Lotte H. Eisner is probably a name not known to you. If you are aware of her, give yourself a pat on the back.
She was a film fanatic, and instrumental to the New German Cinema movement which was an extremely productive, prolific and revolutionary time for filmmaking in Germany in the 1970s.
Born in 1896, she was a mentor to so many filmmakers. She had a brilliant eye for visual communication, so it’s no surprise that she was so taken with German Expressionism.
However! She is best know for penning and collecting THE HAUNTED SCREEN, which is her brazenly extolling the striking visual technicals of German Expressionism.
While her deep dive into films that are mostly either lost or forgotten, what makes this work really shine are the film captures.
Like any good goth, as a college youth I photocopied each and every page with a screenshot and cut and plastered it to my walls, because there is nothing more goth than German Expressionism. I even made tape cover montages through the images, as was the style of the times.
If you are not familiar with German Expressionistic films, here’s your introduction. If you are, but haven’t read it? You will find comfort in it. It’s a great read, one that should be on every cineaste’s book list.
It is available via the University of California Press!