Self-Isolation Streaming: Criterion Channel & World Cinema
In these trying times, many people find themselves hunkered down in their homes with nothing but time. We’ve all heard the stories about what Sir Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare accomplished while in quarantine, so perhaps you could use all this spare time to dive into film history via one of the best streaming services for movies: The Criterion Channel. Film movements are born out of immense change on a large scale. The movements discussed in this article reflect the upending of societies due to revolutions, war, and cultural shifts. Art does not exist in a vacuum and art resonates with the events of humanity. Perhaps we will see a shift in cinema post-COVID-19, but until then, we can only look to our shared past.
While this list is not exhaustive or comprehensive, it should give you a nice glimpse into world cinema movements through time and suggest films that embrace the aspects that made these movements so important.
Soviet Montage
After the October Revolution of 1917, filmmakers had to adapt to using found footage and previously filmed material due to a shortage of film stock. Utilizing the Kuleshov Effect, a method of interpreting emotions based on images in series, filmmakers began to experiment with the juxtaposition of these disconnected images through editing. This type of editing, called montage, was pioneered by filmmaker and theorist Sergei Eisenstein. In Eisenstein’s films, the filmmaker is using the conflict between the images (Kino Fist) to emphasize the manipulation of the film. This is contrary to another Soviet filmmaker, Dziga Vertov’s idea of Kino Eye, which Vertov used to describe film’s ability to recreate reality. Sequences that typify Soviet Montage are The Odessa Steps Sequence in Battleship Potemkin and the final sequence of Strike, both by Sergei Eisenstein.
Battleship Potemkin (1925) Eisenstein
Strike (1925) Eisenstein
The Old and the New (1929) Aleksandrov & Eisenstein
German Expressionism
Influenced by the Expressionist painters of the time, German Expressionism in film was born out of post-war anxiety and often utilized nightmare-inducing imagery with little effort to recreate reality. The filmmakers of German Expressionism sought to deliver the emotions and isolation felt in Germany after World War I. Jagged angles, stark color differences, conflicting shapes, and grotesque characters inhabit the film worlds of Expressionism. Because no foreign films were allowed into Germany at the time, filmmakers retreated inward to depict a national cinema wrought with a tragic concoction of emotions, all of which find their way into each frame of German Expressionism.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) Wiene
The Golem (1920) Boese & Wegener
Destiny (1921) Lang
Nosferatu (1922) Murnau
Metropolis (1927) Lang
Italian Neorealism
In the wake of World War II and the fall of Mussolini’s fascist regime, filmmakers were unbound and wished to depict the country they love with stark realism. The plagues of post-war Italy ravaged the country. Unemployment, poverty, the emotional after-effects of war, and the devastation of cities surround the characters in Neorealism. This ‘new’ realism continues the tradition of Italian realism pre-war, but rejected any romanticism and fantasy found in Hollywood films. In this way, filmmakers disregarded trained actors and happy endings, and instead hoped to capture Italians as they were economically, socially, and politically.
Rome Open City (1945) Rossellini
Paisan (1946) Rossellini
Bicycle Thieves (1948) De Sica
Bitter Rice (1949) De Santis
Umberto D. (1952) De Sica
French New Wave
More abstract and difficult to define, the French New Wave or ‘Nouvelle Vague’ began to emerge in the years following World War II. After a flood of films swept across France post-WWII, due to embargoes on outside films, critics from the film journal “Cahiers du Cinema” were inundated with movies, particularly from America. In these films, they saw a lack of humanity and truth. Pushing back against the conventions of Hollywood, New Wave filmmakers began making their own films which emphasized long, unbroken takes, improvised dialogue, and non-parallel editing. The result was one of the most influential movements in cinema.
Hiroshima mon amour (1959) Resnais
Breathless (1960) Godard
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) Varda
The 400 Blows (1959) Truffaut
Les Cousins (1959) Chabrol
Japanese New Wave
Similar to the Nouvelle Vague, the Japanese New Wave was very concerned with rebelling against previously held traditions. In a changing Japan, a wave of new talent, hired by studios, bombarded the scene with fresh stories and previously prohibited ideals. Often The films themselves were gritty, raw, and extremely unorthodox. New Wave Japanese films bucked historical stories and replaced them with stories of crime and sexuality. In this way, the Japanese New Wave injected fresh ideas and invigoration into a country reeling from the emergence of social change and transition.
Crazed Fruit (1956) Nakahira
The Naked Island (1960) Shindo
Pigs and Battleships (1962) Imamura
Pitfall (1962) Teshigahara
Branded to Kill (1967) Suzuki
Parallel Cinema
Started in Bengal in response to the expanse of musical films where realism was not coveted, filmmakers like Satyajit Ray embraced the Italian Neorealist films of post-WWII. Filmmakers wished to depict their characters with a sense of realism and rejected the current state of Indian films at the time, mostly musicals. Parallel Cinema dealt with human issues and modernity in a way that feels extremely natural yet dramatic. Criterion Channel has many of Ray’s films, but a good introduction to Parallel Cinema would definitely be The Apu Trilogy, listed here.
Pather Panchali (1955) Ray
Aparajito (1956) Ray
Apur Sansar (1959) Ray
Iranian New Wave
Often with censorship in mind, Iranian filmmakers must be ever cognizant of the images they wish to produce. The results of this effort is a continuing wave of films influenced by documentaries and realism. In the three waves of Iranian cinema, the second wave embraces these influences and is reflected in the beautiful works of Abbas Kiarostami. Both poetic and intimate, Kiarostami’s work echoes real life events and characters through long-takes and subtle imagery.
Homework (1989) Kiarostami
Close-up (1990) Kiarostami
Taste of Cherry (1997) Kiarostami
Conclusion
The stories of humanity from around the globe help shift our perspective and witness the world through another’s eyes. Film is an important instrument in understanding different cultures and is a melting pot of shared ideas that does not belong to one culture over all others. Cinema’s diversity and impact is felt throughout film history and as one culture draws inspiration from another, cinema becomes an art form that touches all of humanity. As the struggles and triumphs of cultures around the world change the course of cinema, sharing different perspectives through diverse voices becomes essential. Using film history as a guide, one can become more aware of the voices outside American cinema and how those voices both borrowed and rejected Hollywood ideals.
This list is far from complete; however, knowing how certain film movements influenced and altered one another is extremely important in creating a solid foundation of knowledge of film history. World events and tragedies directly affect cinema on a global scale. Maybe cinema will be altered forever after our current situation, but for now we can only learn from our shared past.
