Wednesday, October 27, 2004
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Directed by Robert Wiene
In 1920, cinema was changed. When Robert Wiene filmed The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari he started the German Expressionist Movement and created the first ever horror film. The story is based on a 12th century monk who had trained a somnambulist to murder people. In this version, Caligari (Werner Krauss) is a psychiatrist who specializes in somnambulism.
The film opens with Francis (Friedrich Freher) discussing spiritual matters with an unnamed man. A beautiful woman (Lil Dagover) dressed all in white walks by. Her dress is a stark contrast to the dark surroundings. She seems to float by more than walk. Coming on the heels of the two men discussing spiritualism, she has an eerie, dreamlike presence. Francis claims she, who we will later find out is named Jane, is his betrothed and that they have seen something more amazing than anyone could believe. He then begins to recount the tale.
There is a traveling fair that is coming to town. We are introduced to Alan (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski) who is Francis’ best friend. Alan receives a flyer for the fair and he talks Francis into going to it with him. The two friends decide to attend.
The next character we meet is Dr. Caligari himself. The first thing we notice about Caligari is his outfit. He is dressed in mostly black. He wears a cape and top hat that has a magus-like air to it. Judging simply by his clothing, we get the feeling that he is a mysterious and possibly malevolent man. His gloves, in particular, are telling. They are all black except for white stripes along each of the fingers that make them look skeletal. He walks hunched over and hobbles along with a cane. There is a sense of frailty about him. He enters the town clerk’s office and tries to acquire a permit for his concession to be at the fair. We find out that he is a doctor and wishes to display a somnambulist. The clerk, who is apparently in a bad mood, dismisses him and passes him off to a subordinate. Caligari gets his approval.
Francis and Alan end up going to the fair where they attend Caligari’s show. Caligari explains that within this cabinet is a man who has been sleeping for 25 years. He will soon wake and be willing to answer any questions that one wishes to pose. Soon the cabinet is opened and we see Cesare (Conrad Veidt) for the first time. Cesare has excessively pale white skin and is dressed in all black. Under his eyes are dark, black smudges. This makeup technique is used to show that he is evil (it’s used again by Fritz Lang in the 1927 movie Metropolis to allow the audience to distinguish between the Good Maria and the Evil Maria). Cesare stays very rigid as he walks. This non-fluid motion makes Cesare seem even more creepy. The cabinet itself is of interest too. It looks like a coffin. It’s as if Wiene is trying to say that sleep is akin to death. It also provides a Dracula metaphor by having the killer sleep in a coffin.
Since Caligari had said Cesare could answer any question, Alan decides to ask him one. He wants to know when he will die. Cesare replies, “You are not long for this world, you die at dawn.” Thanks to the look on Alan’s face the scene is one of great horror. His expression shows that he believes Cesare and he fears for his life. The two friends leave the fair and return home for the night. As Alan sleeps that night, Cesare creeps into his room and kills him. We never actually see Cesare kill Alan. In what would become a trademark of German Expressionism, the director only shows us the shadows that Cesare and Alan cast upon the wall. Alan’s death has proven Cesare’s prophesy. Francis suspects that Caligari and Cesare have had something to do with the death of his friend. Francis, accompanied by Dr. Olson (Rudolph Lettinger), goes to confront Caligari. They demand to see Cesare and question Caligari about Alan’s murder.
Later in the day, Jane, Dr. Olson’s daughter, goes looking for her father. She comes to Dr. Caligari’s tent at the fair and asks if her father has been there. Caligari invites her to wait for him there. Jane comes inside and Caligari allows her to meet Cesare up close and personal. Jane is taken aback by the appearance of Cesare. She is clearly frightened by him and runs out of the tent. Caligari decides to make Jane his next victim.
The scene in which Cesare goes to kill Jane is a pivotal one in the film. The musical score supplies a great aural backdrop throughout the film, but when Cesare is about to kill Jane the music ceases and the audience is confronted with an eerie silence. Cesare looks down upon his victim and is about to stab her when he suddenly pauses. The audience is lead to assume that it is her beauty that stops him. He feels for her. The evil man falling for the beautiful victim would become a classic motif in horror films. It’s a tradition stretching back to the 1757 fairytale Beauty and the Beast and still present in modern cinema, literature and drama. Instead of killing her, he kidnaps her and tries to run away with her. As he is followed by townspeople, he drops her and runs off on his own. We will later hear that he has plummeted to his death in a nearby ravine.
