THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919)

A.K.A.: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Country: Germany

Genre(s): Art Film / Horror

Director: Robert Wiene

Cast: Werner Krauss / Friedrich Feher / Conrad Veidt

Plot

A mental institution inmate relates the tale of a disturbed psychiatrist who uses a comatose patient to commit sleepwalking murders.

What I Liked

Best known for a surrealistic set design that is matched for aesthetic brilliance only by George Melies in the silent era, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” is an indispensable contribution to the early history of horror films.  However, its influence reaches beyond the obvious effect on the Universal horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, as it is evident also in the film noir pictures of the 1940s and in some of Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers as well.  Instead of using the standard techniques for creating a sense of paranoia and eeriness, director Wiene and crew painted shadows where there were none, constructed disorienting sets, and applied exaggeratedly gloomy makeup to the players.  The camera, by comparison, captures all the action from a centered, straight-ahead perspective, allowing the other effects to do their job.

Unlike many of the horror films that would follow in the coming decades that relied primarily on well-known literature for subject matter, “Caligari” comes from an original script by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, but it is a fabulous tale worthy of a classic scary tale.  Much like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” or “Frankenstein,” the story takes into account the old world’s skepticism and fear regarding the scientific advancements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  In the case of “Caligari,” the science is represented by the titular character and his use of psychology to manipulate another into committing terrible crimes.  Then we have the virginal beauty being accosted at night and carried away by the killer, not unlike “Dracula” or countless other followers.

Although it would take a bit of a stretch in both cases, one could even argue that this is the first slasher film and the first zombie film.  There can be no debate whatsoever, though, that “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is a spookily imaginative transference of nightmare onto celluloid.

What I Didn’t Like

Melodramatic acting was typical of the silent era, as the only way to effectively convey the needed emotion to the audience without audio.  Still, the acting in “Caligari” is notoriously histrionic, with any unhappy event being treated as though history’s greatest tragedy has struck.  The film has been associated with the German Expressionist movement because of its unusual sets.  However, it is the acting, intentionally or not, that most reflects Munch’s famous painting “The Scream,” even in the more subdued moments of the film.  With modern eyes, most of the performances come off as more cartoonish than frightening.

Most Memorable Scene

For all of it’s bizarre set pieces, it is ironic that the most chilling moment of the film occurs without any background.  There is simply a close-up of the face of Conrad Veidt as the murderous sleepwalker as he opens his eyes at his master’s command.  The grainy black-and-white, matched with the cold silence, the morose makeup, and Veidt’s supernatural stare are swirled together in a cauldron to produce a haunting spell.

My Rating: 4 out of 5