The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Robert Wiene's film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) is perhaps the first important Expressionistic film. The film opens with two men talking. The younger man says he has a crazy story to tell, setting up a frame story. In the story, the man and his friend are at a carnival. At one of the exhibits a man called Dr. Caligari has somnambulist (sleepwalker) who can predict the future. The somnambulist says one of the two men will be dead by sunrise. This ends up being the case and the man decides he'll solve the crime and the chief suspects are Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist.

The film stars Werner Krauß (Krauss) as Dr. Caligari, Friedrich Fehér as the man who does not die, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as the man who dies, Conrad Veidt as the somnambulist, and Lil Dagover who is the expressionistic version of a film noir femme fatale. Of these actors, I thought Caligari's part was fairly well-played. Overall the acting seemed very over-exaggerated, even for a silent film, but given the Expressionistic style this film uses, I found this acceptable.

Of course, the most important part of this film is its style. Made in 1920, this film is one of the earliest, and certainly the first important, film made in the style of German Expressionism. Once the main story begins, even a person with no knowledge of Expressionism would have no trouble determining this film is of a distinct style. The sets do not even come close to looking realistic - windows, doors, and buildings are almost always misshapen - and shadows are painted onto walls and ceilings. To go with the strange appearance to the film, the plot is also Expressionistic dealing with madness, insanity, and other intellectual topics. Given this, the film could be seen as one of the earliest examples of a horror film.

While undoubtedly a landmark in cinema, this film is not for everyone. The film is of course silent and even for a silent film this film is fairly distinct. The plot is more complicated than a silent comedy and given that it was made in 1920 as opposed to the late 1920s, the film techniques are fairly primitive even for a silent film. Still, anyone who appreciates silent films should be able to find some redeeming qualities in this and I would recommend it without any reservations to anyone willing to watch a silent film.

81/100
B-

UP NEXT: To be determined

Here's a few pictures from the film to demonstrate what I mean by Expressionism:

I loved that one Catbox! Can't believe you watched it! This is... hmm.. let's call it "not totally mainstream".
I would rate it 85/100.

swiss_tiger wrote:

I loved that one Catbox! Can't believe you watched it! This is... hmm.. let's call it "not totally mainstream".
I would rate it 85/100.

I'll watch anything If it's a film I'll watch it (especially if it's famous).

I don't care if a movie is black and white, foreign, AND silent, I'll give it a shot.

So far this is my 3rd favorite German film (behind M and Das Boot) and possibly my 2nd favorite silent film (behind Battleship Potemkin)

I'll log your score in just a second.

Score logged!

Thanks for logging the score!
I will make a forecast: This movie will not get more than two scores. Or do we have some other people here that are willing to watch a very old silent film from Germany?

swiss_tiger wrote:

Thanks for logging the score!
I will make a forecast: This movie will not get more than two scores. Or do we have some other people here that are willing to watch a very old silent film from Germany?

Doesn't Laprimamirarla watch these kinds of films? She's seen Nosferatu.