In Francis’ search for answers to his friend’s death and his beloved’s capture, he comes across a sanitarium. He tries to find out if Caligari is a patient there. When orderlies direct him to the office of the head of the institution he is surprised to find himself face to face with Dr. Caligari again. He convinces the staff of the hospital to investigate the matter. The film cuts back and forth between Caligari’s bedroom where we see him sleeping and Caligari’s office where we see Francis and a few of the hospital staff searching for clues. They find notebooks and case studies dealing with somnambulism. They also find a book detailing the life of the original 12th century mountebank monk Caligari and his exploitation of a somnambulist. When confronted with the evidence, our Caligari denies everything until he is shown the corpse of Cesare. He is restrained in a straightjacket and put into isolation.
The film shifts back to the beginning as Francis concludes his tale. It is only then that we realize that Francis is the one in an institution. The entire story has been told by a madman. All of the principal characters then appear. We see Cesare, sans black eye shadow (but still looking fairly creepy). He is another patient at the asylum. Jane is a patient too, we find out that she believes she is of royal blood and is not really engaged to Francis. Dr. Caligari enters as the head of the institute (walking upright without a need for, or possession of, a cane). Francis begins ranting and raving, claiming that Caligari is evil and dangerous. He is taken away and the movie ends with the doctor realizing that Francis has mistaken him for the legendary Caligari, but he has figured out how to cure Francis of his madness.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a primary example of German Expressionist Cinema. The use of shadow vs. light is a main feature of the film. On top of that the sets themselves are intriguing. Caligari’s trailer in which he lives is skewed. Everything inside and out is slanted. It symbolizes that he, being criminally insane, is also skewed or slanted. The sets were made of paper and cardboard which was then painted to make things appear dark and strange. The film doesn’t follow a typical linear chronology. The entire movie has an aura of strangeness and unfamiliarity to it. Things seem normal while also seeming just slightly off, slightly skewed.
As the first true horror movie, the whole genre has been influenced by this film in some way. If only for that reason, this is a movie that even should its ability to terrify diminish, it will still be held as a classic and revered as a benchmark in cinema history.
Directed by Robert Wiene
In 1920, cinema was changed. When Robert Wiene filmed The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari he started the German Expressionist Movement and created the first ever horror film. The story is based on a 12th century monk who had trained a somnambulist to murder people. In this version, Caligari (Werner Krauss) is a psychiatrist who specializes in somnambulism.
The film opens with Francis (Friedrich Freher) discussing spiritual matters with an unnamed man. A beautiful woman (Lil Dagover) dressed all in white walks by. Her dress is a stark contrast to the dark surroundings. She seems to float by more than walk. Coming on the heels of the two men discussing spiritualism, she has an eerie, dreamlike presence. Francis claims she, who we will later find out is named Jane, is his betrothed and that they have seen something more amazing than anyone could believe. He then begins to recount the tale.
There is a traveling fair that is coming to town. We are introduced to Alan (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski) who is Francis’ best friend. Alan receives a flyer for the fair and he talks Francis into going to it with him. The two friends decide to attend.
The next character we meet is Dr. Caligari himself. The first thing we notice about Caligari is his outfit. He is dressed in mostly black. He wears a cape and top hat that has a magus-like air to it. Judging simply by his clothing, we get the feeling that he is a mysterious and possibly malevolent man. His gloves, in particular, are telling. They are all black except for white stripes along each of the fingers that make them look skeletal. He walks hunched over and hobbles along with a cane. There is a sense of frailty about him. He enters the town clerk’s office and tries to acquire a permit for his concession to be at the fair. We find out that he is a doctor and wishes to display a somnambulist. The clerk, who is apparently in a bad mood, dismisses him and passes him off to a subordinate. Caligari gets his approval.
Francis and Alan end up going to the fair where they attend Caligari’s show. Caligari explains that within this cabinet is a man who has been sleeping for 25 years. He will soon wake and be willing to answer any questions that one wishes to pose. Soon the cabinet is opened and we see Cesare (Conrad Veidt) for the first time. Cesare has excessively pale white skin and is dressed in all black. Under his eyes are dark, black smudges. This makeup technique is used to show that he is evil (it’s used again by Fritz Lang in the 1927 movie Metropolis to allow the audience to distinguish between the Good Maria and the Evil Maria). Cesare stays very rigid as he walks. This non-fluid motion makes Cesare seem even more creepy. The cabinet itself is of interest too. It looks like a coffin. It’s as if Wiene is trying to say that sleep is akin to death. It also provides a Dracula metaphor by having the killer sleep in a coffin.
