The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari

This film is truly the keytone to many films in

both the horror and thriller genres and is held in
high esteem. It is also the inspiration to many
great directors and has a style and influence that
can still be seen in modern film
With all the weird gaping and gurning,
and the distorted perspective of its
expressionist sets, Caligari is a
nightmarish cinematic extension of Bram
Stoker's 1897 classic Dracula, combining
as it does romantic superstition with the
supposedly rational world of psychiatric
surveillance and control. (Fig 1)
With this in mind you can see the mood
of the world at this time broken after
war. The world had gone to a dark place
which can be seen in all mediums of art
and this film is a crucial part of the
expressionist movement
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting and
inspired horror movies ever made. The story is
a classic sampling of expressionist paranoia
about a hypnotist who uses a somnambulist to
do his murders, full of the gloom and fear that
prevailed in Germany as it emerged from
WWI (Fig 2)
The film world of the time and shows us how
art was the cinematic world and because of
this we now have highly stylized directors
who both tell a story and give us a visually
masterpiece like Tim Burton who as anyone
who knows his work and now has seen this
can see where his spark was lit
Robert Wiene uses jagged sets, non-
naturalistic acting and flashbacks within
flashbacks to discombobulate, before delivering
a twist so blindsiding its ripped off to this day
(Fig 3)
This visionary way of making a set and environment to translate an emotion is now can
all be atoned to this film and this has now given us the rise of horror sets and his
imaginative story has given us the plot twist in film and paved the ways for directors
like Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese and more to give us these truly mind
bending and beautiful films. This is why this film needs to be seen it helps it view to see
the origin and should be seen just as we should see any ground breaking piece of work
of art.
Bibliography
(Fig 1) The Cabinet of Dr Caligari review occult scary-movie touchstone from 1920 |
Film | The Guardian. Available from:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/28/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-film-review
[Accessed 25/09/2014]
(Fig 2) The Cabinet of Dr Caligari | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie
release date | Time Out London. Available from:
http://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari [Accessed 25/09/2014]
(Fig 3) Empire's The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari Movie Review. Available from:
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=138758 [Accessed
25/09/2014]