Figure 1: Film Poster
The film “The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari” directed by Robert Wiene in 1920. The 1920s were the decade that saw the rise of the Dada and Surrealist movement. It is a silent horror film. It’s one of the most influential German expressionism films. It has inspired many other directors. Some of its scenes are quoted in later horror films like Nosferatu (1922), Night Of The Living Dead (1968) and The Sound Of Music (1965). The film takes place in flashbacks. The film is very famous for its narrative and the whole film refers to a show. The film is very important for the horror cinema. “Today, one can appreciate the outrage of Caligari’s writers, Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz, without lamenting their failure to prevail. The shift of thematic emphasis from social oppression to personal paranoia invests the film with an additional level of disquieting instability.and helps keep it fresh for succeeding generations of moviegoers.” (movies.tvguide.com, 2011).
In the film Dr. Caligari has an attraction with him. A somnambulist (sleep walker) Cesare, where he claims that he can answer to any question. The movie contains some classic horror scenes that suspense the audience. “Caligari's most important quality--an element many critics neglect to mention--is its power to scare the viewer.” (movies.tvguide.com, 2011)
Figure 2: Caligari with Cesare
The hero, Francis (Frederich Feher), visits the show with his friend Alan. Alan asks Cesare how long he will live. Cesare tells him that he will die before dawn the next day. The prophecy comes true. Several murders take place in the town where the main suspect is Caligari . Caligari orders Cesare to kill Jane, Francis love but he doesn’t. He can’t kill her because of her beauty and in the end Cesare dies of exhaustion.
Figure 3: The character of Jane
The film tries to give the audience a particular experience. Also the film settings are very weird. The background has no symmetry. “The effect creates an unnatural world, in which city officials teeter on impossibly high chairs, triangular doors open at odd angles, and buildings teeter in such a way as to defy gravity. And, worst of all, the shadows never fail, never move, giving the impression that the even the town itself has descended into madness.” (Merriam, 2008). Most of the set is a two-dimensional backdrop constructed of paint on flat canvas. “The visual environment plays like a wilderness of blades; the effect is to deny the characters any place of safety or rest.” (Ebert, 2009).
The twist ending reveals that the whole incidents were in Francis fantasy. Francis, Jane and Cesare are inmates in an asylum where Caligari is the doctor. The ending was quite confusing, and unpredictable. The film is mad and in the whole movie we deal with fantastic worlds. "Caligari" creates a mindscape, a subjective psychological fantasy. In this world, unspeakable horror becomes possible.” (Ebert, 2009). The film achieves a stunning balance between art, story and characterization. I enjoyed the film, I have never seen such and old silent film. The settings in the beginning seem to me very weird and the silent part where they used dialog card to show the audience what were they telling was something new for me. I got used to them during the movie and I enjoyed it.
Illustration List:
Figure 1: Wiene, Robert. (1920). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Film Poster
http://cdn3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/189/275/264/MZ4e.jpg
(Accessed: 31/10/2011)
Figure 2: Wiene, Robert. (1920). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Caligari with Cesare.
(Accessed: 31/10/2011)
Figure 3: Wiene, Robert. (1920). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The character of Jane.
(Accessed: 31/10/2011)
Figure 4: Wiene, Robert. (1920). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Strange Film Settings without symmetry.
(Accessed: 31/10/2011)
Bibliography:
Ebert, Roger (2009) The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari
(Accessed: 31/10/2011)
Merriam, Julia (2008) The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari
(Accessed: 31/10/2011)
Film Review by http://movies.tvguide.com , The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari
(Accessed: 31/10/2011)
