European Epic Films of the Early 1920s

Leaves from Satan‘s Notebook, Die Nibelungen, Battleship Potemkin Early in the 1920s, at the beginnings of their lengthy and illustrious careers, directors Carl Theodor Dreyer, Fritz Lang, and Sergei Eisenstein turned to making epics. Prior to World War I, European filmmakers, particularly the Italians and French, had led the way in production of epic motion pictures, such as Quo Vadis? and Cabiria. However, the war and its immediate aftermath severely curtailed European production for several years. When it finally did recover, it was led by directors from Denmark, Germany, and the Soviet Union. Leaves from Satan’s Notebook (Blade af Satan’s Bog - 1921) Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer, most noted for his later masterpieces The Passion of Joan of Arc, Vampyr, and Day of Wrath, was obviously influenced by D.W. Griffith’s... [read full story]