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German expressionism in director Yinan Diao's film Wild Goose LakeIn an interview with the director Yinan Diao (2019), when asked whether his film style is supported by content, Diao said that the style may exclude narration, while his style is more expressionist. Expressionism here refers to the German Expressionist Movement. In this blog, I will take Diao's film Wild Goose Lake as an example to analyze how the film reflects the influence of German expressionism on this director.
Wild Goose Lake tells the story that Zhou, a car thief, left his reward to his wife to seek salvation when he was wanted. This film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 and was nominated for the 72nd Golden Palm Award. In this film, the German expressionist style has well mobilized the audience's mood. The first scene of the film is set at night (in fact, most scenes are set at night), showing the oppressive living space of the characters and the film keynote. Zhou and Liu meet under the bridge.The first shot is full shot. In the picture, four overpass columns are in symmetrical positions, forming a three-dimensional geometric framework.However, such a harmonious composition is not consistent with the inner uneasiness of the characters, so the director deliberately shot the inclined stairs at the back to break the harmony of the picture. This can better reflect the character's emotion. Although in this film, as in other modern films, bizarre scenes are rarely seen, some oblique pictures and angles can still show strong style expression. On the other hand, color is also well designed. According to Barsam and Monahan (2004),the externalization of emotion into color is an important feature of German expressionism.. For example, the scenes in the film Suspiria Argento(1976) are full of dark red and blue. This excessive use of color, like a stage play, reflects the fear of the characters. This is similar to the use of color in the film Wild Goose Lake.
In this scene, we can see that the light and shadow on the characters' faces are very contrasted. It is mainly created by warm main light and low angle complementary light. Such a deliberate and beautiful light hits the characters, while the background is really a shabby street, which highlights the tragic fate of Zhou and Liu. In one shot of this scene, Zhou and Liu talk with their backs against the two sides of the pillar, and the boundary of light separates them in the screen. Liu is in the light, while Zhou is in the dark. This lighting design directly foreshadows the different ending of the two characters.
Anotherhighly stylizedscene in the film is in the chase in the corridor. Like German expressionist painting, German expressionist films have a "violent passion". The pictures are rough and wild, and the emotional color is also extreme. In this scene, Zhou pokes an umbrella into the criminal's body and unfolds it after passing through his stomach in order to survive from his fellow criminals. The bright yellow umbrella looked out of place in the dim light, and bright red blood splashed on it. This kind of high contrast, high saturation color has brought visual impact to the audience. The yellow and red umbrella cover fills the calm picture with anxiety, uneasiness and tension, reflecting Zhou's mood. Just like modern commercial films, the plot needs twists and turns to give the audience enough excitement. After surviving from the criminals, the pace of the story doesn’t slows down. He faced the new challene, escaping from the police, while the police had already laid an ambush. At this point, the pace of editing quickens. As Zhou in the foreground and the police in the background continue to meet and miss, the atmosphere becomes more tense. Different shots quickly reveal a wealth of information, and the residents of the building join in the onlookers. Now the scene and the characters come together to create this chaotic scene, like an expressionist painting on film.
According to Diang (2019), Diao showed his unique creativity in the form of picture expression in this scene. The director tries to separate static shots one by one, rather than shooting continuous action. At this time, Zhou is running through a corner, with the police following him. The camera's movement and perspective did not move with Zhou. After Zhou disappears in the picture, the camera focused on the shadow he left on the wall. Due to the angle of light arrangement, Zhou's shadow did not shrink as he moved away With the sound of footsteps and drums in the music, it seems that Zhou is trying to escape, but he cannot run far away. This is a very clear metaphor for Zhou's tragic ending, being caught by the police. This is similar to the subjective shot in the German film The Last Laugh (1924) in which the hotel building falls over to the doorman. In order to reflect the inner heart of the characters and suggest the fate of the characters, they use an unreal metaphor to bring the picture impact. This shot also shows the influence of expressionism on the director Diao.
Generally speaking, Yinan Diao is a Chinese director deeply influenced by the German Expressionist movement. Several of his works can be seen more or less expressionist style, such as shooting angles, lighting design, and some subjective shots with tension. His latest film, Wild Goose Lake, is an even bolder attempt to combine expressionism with the noir violence of Chinese urban gangsters in a moving story.
Reference list
Barsam, R. M. ,& Monahan, D. (2004).Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Dario, A. (Director). (1976)Suspiria. Italy: Seda Spettacoli.
Diang, J. (2019). The Wild Goose Lake.Variety,437(5), 10.
F.W. Murnau. (Director). (1924)The Last Laugh. German: Universum Film A.G.
Muyan, L. (2019). Yinan Diao Talks about Wild Goose Lake.Southern Weekly. Retrieved from: http://www.infzm.com/contents/172703
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