| No film like Robert Wiene’s classic Expressionist film, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ (1920) about Caligari, the mad scientist, (wonderfully portrayed by Werner Krauss) and his cruel somnambulist fellow, Cesare (sleek and androgynous) do we get a sense of what this meant for the cinema, let alone the German films of the period. |
Made during the turbulent and creative period of Germany’s Weimar Republic, a unique and volatile era. These were fast changing times, and in no film like Robert Wiene’s classic Expressionist film, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ (1920) about Caligari, the mad scientist, (wonderfully portrayed by Werner Krauss) and his cruel somnambulist fellow, Cesare (sleek and androgynous) do we get a sense of what this meant for the cinema, let alone the German films of the period. Delving deeply into the morass of human insanity, this landmark film achieves a stunning balance between art, story and characterisation.
Locations and most characters are in a constant state of peculiar movement. Pavements lead to places they shouldn’t, people (most memorably Cesare, touching and terrifying; wonderfully played by Conrad Veidt) move in jarring strides, and even the structure of the film, beginning and ending with a framing story that encompasses a possibly false primary story, causes the entire film to twist and turn and collapse upon itself.
As a viewing experience, the film must have been unsettling to the audiences of 1920, with psychological horror depicted via the characters mental state and through the expressionist set design. From the opening scenes to the shocking finale, it continues to amaze and enthrall in what is one of the finest depictions of a three-dimensional nightmare committed to celluloid.
Locations and most characters are in a constant state of peculiar movement. Pavements lead to places they shouldn’t, people (most memorably Cesare, touching and terrifying; wonderfully played by Conrad Veidt) move in jarring strides, and even the structure of the film, beginning and ending with a framing story that encompasses a possibly false primary story, causes the entire film to twist and turn and collapse upon itself.
As a viewing experience, the film must have been unsettling to the audiences of 1920, with psychological horror depicted via the characters mental state and through the expressionist set design. From the opening scenes to the shocking finale, it continues to amaze and enthrall in what is one of the finest depictions of a three-dimensional nightmare committed to celluloid.
