World War 1
(1914-1918)
In the early years of cinema, France had been the leading nation for film production, but the commencement of WWI almost completely eradicated the French film industry. Many industry personnel were sent to the front, raw-stock factories began manufacturing ammunition, and studios were converted into barracks. Two years later, when Italy joined the war, its film industry collapsed as well. The collapse of the French and Italian film industries offered an opening for American cinema to dominate global production by capitalizing on the increasing demand for exports going to European countries.
American films were fast paced, and the plots often involved character psychology as a catalyst for conflict. The American hero is goal oriented, as is the American antagonist, and their conflicting goals create struggle, which is resolved at the end, typically in favor of the hero. The plot line of the hero’s journey is generally intertwined with a second interdependent plot line, usually involving romance. Techniques for continuity editing were developed during this period, such as the point-of-view shot, shot/reverse-shot, and the 180-degree rule.
With a war going on, American audiences were in need of a morale boost and a distraction, which led to a rise of escapist cinema. Genres like slapstick comedy grew in popularity thus, stars like Charlie Chaplin, and later the Marx brothers became household names. While most slapstick comedies were shorts and were shown along with feature films as comedic relief, they soon began incorporating political messages which proved very effective. Westerns also gained popularity, containing themes similar to literary works of the Romantic period of the 1820s. Western films glorified American values such as adventure and individual upward mobility, which suggested support of the first world war as a demonstration of American Ideals.
A 1915 US film about the spirit of Jesus taking over a man's body in order to end a war (watch from 45:49-47:30)
In July, 1914, Russian borders closed as the country prepared for the first world war, and foreign distribution firms closed their Moscow offices. During this period, major stylistic techniques were developed in Russian filmmaking that wouldn’t reach the US for another seventy years. Russian films were generally slow paced with frequent pauses, a technique which developed from a Russian fascination with human psychology during the 1910s. Other aspects of Russian filmmaking during this period were influenced by Italian, German, and Danish films of the previous decade, all of which were very popular in Russia before the borders closed. In 1917 Russian filmmaking halted as a result of the Bolshevik revolution and wasn’t revived until the 1920s.
A 1925 Soviet propaganda film directed by Sergei Eisenstein about sailors on a battleship revolting due to poor conditions (watch from 21:58-23:53)
In Germany, cinema, which had previously been considered a lowbrow form of entertainment, grew in popularity with the rise of Autorenfilm. Autorenfilm, not to be confused with the contemporary term “auteur,” was simply a film that was adapted from a famous literary work or was written by an acclaimed writer. The Autorenfilm’s popularity overturned the previous belief that film was not a reputable artform and was also responsible for many prominent techniques of German national cinema. For example, The Student of Prague, a 1913 film directed by Stellan Rye, was loosely based on "William Wilson" a short story written in 1839 by Edgar Allan Poe. Additionally, the film's screenplay was written by popular writer Hanns Heinz Ewers and it starred Paul Wegener, a famous stage actor. The fantasy elements of this movie would become a characteristic of German cinema, particularly of the German Expressionist movement of the 1920s.
A 1913 German horror film directed by Stellan Rye. In it a poor man sells his reflection to a sorcerer in order to impress an upper class woman who he has fallen in love with (watch from 18:50-23:42)