German Movies 1930-33

It is probably in the DNA of the Germans that they are reluctant to accept new technologies. Waiting to see if the new is any good. That's the way it is today in the face of digitalization and that's the way it was in the 20s of the last century. For a long time the Germans were reluctant to introduce sound film. It wasn't until the beginning of the 30s - when the Americans were producing almost exclusively sound films - that there was a changeover. Before that the world economic crisis of 1929 hit the German film business hard: mass unemployment, decrease of the audience figures as well as the increase of the production costs for movies. It was only a question of time till the UFA and Bavaria should be nationalized. And who took the NSDAP seriously in 1930, which had already founded its own film department? Would we take such a department seriously today? As early as 1930, preparations were being made to impose a performance ban on "non-Aryan" films. Nevertheless, the cinematic art in Germany experienced a brief blossoming in the years between 1930 and 1932. A second flowering, it must be noted. The times were uncertain, whether social or political. But times that favour artistic projects. Some filmmakers resorted to the themes and stylistic devices of Expressionism, but most of the films made around 1930 already looked quite different. The dilemma: many artists had an aversion to war and tyranny, but were unable to articulate themselves. Even though real films had been made with the so-called "New Objectivity". Fritz Lang followed up his crime movies of the 20's with "M" (1930) and "The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse" (1933). In "M" a child murderer is hunted and caught by the underworld and the police. Didn't this main character resemble the Cesare from "Caligari"? He is not responsible for his actions. A secret power compels him to do so. Dr. Mabuse is also a descendant of Caligari. A schizophrenic psychiatrist leads a secret organization, but even follows the orders of the insane Mabuse. Both films illustrate how strong organized crime had become in Berlin. Soon it would lead to state terror... In "M" the underworld associations call themselves "organs of healthy public feeling". In the end they judge the child murderer together with the police. Were there real German stars during this wedding of German cinema? A paradox that the American Josef von Sternberg of all people created THE German world star par excellence with his only German film "The Blue Angel" (1930): Marlene Dietrich. "The Blue Angel" was in the tradition of expressionist cinema. The environment served as a metaphor for a landscape of the soul. Professor Unrat looks like a descendant of Murnau's "The Last Laugh". A prisoner of his urges. Dietrich's Lola, on the other hand, seems like the embodiment of destructive sexuality. Always forgotten: Georg Wilhelm Pabst, who made three great films in the early '30s. He overcame the neutrality of the "Neue Sachlichkeit". At last someone dared to tackle contemporary historical themes! "Westfront 1918" (1930) may not be very well-known with you anymore but it can be regarded as Pabst's masterpiece! A war film that does not glorify war. The war appears as pure horror. Brecht's "The 3 Penny Opera" (1931) renounces all realism. It takes place in a stylized London, whereby quite a few claim that it is precisely this high gloss aesthetic that betrays the spirit of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Not a Threepenny Opera! "Kameradschaft" (1931) is about a mine accident, which in turn reminds us of the First World War. Later, Pabst was to work for the Hitler regime... Leontine Sagan's "Girl in Uniform" (1931) is still popular in our video store. It tells the story of a student who raves about her teacher. But the strict rules of the boarding school drive the student to the brink of suicide. One of the so-called "driving movies", but one that takes its milieu seriously. "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1931) by Pier Jutzi combines feature film action with documentary sequences - like Alfred Döblin's novel. Unlike the novel, however, Jutzi's film remains strangely neutral. "That's life for you". Really? The only communist film of his time was "Kulhe Wampe" (1932) by Slatan Dudow. Bertolt Brecht wrote the script, Hanns Eisler composed the music. It shows a picture of misery: after a family is evicted from its apartment, they move into an arbour. Don't we know this problem today? In addition - while the Great Depression was running its course - entertainment films were produced. Luis Trenker's "The Rebel" (1932) or "Mountains in Flames" (1931), but above all comedies and operettas. May one call Wilhelm Thiele's "Die Drei von der Tankstelle" (1930) the first musical ever? The only filmmaker who continued her style of the Weimar Republic during the NS era