. 2).” Based on traits shown in Expressionist paintings, Salt believed that only six films can claim to be of Expressionist cinema. They are: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari(1920), Genuine(1920), From Morn to Midnight(1920),Torgus(1921), Raskolinikov(1923), and Waxworks(1924) (2006, p. 2). Given the significant influence that German Expressionism has made in cinema, many critics may disagree with the limited viewpoint of Salt.
Kunze (2015, p. 199) describes “French film critic Aurelien Ferenczi refers to Frankenweenie as a pastiche of Whale’s Frankenstein, and the term pastiche seems to be one that critics are prone to employ in describing Burton’s work… then such an assessment carelessly reduces the political import of Tim Burton’s work.” To Burton’s critics, Nathan (2016, p. 6) counters that “criticizing Burton for a lack of versatility is like criticizing Charles Dickens for being Dickensian.”
When Salisbury (2000, p. 51) asked about Tim Burton’s admiration for influential Italian director Federico Fellini, he had this to say: “The thing I liked about Fellini was that he created images that even if you didn’t know what they meant literally, you felt something. It’s not creating images to create images. And even though I didn’t fully understand a lot of what he was saying, I could feel a heart behind it. That’s what his work meant to me, that things don’t have to be literal, you don’t have to understand everything. Even though it may be an extreme image, something that’s out of the realm of people’s perception of reality, you feel something. It’s that whole sort of unspoken thing that I find beautiful. That’s the magic of movies.”
There is no denying that Tim Burton has been significantly influenced by German Expressionistic cinema, given an analysis of the visual elements of his films. Like the directors of the expressionistic era, he is motivated to create striking visuals by infusing them with a spirit that is in defiance of the realistic representations associated with authoritative societies. Tim Burton is not only influenced by German Expressionism, but a host of other things including Gothic literature and architecture, Dr. Seuss, Hammer Horror movies, Universal Studios horror movies, and animation. All of his influences, combined with his dark, fantastical and whimsical sensibility; create the unique visual style that we now refer to as “Burtonesque.”
References:
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