Magical History Tour: High Contrast – Variations on chiaroscuro in black-and-white cinema

Glaring cones of light, long shadows, harsh contrasts. This kind of dramatic lighting as a cinematic design element dates back to expressionist cinema. In art, this specific pictorial and lighting aesthetic can be found as early as the late 16th century under the name of chiaroscuro. Then, as now, it was about contrasting and modelling figures, accentuating (parts) of the action while at the same time concealing the light source. The "famous chiaroscuro of German film" (Lotte Eisner) was soon taken up by film noir, becoming a central stylistic device. Our Magical History Tour presents examples of both genres as well as later variations on chiaroscuro in cinema. (Milena Gregor)