The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Yesterday in our first lecture of the new project space we watched a seventy minute film made in 1920 called "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari". The movie was made in black and white and also a silent movie of the horror genre. Basically the main story is about a man named Francis who tells a story of a time when the carnival came to town. As he follows mysterious murders a plot unfolds resulting in him questioning whether he has made everything up in his mind.

I must be honest and say this film was crazy weird, but good weird. Although this film isn't what i would usually watch I kind of enjoyed its wacky-ness.  I found some parts of the movie tedious but it did have its points of likability. I definitely loved the crazy shapes of the scenery and the different moods of music which gave characters their eerie presence, especially Dr Caligari and Cesare the somnambulist (sleep walker). Unlike recent horror movies, Dr caligari doesn't offer the viewer a frightful experience, but it does have a dark and creepy atmospheric purpose which corresponds really well with the story and the genre.

 

The images above are in place just to demonstrate some of the weird skewed scenery. I personally really think the way they have set the scenery really works for the horror genre because it gives an eerie and unnerving effect.

Below is a quick trailer which highlights some of the shapes of the scenery and the atmospheric music.