Outline

1.   Introduction

    1.1 Introduction to the topic

    1.2 thesis

2.   Body

    2.1 Background
     
         2.1.1  The approach taken by Expressionism in Germany

         2.1.2   German Expressionism on American Cinema

     2.2  Analysis

          2.2.1 "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"

          2.2.2  "Metropolis"

3.   Conclusion

4.    References

Thesis Statement

     This essay will consider the historical background of German Expressionism and also will analyze it for its deeper  meaning within German expressionist films, arguing that German expressionism demonstrated a nihilistic concern with industrialization and modernization. 

" Theses On the Philosophy of History"

     What I could understand about this work from Benjamin is that the time is really you and that the past and the future exist in a single present. This essay handles two important concepts in its thesis; history discontinuous and interrupted time. For Benjamin history is the subject of a fragmented building, where there is no linear time. According to Benjamin the past should not be articulated historically because this would mean not to know it the way it really happened since we only know memories as history. Therefore, in order for the past to continue living, collective memory must reinvent it every minute. He also emphasizes that all the energy of the history focuses on reality of the present, and that past and future are only ways of how we live now.  

" The Work of Art In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

     The principal concept of this essay is the lost of  " aura" in the work of contemporary art. It is the hidden and mysterious which give us that aura. For Benjamin the aura contains all the essential qualities of the art work. Art has lost its original character of unique and unrepeatable work. The time from which Benjamin speaks , innovative techniques have been developed that makes an art work to be updated or copied very easily. It seems that the work of art in the age of technical reproduction has changed; it is no longer authentic and unique.

     Benjamin also gives reference to photography and films, about how the actor has changed his public by a camera. Therefore, the aura gets lost within the actor and the character it represents. On the other hand photography gives the opportunity to examine images at different speed and sizes ; by the time of Benjamin people debated if photography could really be called art.

"The Triumph of The Will"

     " The Triumph of The Will " shows the main messages of the Nazi ideology; it visualizes the concepts of command, leadership and mass support. This film shows a unified Germany under Hitler and the believe that the Aryan race is the ideal of the German people.In this film we can see the support that the Germans gave to Hitler; people of all ages and social status welcomed him. In this film Hitler is portrayed as some kind of savior, someone who had to be respected and admired. I find it difficult to understand how so many people followed or agreed with Hitler's ideals, he was praised regardless of the things he did.

      I think this film was a smart way to promote the Nazi doctrine because it could reach a wider audience, promoting an ideal of strength, hope, and sacrifice through social unity and the leadership of Hitler. The message that this film wants to transmit is clear: a beloved, respected and superior Hitler who represents hope and the solution to a better and powerful Germany.

Rosa Luxemburg

            Rosa Luxemburg was born in Zamosc, Russia on march 1871. She became interested in politics at a young age ,while she was still in school. Luxemburg is considered is considered one of the most important leader of the Spartacus movement. trying to scape the authoritarian government of Alexander III, she emigrated to Zurich in 1989; she studied law and political economy there. During the 1905 revolution Luxemburg was arrested soon after returning to Warsaw. The point of view that luxemberg had about international politics was changed by her experiences during the revolution. For instance, she used to believe that a socialist revolution was something that would take place in countries like France or Germany which are advanced, rather than in a undeveloped country like Russia but now she believed it could take place in undeveloped countries as well. She disagreed with Lenin which was the leader of the communist revolution in Russia in 1917; Lenin believed that a socialist revolution could not be brought about by the working class itself, on the other hand luxemburg believed in the spontaneity of the mass as the only way to create a equal and democratic society. In 1906 she published "The Mass Strike, the Political Party and the Trade Unions", sharing her thoughts on the revolution. How can be Rosa luxemburg related to nihilism? Rosa luxemburg always defended her beliefs regardless if people disagreed or not with her. She believed that the masses should govern themselves and take power into their own hands.

  

             

           

German Revolution 1918-1919

       The German Revolution was a civil conflict at the end of world war I. This civil conflict led to the replacement of Germany imperial government with a republic. The period of revolution lasted from November 1918 to August 1919 when the Weimar Republic was formally established. The revolutionaries were inspired by communist ideas and unlike the Bolsheviks they failed to take control in Russia, because the leaders of the Social Democratic Party in Germany (SPD) refused to work with those who supported the Bolsheviks. Fearing a civil war between the communists and the reactionary conservatives, the SPD did not plan to completely take away the power of the old imperial elites and instead wanted to make them part of the new social democratic system.The revolution ended August 11, 1919, when the Weimar constitution was adopted.