The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari or as it most commonly known as ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ is a 1920, post WW1,
German silent horror film, directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. The film is
about a young man named Francis who, through flashbacks, recounts his terrifying experiences at a carnival in
a small North German village, where he first encountered Dr. Caligari, a man with the power to control a
hypnotized sleepwalker named Cesare who can tell the future, while a few brutal murders take place.

Figure 1 Figure 2

Caligari creates a subjective psychological fantasy. In this world, unspeakable horror becomes possible. Caligari
is said to be the first example in cinema of German Expressionism, a visual style in which not only the characters
but the world itself is out of joint.

Expressionism is used to designate a wide range of visual art and interested in the relationship between art and
society. Expressionist films seek to portray personal experiences of its characters and their depiction of reality.
This is widely used for emotional effect for the audience which is what Caligari does. The film’s use of
expressionistic elements is a prime example of the genre’s power to establish a narrative that creates a
disconnect between subjectivity and reality.

The director, Robert Wiene, was heavily Influenced by expressionist artists such as Die Brucke which lead him to
hiring two expressionist painters to create the sets which show this disconnect through sidewalks lead nowhere,
walls appearing warped, creating weird shapes, and buildings at distorted angles in the background. These sets
give the audience the impression that this is not reality and is inside Francis head. An example of this can be
seen in Figure 5, which is a still from the film showing the town where all this take place. In this still you can see
the buildings are distorted by having weirdly shaped walls and being creating in to a strange shaped town. The
color of this still adds to this through the black around the edges of the still which could give it the effect of being
a hazy memory or as the film suggests that it is all in his head.

Throughout the entire film, you can see that the German expressionism act has had a heavy impacted on this
film as it has allowed new ways to express emotions like anxiety, distrust, and uneasiness which were at an all-
time high in Germany at the time. This has allowed it to continue to be used today.

Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Bibliography

Darsa, A. (2018). An Introduction to German Expressionist Films - artnet News. [online] artnet News. Available
at: https://news.artnet.com/market/art-house-an-introduction-to-german-expressionist-films-32845

Ebert, R. (2018). The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari (1920) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920 [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].

En.wikipedia.org.(2018). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. [online] Available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cabinet_of_Dr._Caligari [Accessed 23 Sep. 2018].