New Objectivity (a translation of the German Neue Sachlichkeit,[1] alternatively translated as "New Sobriety" or "New matter-of-factness") was an art movement that emerged in Germany in the early 1920s as a counter to expressionism.[2] The term applies to a number of artistic forms, including film.
In film, New Objectivity reached its high point around 1929.[3] It translated into realistic cinematic settings, straightforward camerawork and editing, a tendency to examine inanimate objects as a way to interpret characters and events, a lack of overt emotionalism, and social themes.
The director most associated with the movement is Georg Wilhelm Pabst.[4] Pabst's films of the 1920s concentrate on subjects such as abortion, prostitution, labor disputes, homosexuality, and addiction. His cool and critical 1925 Joyless Street is a landmark of the objective style.[5] Pabst's 1930 pacifist sound film Westfront 1918 views the World War I experience in a bleak, matter-of-fact way.[6][7] With its clear denunciation of war, it was soon banned as unsuitable for public viewing.
Other directors in the style included Ernő Metzner, Berthold Viertel,[8] and Gerhard Lamprecht.
The movement ended essentially in 1933 with the fall of the Weimar Republic.[9]
Films with New Objectivity themes and visual style include:
