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Space and Environm ent: Cinem atic Spaces Film Review

D as Cabinet des D r. Caligari, 1920

'D as Cabinet des Dr. Caligari' or 'T e Cabinet of D r. Caligari' is a G erm an silent horror lm , directed by

Robert W iene, 1920. T e lm is considered the best horror lm of the silent m ovie era and has greatly

inuenced lm m akers. old as a ashback of the protagonist Francis, an annual fair arrives in the tow n of

H olstenw all bringing w ith it D r. Caligari and his som nam bulist Cesare. D r. Caligari show cases his

som nam bulist claim ing he has the ability to predict the future. Soon aer the arrival of the fair a series of

m ysterious m urders occur, including the m urder of the protagonist's friend, A lan follow ing a prediction

from Cesare. As the story is told from Francis' perspective, the audience is lead to believe that he is the hero

of the story, and D r. Caligari the antagonist using C esare to com m it his crim es. H owever, there is a tw ist,

m aking the lm the rst psychological horror.

Figure 1.Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

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O ne of the m ost notable aspects of the lm is the unique look.T e actors inhabit a jagged landscape of

sharp angles and tilted walls and w indow s, staircases clim bing crazy diagonals, trees w ith spiky leaves, grass

that looks like knives. Ebert.T e nightm arish aesthetic created by the jagged environm ent has clearly

inuenced directors such as im Burton. T e character Edw ard Scissorhands, from Burton's lm of the

sam e nam e, reects the style of Cesare. T e shadow s and sharp angle seen in 1940s noir lm s can also be

seen to have been inuenced by W iene's m asterpiece.

A er the m urders had started to occur, Francis' love interest Jane is abducted by Cesare. Figure 4 show s the

iconic scene w here Cesare runs away carrying Jane. T is im age has been reproduced in lm such as

'M etropolis' 1927 and 'King Kong' 1933, again show ing how inuencial W iene's lm has been throughout

lm history.

Figure 2. Still from the film Figure 3. Still from the film

Figure 4. Still from the film

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Credited as introducing the "tw ist ending" to cinem a, Robert W iene's 1920 "T e Cabinet of D r. Caligari" is a

groundbreaking work of Germ an Expressionism . T e early horror lm also introduces the frequently copied

bookend structure so popular in m odern cinem a. Sm ithey.

he com bination of the style of the world created in this lm and the unanticipated plot tw ist in the nal

sequence gives the lm a dream -like quality. T e audience alm ost feels as if they are watching a nightm are

unfold, w here the characters w ithin the lm have no control over the environm ent and the events that take

place."Caligari is said to be the rst exam ple in cinem a of G erm an Expressionism , a visual style in which not

only the characters but the w orld itself is out of joint. Ebert.

Both the story and look of 'T e C abinet of Dr. Caligari' is still inuencial in m odern lm m aking. D espite

changes in the horror genre over tim e, this lm still appeals to fans of the genre. Caligari is still creepy good

entertainm ent on a rainy day. Antani.

Figure 5

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