German Expressionism in Sleepy Hollow

Since 1919 to 1927, German Expressionism was used in the film industry as style of filming to express creativity and meaning in a specific manner. The report aims to showcase German Expressionistic elements found in the modern film “Sleepy Hollow”, directed by Tim Burton in 1999. German Expressionism expresses the brutal reality in extreme and exaggerated manner (History of Film, 2015). It is also stated in the handout that content of the film is not to create an attractive and appealing appearance but rather to express the severity of a certain issue or emotion. Other discussions in the report include Rick Altman’s theory which is the semantic and syntactic approach to genres. The report is an attempt to determine the German Expressionistic elements found in the film by explaining them through Altman’s approach.

Rick Altman stated in his journal article “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre”, 1984, semantic stresses on the mise-en-scene and mise-en-shot of film whereas syntactic stresses on the structures and themes of film. However, German Expressionism mainly focusses on the semantics of film (History of Film, 2015).

In terms of lighting and settings, German Expressionism uses a lot of high contrast visuals. Films tend to portray the visual theme of black and white.  Furthermore, props and settings are usually created and positioned at an acute or obtuse angle to create the feeling of distortion in reality. The set design is gothic with dull colours and dramatic shadows. Costumes and make up also compliments the appearance of film in terms of being dull and distorted. Actors in German Expressionistic films tend to conduct unnatural acts and eccentric behaviour. In contrast, mise-en-shot of German Expressionism utilises oblique camera angles such as Dutch tilts to create the look slanted floors and walls. Mise-en-scene and mise-en-shot of German Expressionistic film are to create a feeling of instability which emphasises fear, horror and insanity. The outlook of film rejects realism (History of Film, 2015). The source also stated that the focus is to exaggerate emotional reality which often goes against the objectivity of society.

On the other hand, syntactic of film defines as the theme of film which includes the message content and structure of story development. Common themes of German Expressionism include revolt, madness and primitive sexual savagery which all involves some form distortion of mental, emotional and physical reality.

Sleepy Hollow is a film surrounding a New York constable Ichabod Crane whom was send to Sleepy Hollow to investigate 3 mysterious murders. The main suspect was the “Headless Horseman”; however, Ichabod did not believe in its existence until he had several encounters with the horseman. Then only he started to study and investigate the horseman’s actions. After another series of deaths, it turned out that the horseman was controlled by a mortal whom had his head. The mortal was discovered to be Katrina’s stepmother, Lady Van Tassel, a woman whose motive was purely out of vengeance towards Van Garrett and Van Tassel family. In the end, the horseman got his head back and took Lady Van Tassel back to hell with him.

The semantics of the film that relates to German Expressionism include the high contrast visuals which can be found through lighting and settings. Lighting is heavily manipulated during the appearance of the Horseman, that is whenever he appears, there is always a flash of lights which creates high contrast visuals. Settings of the films was also very gothic. The combination of high contrast visuals and gothic settings were used to portray an alternate reality of the film makers. 

Distorted bodies were also used to enhance the feeling of distortion such as the scene where the council committee met together to discuss the murders of the Horseman. Costumes and make up that categorised under semantics of the film include the fat that majority of the actors wore traditional British outfits to convey the meaning of time and place of story which were around the 19^th century in an outskirt suburban society.

German Expressionistic elements applied in terms of syntactic include revolt against government procedures. For instance, Ichabod revolted the New York government regarding the proper scientific method used to deduce crimes. This symbolises a need for change towards traditional government policies. Next would be the practice of witch craft which is seen as a form of revolt. Going against religious teachings that black magic is prohibited and enforced in society regarding different religious background.

Furthermore, the film also showcased the syntactic element, madness. For instance, society has a brutal and sick way of treating people who practice witch craft in the movie. The scene with Ichabod’s mother being burned to death by her father in an iron maiden because she was assumed to be mentally unstable. 

There were also scenes and characters that showcased the element of self-analysis. The main example would be Young Masbath whose parents passed away. He decided to self-analyse about the true purpose of his existence and he felt as if he does not have a purpose in life since both his parents died but rather to avenge his father’s death by assisting or serving Ichabod.  As for primitive sexual savagery, the horsemen filed his teeth look more fortuitous and bit or kissed Lady Van Tassel before actually taking her to hell.

The film has successfully managed to ensure that both the semantics and syntactic fit into the desired story line and visions of film. They have ensured that semantics and syntactic are complimentary. The similarity allows audience to have a clear comprehension towards the messages that was conveyed as both aspects do not contradict the main story line.

As a summary, German Expressionism approach to express creativity can be explained Rick Altman’s theory of genre which is semantics and syntactic. Semantics and syntactic of German Expressionism is not to create face value but to express the raw emotions of society. In contrast, the emphasis is syntactic to convey realistic happenings which may be brutally honest and exaggerated. However, both are essential in effectively conveying the film maker’s vision to the audience.

References

Altman,R. (1984) . A Semantic/ Syntactic Approach to Film Genre. Cinema Journal,

Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 6-18.

History of Film. (2015). German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, and French Impressionism

Compared [Handouts]. Retrieved from http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/c32015/c32015handouts/gersovfr.pdf