The poster design is subtle and capacitive art. It carries several functions at once – it is advertising, a partial visualization of the movie itself, a fleeting allusion to the plot of the cinematic work, and, of course, the artist’s high-quality graphic work.
How to convey the content, surprise and impress, interest in watching a movie using a single picture? Today we invite you to look at the most beautiful, famous, and expensive posters for the movies of the 19th and 20th centuries.
L’Arroseur Arrosé (1895)
The world’s first short staged comedy L’Arroseur Arrosé was directed by the patriarchs of cinema – the Lumière brothers. Only 49 seconds, an uncomplicated plot: a gardener waters a flower bed, and a boy decides to play a trick and steps on the hose. At the same time, the movie is a significant milestone in the history of cinema: it was repeatedly quoted by directors of subsequent years. Its poster was the first ever used to promote a single film and was designed in the style of the French post-impressionist Toulouse-Lautrec.
Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902)
Le Voyage dans la Lune was the first sci-fi movie in the history of cinema. It’s a silent short-length farcical comedy parodying the plots of Jules Verne’s novel and Herbert Wells’s novel. It was directed by Georges Méliès according to his own script, on sets he created, at his private studio and by his acting team. The shot where the projectile hits the moon directly in the eye has acquired textbook fame. Later it was repeated by many directors, artists and clip makers. The poster was also personally designed by Méliès.
Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
The silent horror movie by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau is a true legend of its genre, which largely determined the further cinematic mythology concerning vampires. So, in Nosferatu, the plot motif of the death of a vampire from sunlight was first used. This was never mentioned before. In Bram Stoker’s novel, there is a scene when Dracula appears on a London street during the day. All posters for the movie were designed according to sketches by Murnau.
Metropolis (1926)
Fritz Lang’s sci-fi dystopia was at one time the culmination and completion of the development of German cinema expressionism. It was recognized as one of the greatest works of cinema. Several posters for the movie were created by Heinz Schulz-Neudamm. The most famous illustration belongs to the pen of Boris Bilinsky, a Russian-born graphic artist who worked in France. Moreover, this poster is also considered the most expensive and is estimated at $850,000.
King Kong (1933)
It was the movie where one of the most popular and recognizable characters of popular culture first appeared on the screens – giant King Kong, who fell for a charming blonde. At the moment, the poster for King Kong is a coveted exhibit for collectors, they are ready to give fabulous money even for reproduction.
Casablanca (1942)
The romantic drama with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar in 1944. It remains a great example of Hollywood’s ability to create cinematic magic. To this day, Casablanca is often named among the best films in Hollywood history, and the poster for the movie reflects the entire glitter of the 1940s.
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The classic western by John Sturges is essentially a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s philosophical drama Seven Samurai. In the movie, the action was transferred to America at the end of the 19th century and is in no way stylized to resemble an Asian original. Still, the laconic poster is a vivid reference to Japan.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Audrey Hepburn played the role of Holly Golightly in the movie, a naive and eccentric lady looking for a rich gentleman. According to Hepburn, it became the brightest role in her career and one of the most difficult, since an introverted actress had to play an eccentric extrovert. The charm of her heroine is read directly from the poster, where the woman coquettishly holds both the mouthpiece and the kitten.
Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972)
This is a surreal movie created by Luis Bunuel with a poster befitting the content. The movie has been described as an ethereal web of dreams within dreams where dreams are made. The heroes of the movie – six people from the upper-middle class. They try despite constantly arising obstacles to have lunch together.
The Godfather (1972)
The last on our list is a crime saga of Francis Ford Coppola, which tells about the New York Sicilian mafia family Corleone. The stylish poster features a symbol of manipulation and, at the same time, a distorted cross, which refers to the name of the movie.
Sometimes we don’t even think about how difficult it can be to create a poster for a movie. Looking at these masterpieces, we understand that they became the progenitors of those posters that we can see in the 21st century. These 10 works are just a small, but such an important part of the entire cinema culture.