Since Caligari had said Cesare could answer any question, Alan decides to ask him one. He wants to know when he will die. Cesare replies, “You are not long for this world, you die at dawn.” Thanks to the look on Alan’s face the scene is one of great horror. His expression shows that he believes Cesare and he fears for his life. The two friends leave the fair and return home for the night. As Alan sleeps that night, Cesare creeps into his room and kills him. We never actually see Cesare kill Alan. In what would become a trademark of German Expressionism, the director only shows us the shadows that Cesare and Alan cast upon the wall. Alan’s death has proven Cesare’s prophesy. Francis suspects that Caligari and Cesare have had something to do with the death of his friend. Francis, accompanied by Dr. Olson (Rudolph Lettinger), goes to confront Caligari. They demand to see Cesare and question Caligari about Alan’s murder.
Later in the day, Jane, Dr. Olson’s daughter, goes looking for her father. She comes to Dr. Caligari’s tent at the fair and asks if her father has been there. Caligari invites her to wait for him there. Jane comes inside and Caligari allows her to meet Cesare up close and personal. Jane is taken aback by the appearance of Cesare. She is clearly frightened by him and runs out of the tent. Caligari decides to make Jane his next victim.
The scene in which Cesare goes to kill Jane is a pivotal one in the film. The musical score supplies a great aural backdrop throughout the film, but when Cesare is about to kill Jane the music ceases and the audience is confronted with an eerie silence. Cesare looks down upon his victim and is about to stab her when he suddenly pauses. The audience is lead to assume that it is her beauty that stops him. He feels for her. The evil man falling for the beautiful victim would become a classic motif in horror films. It’s a tradition stretching back to the 1757 fairytale Beauty and the Beast and still present in modern cinema, literature and drama. Instead of killing her, he kidnaps her and tries to run away with her. As he is followed by townspeople, he drops her and runs off on his own. We will later hear that he has plummeted to his death in a nearby ravine.
In Francis’ search for answers to his friend’s death and his beloved’s capture, he comes across a sanitarium. He tries to find out if Caligari is a patient there. When orderlies direct him to the office of the head of the institution he is surprised to find himself face to face with Dr. Caligari again. He convinces the staff of the hospital to investigate the matter. The film cuts back and forth between Caligari’s bedroom where we see him sleeping and Caligari’s office where we see Francis and a few of the hospital staff searching for clues. They find notebooks and case studies dealing with somnambulism. They also find a book detailing the life of the original 12th century mountebank monk Caligari and his exploitation of a somnambulist. When confronted with the evidence, our Caligari denies everything until he is shown the corpse of Cesare. He is restrained in a straightjacket and put into isolation.
The film shifts back to the beginning as Francis concludes his tale. It is only then that we realize that Francis is the one in an institution. The entire story has been told by a madman. All of the principal characters then appear. We see Cesare, sans black eye shadow (but still looking fairly creepy). He is another patient at the asylum. Jane is a patient too, we find out that she believes she is of royal blood and is not really engaged to Francis. Dr. Caligari enters as the head of the institute (walking upright without a need for, or possession of, a cane). Francis begins ranting and raving, claiming that Caligari is evil and dangerous. He is taken away and the movie ends with the doctor realizing that Francis has mistaken him for the legendary Caligari, but he has figured out how to cure Francis of his madness.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a primary example of German Expressionist Cinema. The use of shadow vs. light is a main feature of the film. On top of that the sets themselves are intriguing. Caligari’s trailer in which he lives is skewed. Everything inside and out is slanted. It symbolizes that he, being criminally insane, is also skewed or slanted. The sets were made of paper and cardboard which was then painted to make things appear dark and strange. The film doesn’t follow a typical linear chronology. The entire movie has an aura of strangeness and unfamiliarity to it. Things seem normal while also seeming just slightly off, slightly skewed.
As the first true horror movie, the whole genre has been influenced by this film in some way. If only for that reason, this is a movie that even should its ability to terrify diminish, it will still be held as a classic and revered as a benchmark in cinema history.
# posted by NoPantsDave @ 10/27/2004 02:00:00 PM 
