Techno-romanticism: Special effects in German fantastic films of the silent era.

摘要

Based extensively on primary sources, this study undertakes a reevaluation of the interpretative categories by which German silent cinema has been described. Revealing the correlations between the technical achievements evident in the films of this period and the dominant aesthetic philosophy among filmmakers and theorists, this study presents a re-reading of the prominent fantastic films Der Student von Prag (Deutsche Bioscop, 1913, dir. Stellan Rye), Nosferatu (Prana Film, 1921, dir. F. W. Murnau) and Faust (Ufa, 1925/1926, dir. F. W. Murnau). German silent cinema was the site of a radical redefinition of the problematic relationship between art and technology. This fundamental shift in the cultural perception was the result of a "techno-romantic" ideology that eventually rendered possible technology's integration into the aesthetic discourse. Because they made perceptible the interrelations between modern technology and Romantic ideas, special effects played a key role in corroborating the techno-romantic outlook. Techno-romanticism served as the conceptual framework in which the parameters of aesthetic modernity were negotiated. Special effects allowed cinema to become the site where the gulf between technology and art was actually bridged.