A
Culture of Light : Cinema and Technology
in 1920's Germany
by Frances Guerin
University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis,
MN, 2005
360pp: Illus. 18 b/w. Paper, $24.95
ISBN: 0-8166-4286-9.
Amy Ione
The Diatrope Institute
ione@diatrope.com
Frances Guerin begins her A Culture
of Light: Cinema and Technology in 1920s
Germany by reminding us that there
is a long tradition within representation
that is central to the understanding of
the coherence light and lighting. Generally,
as she states, approaches are grouped
under two umbrellas. On the one hand,
from Plato through the Middle Ages and
into the 19th century, light
was put in the service of mystical and
mythical narratives that searched for
metaphysical truth. In these representations,
light was characteristically the symbol
of truth and knowledge. In nineteenth
century representation, in particular,
light was juxtaposed with darkness to
signify the possibility of a truth defined
by social integration, freedom from the
burdens of everyday life, and the attainment
of spiritual wisdom. Conversely, from
Euclid through Galileo to Einstein and
the quantum physicists, the study of light
has functioned within the realm of science,
serving as an integral component of efforts
to empirically and quantitatively gain
knowledge of the physical world. Relationships
between light and darkness, in this realm,
exist within the physical world rather
than referencing realms beyond our grasp.
The mythical and scientific trajectories
have evoked societal tensions, as they
do in German art and cinema of the 1920s.
While this tension per se is not Guerins
specific focus as she surveys the culture
of light, it becomes clear that this
culture developed in a way that played
with the tension. More specifically, she
argues that German silent cinema manipulates
light and lighting to represent and interact
with transformations of space, conceptions
of time and history, modes of representation,
and the flourishing industrial entertainment
in 1920s Germany. Acknowledging that German
cinema was not as well developed as that
of France or the United States, the book
conveys that it shared their urbanity.
We also find that German narrative file
of the 1920s enthusiastically embraced
the products of late industrialization
when they deployed light and lighting
in all their variant possibilities. Indeed,
the books balancing of light and
lighting highlights the combination as
a single aspect of the mise-en-scène.
This point is so well argued that the
text retains the magic of cinematic effect
and grasps the elusive relationship between
films and the people who produce them.
Throughout the volume, the books
organization works in its favor. Chapter
One sets the stage. Here the author provides
a detailed account of historical and artistic
connections between films articulation
of light and lighting as compared to those
in other media. This foundational section
places 1920s German film within the development
of a Modernistic aesthetic in Europe.
In Chapter Two Guerin introduces a number
of films from the teens, which provides
some continuity between pre and post World
War I projects. Against this background,
she is also able to speak of technological
modernity in Germany and to demonstrate
the roots of themes later explored in
depth by 1920s filmmakers. Her argument
here is that films such as Und das
Lict Erlosch foreground manipulations
in light and lighting within the framed
composition, narrative structure, and
the fulcrum around which thematic issues
turn.
Chapters Three through Six are the meat
of the study. Analyzing the use of light
in eleven films, the analysis moves, in
each case, from a discussion of the filmic
use of light and lighting for compositional
purposes, through the unfolding of the
story to the engagement with transformations
to social and cultural life that resulted
from the technological modernity in Germany.
I was fascinated by Guerins ability
to make me envision how the culture evolved
and how deftly she paired the films and
the events that marked the period. Algol
(1920)
and Schatten
(1923) use light and lighting in self-conscious
ways. Referencing these projects, she
opens a discussion of the kinds of transformations
that are brought to visual representation
with the invention of electrical lighting
and other industrial developments. Some
films, (e.g., Faust, Der Golem
Siegfried) provide a gateway in the
discussions of the cinemas involvement
in and reconfiguration of historical time.
Others (e.g., Die Stra
e, Jenseits der Stra e Am Rande
der Welt) examine how electrical lighting
and the cinema redefined public and private
space. The book also looks at the social
impact of technically produced light when
it is integrated into the formation of
a modern leisure industry. What was particularly
enriching was the way the book weaved
the German tradition into the story lines.
Historical contrasts of light and darkness
are evident in the cultures literature
and philosophy (e.g., Goethe).
Looking at how these themes enter the
cinematic narrative and are updated by
the cinematic approach is fascinating.
Equally wonderful is the way in which
the "German mind" is evident in the new
landscape.
Another plus is the authors ability
to reach toward other fields of scholarship
and to reach beyond the boundaries of
German film history. These sections strengthened
the research immensely, allowing Guerin
to foreground technical experiments showing
how 1920s German cinema reflects the nations
identity while also looking beyond national
boundaries for inspiration. Perhaps the
high point of the book is the authors
ability to convey how technological modernism
- the conflict between the utopian aspiration
for mythical cohesion and the recognition
of the material rupture brought about
by industrializationbecomes transposed
in the narrative films. This provided
a context for German silent film to engage
with its historical world. Also impressive
were the sections that looked at the influence
of specific individuals (eg Moholy-Nagy).
Frances Guerins A Culture of
Light: Cinema and Technology in 1920s
Germany reminds us of the historical
tension among views of light, even while
reflecting both the opportunities and
anxieties surrounding modernity and democracy.
Her decision to separate German film from
political history serves her well. It
allows this study to feature the international
flavor of the German works and to underline
their particularity as well. Although
a few more visuals would have allowed
the reader to savor the information more,
the book is a fine contribution as it
stands. Turning to films such as Schatten
(1923), Varietí (1925),
Metropolis (1926), and Der Golem
(1920), Guerins history of early
German film between the two World Wars
allows us to perceive the films she presents
on their own terms. Rather than portraying
the mise-en-scène as a foundation
for Nazism, a more typical approach, she
encourages us to ask how the original
use of lighting elevates the medium, the
narrative, and the art form. In addition,
and perhaps ironically, although the author
puts philosophy and science aside as she
delves into 1920s German films, the tensions
between the mythical and the empirical
remain resonant in the representations
of a new and industrialized way of life.
Similarly, the multiplicity of meanings
we give to the term light remain evident,
as do distinctions that are critical to
cinema. Throughout, the reader can appreciate
that cinema is a product of light that
manipulates lighting for effect. In sum,
this book encourages us to appreciate
the innovative and aesthetic aspects of
1920s German film. It is a fine addition
to scholarship in this area.