ABSTRACT
This chapter considers European films made in particular countries at specific historical moments and highlights the importance of considering social and political contexts when studying film. It offers a general indicative approach to the study of German Expressionist films and films of the French New Wave. In contrast to expressionism, realism is a cinematic style that attempts to use filmmaking techniques to create the ‘illusion of reality’. The idea is that a group of emerging filmmakers within a particular country challenges the ways in which films have been made so strongly that they have a lasting impact on approaches to filmmaking. Film, it is being suggested by the filmmakers, can do things other than simply offering the photographic re-creation of life. The idea is that a group of emerging filmmakers within a particular country challenges the ways in which films have been previously made so strongly that they have a lasting impact on approaches to filmmaking.
