From “AKIRA” and “Dome” to German Expressionism! What influenced the worldview of the science fiction masterpiece Dark City?

What the masterpieces of German Expressionism brought to us

The film's sets and character design were also heavily influenced by works representative of German Expressionism. For example, the architecture and art sets were influenced by Fritz Lang's Metropolis (27), which depicts a futuristic world in a novel way, and the black-clad group of Strangers, who cast an eerie shadow, clearly bear the genes of F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (22). Furthermore, the unique atmosphere and detailed set construction naturally bring to mind titles such as Robert Wiene's Dr. Caligari (20) and M (31), also by Lang.

"Dark City" © Photofest / Getty Images

It is well known that German Expressionist works intentionally tilted the sets to create optical illusions and psychological pressure. In fact, this style of expression is secretly followed in "Dark City," and in some scenes, special techniques such as setting the walls at an angle are used. This is why you are invited to a strange sensation while watching the movie.

Naturally, this meant that location shooting using existing places and buildings was not suitable for this film, so the film had to build and destroy a total of 50 sets, building and destroying them like crazy, and shooting almost every scene on set was a furious process.

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