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Siffblog: The Ufa Style - Individual
 
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January 25, 2007

The Ufa Style

David Jeffers


Metropolis (1927)

The emergence of Ufa as Germany’s dominant film production company in 1921 brought a unifying, identifiable look and character to Weimar film. Parallels may be drawn between this development in German film history and the consolidation of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in Hollywood. Both studios formed as the result of larger partners, consolidating with smaller companies, to create what were in effect, monopolies. Ufa, formed in 1917, purchased many smaller studios, most notably Decla-Bioscop in 1921, bringing with it producer Erich Pommer who was running Ufa within two years. Similarly, Marcus Loew’s Metro bought out Mayer Pictures in 1924, bringing Louis B. Mayer’s young phenom, Irving Thalberg along as MGM’s head of production. Both studios, Ufa in Germany (including greater Europe) and MGM in North America, defined the standards for motion pictures in their respective markets and exerted considerable influence.

Beyond their initial successes however, the two mega-studios took increasingly divergent paths. As severe economic depression smothered the Weimar Republic, Germany’s film industry struggled to survive, losing key talent (Lubitch, Leni, Murnau) from their ranks to the wealth and prosperity of Hollywood. While MGM thrived, Fritz Lang’s futuristic nightmare, Metropolis (1927) failed at the box office, leaving Ufa teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. In spite of their financial hardships, German filmmakers flourished creatively throughout the nineteen-twenties. Ufa films consistently evoked a dark, architectural and gothic style with features such as Varieté (1925), Faust (1926) and Asphalt (1929), making use of brilliant creative advances in art direction and production design, which in turn would significantly influence Hollywood.


Next ... Weinoir

Posted by David Jeffers at January 25, 2007 8:00 PM
Comments

Ufa's dark style, of course, had a profound influnce on Film Noir. Fritz Lang created several great film noirs, Scarlett Street and The Big Heat being the most famous. Personally I love House By The River- a crious hybrid of film noir and southern gothic.
Another German infuence, Welles credits Murnau's stylistic influnce on his Citizen Kane which in turn influneced the RKO style, especially in their film noirs.

Posted by: Anne M. Hockens at January 29, 2007 12:08 PM

I saw another great Fritz Lang noir for the first time last year, The Woman in the Window (1944).

Posted by: david jeffers at January 29, 2007 10:48 PM




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