New Objectivity (a translation of the German Neue Sachlichkeit, alternatively translated as "New Sobriety" or "New matter-of-factness") was an art movement that emerged in Germany in the early 1920s as a counter to expressionism. The term applies to a number of artistic forms, including film.
History
In film, New Objectivity reached its high point around 1929. It translated into realistic cinematic settings, straightforward camerawork and editing, a tendency to examine inanimate objects as a way to interpret characters and events, a lack of overt emotionalism, and social themes.
Notable directors
The director most associated with the movement is Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Pabst's films of the 1920s concentrate on subjects such as abortion, prostitution, labor disputes, homosexuality, and addiction. His cool and critical 1925 Joyless Street is a landmark of the objective style. Pabst's 1930 pacifist sound film Westfront 1918 views the World War I experience in a bleak, matter-of-fact way. With its clear denunciation of war, it was soon banned as unsuitable for public viewing.
Other directors in the style included Ernő Metzner, Berthold Viertel, and Gerhard Lamprecht.
Decline
The movement ended essentially in 1933 with the fall of the Weimar Republic.
Films
Films with New Objectivity themes and visual style include:
- Joyless Street, 1925
- Secrets of a Soul, 1926
- Uneasy Money, 1926
- The Love of Jeanne Ney, 1927
- Police Report: Hold-Up, short subject, 1928
- Pandora's Box, 1929
- People on Sunday, 1930
- Westfront 1918, 1930
References
- MoMA|German Expressionism Style: New Objectivity
- Cultural changes: developments in architecture, art and the cinema - The Weimar Republic 1918-1929 - Edexcel - GCSE History Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize
- Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of ...by Bernadette Kester, page 123
- Private Anxieties/Public Projections: "New Objectivity", Male Subjectivity, and Weimar Cinema on JSTOR
- Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era, edited by Noah William Isenberg, page 140
- Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of ...by Bernadette Kester, page 123
- Westfront 1918 (1930)|The Criterion Collection
- The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945, by Klaus Kreimeier, page 113
- New Objectivity - Didactics_0.pdf
- Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era, edited by Noah William Isenberg, page 140
- Isenberg, Noah, ed. (2009). Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era. Columbia University Press. p. 236. ISBN 9780231503853. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films from the Weimar Period (1919-1930) on JSTOR
- An Endless Number of Great Deeds: Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of the Weimar Period (1919-1933) by Bernadette Kester — Senses of Cinema
