The film director Cecil B DeMille’s early
silent films, had a dark, moody quality that was characterized by the director as “Rembrandt
lighting”. Movies have been inspired by fine art from the very beginning of the cinema industry,
sometimes in the form of a sequence, sometimes in the art direction or the position of the
actors, or sometimes in the ‘feel’ of a movie. For some films, the homage is obvious, in
others more enigmatic. Many filmmakers and art directors take direct inspiration from
artists to inform their own creative vision, often referencing scenes that are already
familiar to us in specific works of art. As the French new wave director Jean-Luc Goddard said:
“It’s not where you take things FROM it’s where you take them TO” Edward Hopper is seen as one of the first 20th
century artist to be influenced by the cinema. He was an artist, more than any other, who loved
cinema – and cinema loved him. They both looked to each other for stylistic interpretation and
both created worlds of extraordinary imagination. As Hopper’s work became more well-known over
the years to the general public, filmmakers made more self-conscious references to his paintings.
This experimental film by Gustav Deutsch uses 13 beautifully recreated paintings by Hopper to
tell the story of a woman spanning three decades. In 2020 Wim Wenders released
this ‘love letter’ to Edward Hopper. Wim Wenders: “In front of Edward Hopper’s paintings, I
always get this feeling that they are frames from movies that were never made, and I start wondering
What’s the story that is beginning here? What will happen to these
characters in the next moment?” Edward Hopper was 13 years old when
the first motion pictures were shown. He was in his late forties when
talking pictures came, and he died just as Bonnie and Clyde was being released.
You could say his life was tied to cinematic history. His work was inspired not just by his movie
obsession, but by the very act of going to the cinema, and we see this in this early etching depicting
two isolated figures looking down on an unseen screen. We see cinemas in his other paintings, as well
of course with his masterpiece: ‘New York Movie”. Filmmakers would hook on to Hopper’s creations – and return
the compliment by turning to him for stylistic inspiration. German Expressionism was one of his early
influences. Films he saw in Paris at the turn of the 20th century – and the high angle
images he produced around this period, would later be replicated by
a new avant-garde generation. His career would really take off during
the great depression of the 1930s, and the films of that period – and his paintings -reflected
the dark pessimism at the time. A time of great insecurity. World War II brings another period of
uncertainty and gives birth to Film Noir. Woman: “I can’t stand it anymore
what if they do hang me?” These dark films would look for inspiration
directly from Hopper’s paintings who was himself looking for
inspiration in the movies. It was these films shot in Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s
which Hopper really loved. Films with a voyeuristic edge, set in an unnamed city, an ambiguous setting.
Films, whose aesthetics were themselves derived from German Expressionism. Like Hopper, these
films use dark shadows and stark lighting to create an extreme contrast between
light and dark. But with classic Film Noir it is not just ‘style’, it is all about
the tone, as it is with Hopper’s paintings. Both take a familiar narrative element, and apply
layer after layer of possible meaning, ambiguous relationships, sexual tension, a cynical eye, and
an underlying existential philosophy, were all features we see in both Hoppers paintings
AND cinema of this period. Woman: “Accident insurance?” In common with Film Noir, the subject Hopper
returned to again and again, was the hardened and stony-faced female protagonist. As I discussed
in my main film on Hopper, he had a disastrous love life and unhappy marriage, and he often used
women as a vehicle to channel his unhappiness. It is in this early watercolour that we first see
the unhappy and discontented female lead. In this painting she is the wife
being ignored by her husband. Here, a defeated woman
contemplates her lot in life. And here, a sullen-faced
girlfriend ignores her partner. It is in ‘Nighthawks’ that we see
her as a classic ‘Femme Fatale’. I sometimes feel as if all of Hopper’s women are ready
to walk off frame and commit a misdemeanor. Woman “If you don’t mind”.
*gun shot* Alfred Hitchcock, no stranger to the icy female
lead, spoke openly of Hopper’s influence, and we see evidence throughout Hitchcock’s films. They are
very much alike in their love of suspense and ambiguity, and in their interest in themes of voyeurism,
loneliness, and isolation. Not to mention… windows. VO: “This is the scene of the crime. A crime of
passion, filmed in a way you have never seen before” Like Hitchcock, it is what Hopper chose to exclude
in his paintings which adds tension. The narrative power lies in what is obscured or unseen. One of
hopper’s images directly influenced Hitchcock. But it was a big influence on so many other
films, and even illustrations of the day. Hitchcock: “An old house… …which is, if I may say so, a little more sinister
looking, less innocent than the motel itself. We saw in the longer film how Hopper’s
‘Nighthawks’ was inspired by a book by Hemingway, and how the subsequent film version
was then inspired by ‘Nighthawks’. A great example of this symbiotic
and mutually beneficial relationship can be found in an obscure and rarely seen film,
released two years before he completed ‘Nighthawks’. I think, looking at details such as the corner
setting, the position of the sidewalk, and even a soda jerk wearing a similar cap, this may have been
one of the main inspirations for Hopper’s diner. An entire generation of film directors
would be influenced by Hopper, and that aesthetic would
be instantly recognizable as a certain type of ‘American landscape’,
not just aesthetically – but in terms of mood. David Lynch, another American fan, would also reference
many of Hopper’s paintings in his films. Lynch, like Hopper, peeled back the facade of the
perfect American life, to expose sinister ‘goings-on’ And in the third season of ‘Twin Peaks’, he
used the painter’s references – quite liberally. Hopper’s vision of American life, has
had a huge impact on how the rest of the world pictures the United States. It is a
world that today we still call ‘Hopper-esque’. He is what we think of as a
quintessential American artist, yet he was also a major influence on so many
non-American filmmakers, who saw an intensity in Hopper, a sense of emptiness, and a lack
of communication that we can ALL understand. Many of the filmmakers have their own fascination
with the American dream – and the dark side behind it. They recognize the themes of disconnection.
They see that the psychology behind a Hopper painting, can be translated into any culture and
any language, and they made Hopper one of their own. Michelangelo Antonioni, said: “The theme of most of
my films, is loneliness”, and his films typically featured bored lovers, whose lives are blighted
by quiet despair and existential unhappiness. He professed to being stylistically inspired
by Hopper (as well as Giorgio de Chirico). Roy Andersson’s films, are instantly recognizable
for their stylized presentation and painterly approach, and the director, whose films show
the alienation and solitude of modern life, cites Hopper as a major influence. Like
Hopper’s paintings, Andersson carefully stages every single frame. His sets are
elaborately built over several months, and his films sometimes take four years to make!
Andersson’s scenes – like Hopper’s – often leave it up to the viewer to guess what is happening
outside the picture frame. WE complete the picture. The diner in ‘Nighthawks’, his most iconic image,
and possibly his most cinematic, has been recreated time and again in the cinema. The diner has
become a shortcut to ’emotional dysfunction’. Woman: “I know i can’t rely on you
Arthur. Not for anything” Man: “There’s a lot of bad boys out there”.
Woman: “I know” Woman: “But i got eyes in the back of my head” *Gunshot* Director: “And CUT!” Filmmakers continue to be inspired by Edward Hopper,
whose works still resonate in the 21st century. And his influence is felt even in
a new generation of K-pop stars. Edward Hopper, the biggest fan of cinema,
would have been astonished to know his influence would still be felt by
so many young filmmakers, and even Korean pop stars, decades
after he created his images. But who knows? Maybe in another life, he
would have been directing films himself? Director: “CUT!” Edward Hopper: “Could that be?” Woman “Is there a cue when i enter?” Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQVC0qJGJ_c
