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Robert Wiene (1920) Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari is a silent

German horror film made in the 1920’s. It’s

thought of as one of the most influential

German Expressionist films and can be

argued to be one of the greatest horror

films of the silent era. In the words of

Francis Reidlight “The most important film

in horror. Moody and shocking this chiller is

the height of German Expressionist cinema

and the prototype for whole genres in

horror. Using violent contrasts of light and

shadow, surreal settings and distorted

camera angles to represent madness, chaos

and psychosis.” (Reiglight, 2006) Reidlight as

well as pointing out the possibility of this

film being one of the most important in

horror he highlights the chilling

environment that the story is set in, with no

right angles, dark shadows everywhere he

pointed out that the set is a huge factor in

what gives the viewer that uneasy feeling

they get from watching it.

The Film is a series of flashbacks of one of

the main characters in the film Francis. He

starts to tell the story of him and his friend

Alan who were both in love with the same

woman, Jane. The two friends visit a carnival where they meet Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist,

Cesare. Cesare is Dr Caligari’s attraction at

the carnival and he keeps him in a coffin-

like cabinet and controls him hypnotically,

stating that Cesare knows the answer to any

question about the future. Entranced by this

Alan asks Cesare how long he has to live, to

which Cesare replies that he will die before

dawn the next day. The prophecy is fulfilled

and Alan’s murder becomes one within a

series of murders. This leads to Francis

investigating Dr. Caligari, which he takes

personally and orders Cesare to murder

Jane. However so enraptured by Jane’s

beauty Cesare cannot bring himself to kill

her so instead carries her off pursued by the

Fig. 1 (1290)

Fig. 2

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townsfolk. After a long chase Cesare becomes too exhausted and dies. While this is happening

Fransic goes to the local asylum where he discovers Dr. Caligari is the asylum director. Through some

research he finds that the man known as “Dr. Caligari” became obsessed with the story of a mythical

monk named Caligari who used a somnambulist to kill people. Driven by his obsession Dr. Caligari

deemed himself “Caligari” and has since carried out his own string of murders. He is arrested and

imprisoned in his own asylum. A twist ending reveals that Francis’s tale was all fantasy and he is in

fact an inmate in the asylum and the man he believes to be Caligari is his own doctor.

Figure 2 is a film still from the film showing part of the eerie town that the whole story is set in. As

you can see there are no right angles all the buildings leaning in enclosing you, giving the viewer the

feeling of no escape. “Here the expressionist style is taken to extremes, and most of this early

horror movie plays against a background of twisted and tortured buildings and labyrinth like streets.

Forget everything you've ever learn about perspective and realism: more than anything else, this

quiet little town is a portrait of the human soul in an extreme condition. It is unsettling but also

eerily beautiful.” (Klingberg, 2003) But opinions differ and there are those that feel the film does not

live up to the hype, such as Alex Kittle “While dubbed a horror film, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari isn't

particularly scary; rather it works as a vaguely paranormal mystery with a cool twist but sub-par

writing. This is a silent film, which often leads to some over-acting and under-developed characters.

(Kittle, 2010) Kittle opinion could be viewed as one that is tainted by today’s cinema. The fast past

never ending twists in the story line, to then compare to a film like Dans Cabinet des Dr. Caligari is a

little unfair for at it’s time there would have been nothing like it. Overall the film has influenced and

inspired many including the likes of Tim Burton. It has in many ways faded into the past but has not

been forgotten and can be argued to be credited with the first twist ending that has influenced so

many films today.

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List of Illistrations

Fig. 1 (1920) http://www.steve-calvert.co.uk/pub-dom/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.htm

Fig. 2 (1920) http://www.filmforager.com/2010/04/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari-cabinet-of.html

Bibliography

Reidlight, Francis (2006) Messiah of terror In: IMDb.com [Online] At:

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur10625067/comments

Klingberg, Per (2003) Still makes for an interesting watch In: IMDb.com [Online] At:

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur2376060/comments?order=alpha

Kittle, Alex (2010) Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari) (1920) In: Filmforager.com [Online] At: http://www.filmforager.com/2010/04/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari-cabinet-of.html