The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

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Jacob M A true timeless masterpiece that has influenced others with its German Expressionist art style, groundbreaking story and mysterious atmosphere. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/25 Full Review Martijn t If dr. Cagliari would've been there during the American Psycho business card scene, Patrick Bateman would've instantly gone into a murderous rage out of jealousy. On a more serious note: like every German expressionist classic I've seen so far, extremely impressive. And not just the art direction; I was very surprised how much this 1920 film already had all the psychological thriller beats down: unreliable narrator, a big twist and some nice mysteries (how can there be two?) Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/27/24 Full Review William B Super entertaining classic film. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/11/24 Full Review Jay W Never have I watched a film that felt more like a nightmarish fever dream. Everything about it feels just a bit off. The acting, the makeup and even the set is very strange. Nothing quite adds up. The movie doesn't follow a coherent narrative but operates on a sort of dream logic. The story is about Dr. Caligari coming into town with a carnival show. He has a creepy man named Cesare who can answer any question the audience has. But it appears that Cesare is being controlled by Caligari to commit murders. Or is he? This strangeness makes the movie creepy. You have to respect it, but you don't have to like it. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/20/24 Full Review Tyler G The set design, acting, lighting, sound, and story are so much more ambitious than pretty much all of its Silent Era peers. It is still a great watch over 100 years later. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/22/24 Full Review Nick M What a difficult film to review. There are so many contradictions, so much reinterpretation and jostling by collaborators, critics, and film historians to say something new or to claim some part of the credit that there is nothing approaching a unified viewpoint what this film is, how it came to be, or what it attempts to say. It is generally considered one of the best (or often *the* best) example of German Expressionism in film. However, at least one historian (David Robinson) has pointed out that only the art design has elements of Expressionism, and that the picture could just as easily have been told using a traditional design scheme because of how conventional the story is. This, he contends, doesn't make it an example of Expressionism at all because it clearly was not part of the intention of the authors. Moreover, the cinematography is downright pedestrian, suggesting that even the director had no such artistic motivation. The impression that begins to come together is that the magic that made this film a phenomenon was something of an accident. The writers, producers, multiple directors, and even people who were only tangentially involved have made contradictory, often wild claims about their own outsized role in the making of what is truly one of the most innovative, unique, startling, and thought-provoking films of early cinema. What is clear is that art designers Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Röhrig brought something mind-bendingly new to the screen that contributed to the psychology of the picture, and influenced the psyches of the audience to a degree that was unprecedented, and that set the imaginations of their contemporaries ablaze. Those ripples went far beyond Weimar Germany - I kept getting glimpses of Dr. Seuss and Tim Burton popping into my head! It isn't at all clear during most of the film why the minimalistic sets are filled with harsh angles and abstract furniture, and why they are painted in such a way as to warp perspective and confound our sense of place and security. Most of the actors don't seem to belong in this space at all. Whether intentional or not, all but Krauss (Dr. Caligari) and Veidt (Cesare) play things rather straight. Only those two mold their make-up, characterizations, and movements to fit the art design. It cannot be coincidence that they are the only two who had experience acting in Expressionistic theater! Only when we realize that the story is being told by a madman does the art design begin to make sense. What an awesome realization. Regardless of how it came to be, this early horror film (possibly the first that can claim the title) is an absolute must-see. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/16/24 Full Review Read all reviews

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

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