Director: Robert Weine
Screenplay: Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
Release Date: February 26th, 1920
I just realized today that I had never before seen a silent movie. I’m going to have to remedy that situation soon, because THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI actually kind of blew my mind with how effectively it was able to get under my skin.
The film tales a fairly simple tale, beginning with a framing story in which Francis (Feher) is sitting on a bench with an older gentleman and points out his fiance Jane (Lil Dagover) walking around in a daze. Francis proceeds to tell the man how she got that way, detailing how he and his friend Alan (Twardowski) attended a local carnival and encountered Dr. Caligari and his unsettling somnambulist Cesare, whom the doctor keeps comatose inside of a coffin-shaped cabinet. Cesare awakens only at Caligari’s command, and Caligari alleges that he can see the future. When Alan asks Cesare how long he will live, Cesare coldly responds, “Until dawn tomorrow”. When Alan is found murdered the next morning, Francis begins to investigate the doctor and his companion, and in doing so uncovers a startling secret and an unending nightmare.
After doing a bit of research I discovered that THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI was one of the first films to feature a twist ending, and while that ending was somewhat obvious to me due to watching countless other films that have paid homage, I will not reveal it out of respect for the film’s place in history, but also because despite not being surprised it still left me unsettled. Perhaps the film’s biggest impact, and what it is most often cited for, is it’s introduction of the German Expressionistic aesthetic of filmmaking. With the exception of the framing story, the entire film is filmed on incredibly stylized sets that take full advantage of the limitations of black and white photography. Every building, street and piece of foliage is painted on large canvases that go off in insanely abstract angles. Every nook and cranny of this world is not-so-slightly off-kilter, with the filmmakers in total control of the look of the environments, even going so far as to paint the shadows in particular patterns. A window frame appears in the background as a menacing spider web, a village rooftop veers off at odd angles, and mountain tops seem to claw at the sky like demonic hands.
Every single frame of this film was designed to keep the viewer in a constant state of dread, and Weine and his crew succeeded totally. Despite being over ninety years old, I was made immediately uncomfortable by the atmosphere exuded by this film. CALIGARI is often cited as the first true horror film, and though there are earlier films that could claim this credit, one cannot argue that this film is certainly the most influential in the genre. From the off-kilter Gothic style of Tod Browning’s DRACULA or James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, all the way up to Tim Burton and his endless film about characters inhabiting worlds full of strange angles with grey color palettes, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI is clearly a very important film in the genre that I love so much. Rarely do touchstone films of this type ever have any kind of appeal to me beyond perhaps admiring what they inspired. And while I certainly DO admire the film a great deal in that regard, I cannot deny the effect it had on me while I watched it. I say turn out the lights and watch this one while you’re all alone.
My Rating: 10/10
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