The Street Film

In Weimar Germany, after the influence of Expressionism began to wane a variety of other genres and styles developed in the 1920s. Movies with socially concerned themes and a return to realism, among them films by G.W. Pabst such as The Joyless Street (1925), or Pandora’s Box (1929) became widespread in the later 1920s.

Rather than deal with ‘fantastic subjects’, the films deal with issues of morality through exploring the destructive consequences of "scandalous" subjects like abortion, prostitution, homosexuality and addiction.

Although the ‘fantastic’ aspect of the true expressionist films has been toned down, the films retain several key elements that characterise the period. Artificial sets Strong use of lighting to create mood A generally dark and pessimistic atmosphere Depictions of strong emotion The sense of the solitary character lost in events beyond his or her control The generally reductive portrayal of women

It is these films that led directly to the later style that became film noir