One of the things you’ll learn from this list is that Germany, at one point, was very passionate about silent films. While other countries were experimenting with and expanding into sound and other more advanced technologies of motion pictures, Germany dived deeper into mastering silent film. But why? After World War I, political and social instability as well as economic struggles encouraged German film production to work with what they had. They could not afford the extensive sets, costumes, and technology that US films used. But silent films, while limited, allowed Germany to tell stories on a budget.
Naturally, German film productions had to get creative. Out of this creativity came German expressionism, which experimented with light and dark, tilting, angles, and pronounced shadows. These films dug deep into subjects American films wouldn’t touch such as concerns around money and technology, crime, and social decay. Here are some of the best silent German films, many of which are now in the public domain and can be watched for free on YouTube.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Decla-Film
Named one of the most influential films of all time, this 1920 film directed by Robert Weine recounts the story of a mentally unstable hypnotist who uses a sleepwalking patient to commit a series of murders. The motion picture is considered a part of German expressionism experiments with sharp objects and irregular shapes as well as with deep shadows and chiaroscuro lighting. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is said to be based on the screenwriters’ distrust of authority after the first world war.
From Morn to Midnight
Weimar Republic
Another big player in German expressionism, From Morn to Midnight found the big screen in 1920. The film is based on a play by expressionist writer George Kaiser and tells the story of a bank teller who becomes obsessed with an Italian client. Driven by the lust he feels for this strange woman, the teller steals a massive amount of money and flees to reignite the passion he has been missing in his home life.
From Morn to Midnight explores the power of money and greed as well as the teller’s haunting guilt after his theft. Representative of the mistrust of capitalism and prophetic about the looming global economic collapse, the film is a haunting, important classic.
The Golem: How He Came into the World
Universum Film
Yet another German horror film released in 1920, The Golem is based on a 1915 novel exploring an anthropomorphic creature from Jewish folklore called a Golem. In the film, a 16th-century rabbi molds a golem, a massive creature constructed of clay. The rabbi attempts to bring the Golem to life to protect the Jewish community in Prague because he has foreseen danger.
Because of the interactions between the Golem and the other characters, many of the cinematic techniques and innovations in The Golem is said to have inspired the filmmaking of later movies such as Faust and Frankenstein, and the film itself is disturbingly prescient about Germany’s attitude and treatment to Jewish people that would result in the Holocaust.
Warning Shadows
Pan-Film
Directed by the Arthur Robinson, who produced 20 silent films between 1916 and 1935, this German film explores themes of wealth and lust. Warning Shadows tells the story of a rich man who invites other rich bachelors over for a puppet show at his house. The puppet show tells the tale of multiple men who try to seduce another man’s wife.
The puppeteer turns out to be a witch who gives the audience lasting nightmares about what will happen if they try to covet the lady of the house. Like other German expressionist films, Warning Shadows pays special attention to the contrast between light and dark.
Nosferatu
Film Arts Guild
This 1922 silent motion picture establishes an iconic variation on Bram Stoker’s Dracula where the infamous vampire is relocated to 1830s Germany. In the film, Count Orlok, the vampire, goes about luring his estate agent’s wife and ends up spreading the plague throughout the town. Nosferatu primarily explores the inevitable and creeping presence of death.
Although Bram Stoker’s widow sued the adaptation and attempted to have it destroyed, copies of Nosferatu survived and allowed it to become one of the most influential and recognized movies in world cinema.
The Hands of Orlac
Pan-Film
From the director and star of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, comes this 1924 silent film about a pianist who loses his hands in a tragic accident. The protagonist’s hands are replaced by a stranger’s, the “hands of Orlac,” which turn out to be the parts of a vicious murderer.
The elements of German expressionism really illustrate the conflict of the pianist here between his innocence and the awareness of his ability to kill. The Hands of Orlac maintains a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and remains the subject of conversation in academic circles and among film theorists today for its innovative use of close-ups and lighting.
Waxworks
UFA
Another silent German film that appeared in 1924, Waxworks is an anthology piece that dabbles in multiple genres and locations. Each story is connected by a writer who is commissioned to produce tales around particular waxwork exhibits, such as the Caliph of Baghdad, Ivan the Terrible, and Jack the Ripper. Waxworks is said to have influenced later anthology productions such as The Dead of Night and Black Sabbath.
The Student of Prague
Sokal Film
This 1922 production is considered to be the very first German art film. In The Student of Prague, a student named Balduin signs up for a loan from a mystifying stranger who accepts Balduin’s reflection in return. Balduin is then haunted by his own doppelganger, demonstrating the struggle between himself and his own death.
Despite lacking dialogue, German silent films were able to communicate deeper stories and expressed themes through set, makeup, shapes, and shadows.
