"What a radiant beginning, yet what a miserable end," are words uttered early in Rudiger Suchsland's 2014 documentary "From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses." The film documents the history of German cinema beginning in 1919, the year after the first World War ended, until 1933, when Hitler rose to power. These years are known as Germany's Weimar Era.
The Weimar Era was a time of unprecedented freedom in Germany, with Berlin serving as its center. The city was a haven for artists, filmmakers and LGBT people able to express themselves openly. But it was also an era of turmoil, high unemployment and income inequality. It was both a post-war and pre-war era.
"From Caligari to Hitler," available on DVD through Kino Lorber, is based on Siegfried Kracauer's same-named book. It suggests that filmmakers working in Weimar Germany sensed what was coming, and warned the German people via the content of their films. Film clips make this seem plausible. The doc's title refers to "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919), the expressionistic horror film that ushered in Weimar cinema.
In many of these films, sociopathic megalomaniacs are in power. In auteur Fritz Lang's classic "Metropolis" (1927), the city rulers control the lives of factory workers who toil in underground caverns. Lang also called the shots on a series of films based on archvillain Dr. Mabuse, who could control others with his mind. Was Lang warning people about the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party, underway while he was making his iconic films?
Other works seem to predict the great stock-market crash of 1929. These "predictions" on the part of Weimar directors could be seen as coincidental. But recall the 1979 Hollywood film "The China Syndrome," which told the story of a meltdown at a nuclear power plant. A few weeks after its release, the now-legendary Three Mile Island meltdown made headlines. Maybe Weimar filmmakers were similarly prescient.
Many of Weimar's greatest directors and stars are profiled, with segments devoted to Lang, GW Pabst, Edgar G. Ulmer, FW Murnau, Marlene Dietrich, Louise Brooks, Peter Lorre, and others. These names are familiar to classic film buffs for their work in Hollywood, as most were forced to leave Germany when the Nazis took over.
The film clips, all from restored prints, are mesmerizing. The use of light and shadow, and fantasy sequences, to create a mood or offer social commentary, is impressive. The doc also spends time on lesser-known works from lesser-known directors. Dozens of Weimar films are recalled in this fascinating documentary that also serves as a look back on a society and its culture.