Research Proposal

Silent Films don't Keep Silent

Comparison of German society in silent film in 1920s and contemporary society

My research will focus on the situation of Germans' life and circumstance of city itself in the contemporary German society, and compare it with those in some old documentary silent films. To find out what is changed in people's life and in the city with the time goes by, and what is still remained that form an identity of Germany. For example, the position of people's walking, talking, purchasing, and the changing of architecture, transportation. Seek the similarities between these two eras.

My interests on silent films is aroused by seeing Charlie Chaplin's film, Modern Times. Act itself can be a kind of art. The performance of actors or actresses in the film is art, but when the camera focus on citizens' life and make it into a film, those inconspicuous and high-frequency behaviors and customs of this country also become the center of art. From those directors' views I am more easily to catch the characteristics of Germans. The film--Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, which is a totally silent film even with no background track, start with the views seeing on a train driving towards Berlin. On the way you can see the houses on each side of the rail and some industries. And the scene always focus on the wheels, gears and steam engine, which reminder you this is Germany, a high developed industrial country. And I also find some other silent films of that period are also from different views to show the identity of Berlin or Germany. So I decide to research about these films and then related them with the Berlin's situation I will in this summer.

Another reason is that German silent films have typical representativeness in the history of film. From 1919-1924 German Expressionism spreadably influenced architecture, music and every part of art, so there also some Expressionism films in that period. Like Metropolis, one of the most famous expressionist science-fictional film, using the imaginary future to make people think about the harness brine by high-technology. But I found an interesting part about this movie from Wikipedia, is that the director Lang didn't like this film. He said:

"The main thesis was Mrs. Von Harbou's, but I am at least 50 percent responsible because I did it. I was not so politically minded in those days as I am now. You cannot make a social-conscious picture in which you say that the intermediary between the hand and the brain is the heart. I mean, that's a fairy tale — definitely. But I was very interested in machines. Anyway, I didn't like the picture — thought it was silly and stupid — then, when I saw the astronauts: what else are they but part of a machine? It's very hard to talk about pictures— should I say now that I like Metropolis because something I have seen in my imagination comes true, when I detested it after it was finished?"

This is also arouse my interest in those silent film directors. And I hope my later research about silent German films and Germans can bring myself more thoughts about them.

So my research will divided into three parts: the first part is focusing on German documentary silent films to know what German is real like in that period. Second part is that I will observe and see the life of Germans on contemporary time when I am in Berlin. Third part is knowing some other aspects about silent films. For example, seeing some other types of silent films not only documentary films, learning the history of silent film, development of it and some background of directors to help me understand my research topic better.

Silent films never keep silent. They tell us stories about culture, people, society and all the things.

References:

Ruttmann, Walter(1927). "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ej84nN1WcE>.

Siodmak, Robert(1930). "People on Sunday" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh60oF-XtM4>.

Richter, Hans(1928). "Inflation" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD3_ptNEFQQ>.

Richter, Hans. "Everything Turns Everything Resolves" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7B7fw6wVhI>.

Richter, Hans(1928). "Race Symphony" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiriuMyDP1Q>.

Richter, Hans(1928). "Rennsymphonie" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inyxzs7P_wQ>.

Abel, Richard(1996). "Silent Film" New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, c1996.

Halle, Randall. "German film after Germany: toward a transnational aesthetic" Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2008.

Pinkert, Anke. "Film and memory in East Germany" Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2008.

Wang, Xin. "German Expressionism in the Early 20th Century" from magazine : "Jian Zhu".