The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
A carnival hypnotist exhibits a somnambulist who can foretell the future, and a string of night-time murders follows the show from town to town in a world of painted, jagged shadows.
The film that taught cinema how to look like a nightmare.
Background
Robert Wiene directed this film for the German company Decla-Bioscop, with a script by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. The sets by Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Röhrig are painted with distorted perspective and shadows on the walls. Conrad Veidt plays Cesare, the somnambulist, and Werner Krauss plays Dr Caligari. The film is often described as the first great Expressionist film.
What to watch for
The frame story, which reveals that the tale may be the delusion of a patient in an asylum, was added during production, and it remains controversial. The critic Siegfried Kracauer later used the film as the starting point for his book From Caligari to Hitler, arguing that German cinema reflected national anxieties. Whether or not you agree, the film’s look is unforgettable, and its influence on horror can be seen in everything from the Universal monsters to Tim Burton. The tinted prints suit its dreamlike mood.
