"Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" (1920, Robert Wiene) has been very important for the film history in that it was one of the first films of the German expressionist movement. One of the first, but in my opinion not one of the best. Later in the '20s Robert Wiene was surpassed by directors such as Fritz Lang and Wilhelm Friedrich Murnau.
Above I asserted that "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" is not the best film the German expressionist movement has produced. That is of course not to deny the film all intrinsic qualities. "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" is a good, although in my opinion somewhat overvalued, film. Especially the extravagant set pieces are really remarkable and innovative (for example civil servants sitting on extremely high desk stools). I started to wonder if some of the credits of this film should not be given to art director Hermann Warm. After some investigation I think this is not the case. In later films with Warm as art director such as "Der mude Tod" (1921, Fritz Lang) and "Vampyr" (1932, Carl Theodor Dreyer) the set pieces are much more normal. In "Raskolnikow" (1923, Robert Wiene) however the set pieces are equally weird in a film where Wiene is director but Warm not art director. So justified praise for Robert Wiene after all.
Untill now we have spoken mainly about style. The theme of "Dr Caligari" is madness, and especially the question who is mad and who is normal. This question reappears from time to time. Sometimes when a character thought sound unexpectedly turns out to be mad ("Spellbound", 1945, Alfred Hitchcock) and sometimes when a character thought mad unexpectedly turns out to be normal ("Twelve monkeys", 1995, Terry Gilliam).
Above I asserted that "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" is not the best film the German expressionist movement has produced. That is of course not to deny the film all intrinsic qualities. "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" is a good, although in my opinion somewhat overvalued, film. Especially the extravagant set pieces are really remarkable and innovative (for example civil servants sitting on extremely high desk stools). I started to wonder if some of the credits of this film should not be given to art director Hermann Warm. After some investigation I think this is not the case. In later films with Warm as art director such as "Der mude Tod" (1921, Fritz Lang) and "Vampyr" (1932, Carl Theodor Dreyer) the set pieces are much more normal. In "Raskolnikow" (1923, Robert Wiene) however the set pieces are equally weird in a film where Wiene is director but Warm not art director. So justified praise for Robert Wiene after all.
Untill now we have spoken mainly about style. The theme of "Dr Caligari" is madness, and especially the question who is mad and who is normal. This question reappears from time to time. Sometimes when a character thought sound unexpectedly turns out to be mad ("Spellbound", 1945, Alfred Hitchcock) and sometimes when a character thought mad unexpectedly turns out to be normal ("Twelve monkeys", 1995, Terry Gilliam).