6. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1919

Directed by Robert Wiene

Synopsis

The whole story is told in flashback by some guy (the hero) to some other guy. It tells the story of a little german town where there's a fair happening. One of the attractions is Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist, Cesare, who predicts the future. Some misterious murders happen in the town and as Cesare had predicted one of them the suspicions fall on him. Later the hero realises that the Director of the local asylum is himself Dr. Caligari, or, more accurately, passing as Dr. Caligari, a mystic from the 1700's who commited crimes by hipnotising his somnambulist. Caligari is arrested and all is well. We cut back to the hero relating the story only to realise that he is in fact an inmate of the asylum who has just made up the Caligari story populating it with the other inmates and placing the director as the villain. Nice twist.

Review

This is a fascinating film. If you like Tim Burton, particularly Nightmare Before Christmas or the Beetlejuice cartoon series this is the silent movie for you. The set design in this film is more Burtonesque than Burton himself. The German town probably has the worst builders in the world, seeing as nothing is straight. The whole point of this is to give us a notion of dementia and that it does.

This film shows an alternative world of dementia like no other film has done before it. The set design, with its skewed windows and houses, painted shadows, incredibly high chairs etc.. is a triumph of imagination. Actually in this film its artistic aspects are much more significant than the plot itself, which is great nonetheless.

In terms of cinema innovations, not much is happening here. Actually it is a throwback to Melies, with the camera being stuck and people playing their parts as if on a stage. So look for Griffith for great camera work, you won't find any here. You will nonetheless find an amazing film which is also the weirdest one reviewed to date. Another particular merit of this film is the fact that it is probably the first zombie film ever made. Cesare is basically a zombie controlled by Dr. Caligari.

So, if you are into Burton, Zombies, set design, histeria and mental disease watch this film. If you aren't you are stupid. So this is a film that is essential viewing, yet I think most films reviewed here are essential, but this is essential essential. There. I cannot unfortunately give it top marks de to the quite unimaginative use of the camera or any particularly cinematic innovations. This is very much like an amazing theatre piece being filmed from a set point in the theatre. But it is a lot of fun to watch.

You can get it at Google Video or at Amazon either in the US or UK


Final Rating

8/10

Trivia

from Wikipedia:

Siegfried Kracauer's From Caligari to Hitler postulates that the film can be read as an allegory for the First World War, with Cesare the sleepwalker representing the German people who committed immoral acts during the war as a result of the influence of a more powerful individual. However, Kracauer's work has been largely discredited by contemporary scholars of German cinema, for example by Thomas Elsaesser in Weimar Cinema and After, who describes the legacy of Kracauer's work as a "historical imaginary".Elsaesser claims that Kracauer studied too few films to make his thesis about the social mindset of Germany legitimate and that the discovery and publication of the original screenplay of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari undermines his argument about the revolutionary intent of its writers. Elsaesser's alternative thesis is that the filmmakers adopted an Expressionist style as a method of product differentiation, establishing a distinct national product against the increasing import of American films.

There's a J-Rock band called Cali≠Gari

To my mind Caligari reminds Cagliostro, also they are both Italian mystics and practically contemporary.

Film best watched while perusing acid.