Weimar Germany, despite economic woes and political turmoil, was the fertile ground for cinema industry. German films from the period became known worldwide for their thematic diversity, technical innovations, experiments in style and, last but not least, artistic ambitions of their makers. That, among other things, reflected in creation of one the first major art movements in the history of medium, known as German Expressionist Cinema. One of the first works to represent such trends was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920 horror film directed by Robert Wiene, today known as one of the great classics of silent era.
The plot begins with framing story during which protagonist, a man named Francis (played by Friedrich Fehér) recounts events he was involved in a year so earlier. Flashback brings plot to small town of Hochstenwall, where Francis competes for the hand of beautiful Jane (played by Lil Dagover) with his best friend Alan (played Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Town holds an annual fair which is opportunity seized by travelling hypnotist Dr. Caligari (played by Werner Krauss). He wants to stage show featuring zombie-like somnambulist named Cesare (played by Conrad Vedit). He obtains permit for it, but the town clerk that initially dismissed Dr. Caligari is later found killed. Dr. Caligari runs his show and during it Alan asks Cesare when he would die only to be answered that it would happen at dawn. That very dawn Alan gets killed by Cesare. Grief-stricken Francis tries to help authorities with investigation, although it is at first sidelined by discovery of a man who attempted another unrelated murder. Jane becomes Cesare’s next target, but Cesare, instead of killing her, abducts her. He dies after being chased by townsfolk and clues begin to point towards Dr. Caligari as perpetrator who used his hypnotic abilities for murder.
First thing viewers today might notice in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is unconventional production design, which was even more unusual for the audience a century ago. Instead of using locations and regular sets, makers of the films used canvases in which they painted images in style of Expressionist paintings. This, together with cinematography by Willy Haimaster which played with light and shadows, created atmosphere which is surreal and disturbing, suggesting a distorted mental state of the characters. This is followed with the use of heavy make up (excessive even for standards of silent cinema) for the characters of Cesare (which looks like distant cousin of Boris Karloff’s monster in Frankenstein made in Hollywood a decade later) and demonic Dr. Caligari. What made this film even more extraordinary was brilliant twist ending, which made the film even more disturbing and allowed audience to ask questions about nature of reality and mental illness. Interestingly enough, that twist ending wasn’t originally included in the script by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz.
The film, produced by Decla-Film, studio that would soon became of part of UFA, dominant institution of German cinema in interwar period, was specifically made in Expressionist manner in order to make it as different from more conventional Hollywood films. Film scholars would later debate whether such decision was made by director Robert Wiene or studio executive Erich Pommer. In any case, the experiment in this particular case succeeded. Film was embraced by audience, with some seeing its macabre gothic story as form of escape from real life problems by Germans experienced in post-Versailles years, while others seeing its plot as condemnation of tyrannical government and adherence to authority which had brought so much misery to the country in First World War. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari managed to strike a chord even outside German borders, becoming one of first post-war films to have successful international distribution. This allowed it to influence film makers in Hollywood, France and even Soviet Union. This continued even after Expressionism fell out of favour among German film makers and audience by mid 1920s. Many classics of horror cinema in sound era, as well as some future genres and styles like film noir owed a lot to the style and themes developed by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. As such this film earned not only reputation as one of the first great horror films but also title of the first and one of the most successful art films in history of cinema.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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