CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, THE (KABINETT DES DOKTOR CALIGARI, DAS) (director: Robert Wiene; screenwriter: Carl Mayer/Hans Janowitz; cinematographer: Willy Hameister; cast:Werner Krauss (Dr. Caligari), Conrad Veidt (Cesare), Lil Dagover (Jane), Friedrich Feher (Francis), Rudolf Lettinger (Dr. Olson, Jane's father), Rudolf Klein-Rogge (A Criminal), Hans Heinz von Twardowski (Alan), 1920-silent-Ger.)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
This is a must see film for historical reasons or if you are a film buff. Its cinematic influence is tremendous on so many great directors that range from Fritz Lang to Billy Wilder. Because of its dark story and unique set designs (these were done by artists Walter Reimann and Walter Röhrig and designer Hermann Warm), where black paint was used to represent the shadows that were painted on the cardboard scenery of crooked buildings. As a result of WW1, the post-war Germany economy was in a deplorable state and the studio only had one light to use, which couldn't light the entire set adequately. So they improvised and created an eerie style that brought the artistic German Expressionist movement into the film.
This unique film influenced the genres of horror, children's fairy tales, and crime films from the '20s - '50s, and by using the same style of lighting and dark mood as these mystery stories, they became known as noir films after WW11.
The story begins with the tiny but menacing looking Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss-he remained in Nazi Germany and later on played the anti-Semite in "Jud Suss") going to town hall to get a permit to open a booth at the local fair with his somnambulist act. The painted set of the town hall is cramped with all the buildings on an angle, with narrow passages, low ceilings, gray and black shadows covering the white walls, and the clerks sitting way up on very elongated stools. They react to this mad looking character by laughing at him, until he finally succeeds in getting his permit.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the story of murder and intrigue set in the small German town of Holstenwall. Francis (Friedric Feher), the narrator, acts as the voice of reason, explaining to the viewer what really happened during that time, as he relates his horror story to an older, skeptical man, as they are viewed sitting on a park bench.
Francis is the young lover and friendly rival of the same sweet girl, Jane (Lil Dagover), of his best friend, Alan (Hans Heinrich). They had the misfortune of attending the carnival and Alan made the fatal mistake of asking the somnambulist Cesare (Conrad Veidt), a thin, ashen appearing man, who is under the charge of Dr. Caligari and awakened by him after an eternal sleep, "How long do I have to live?" Cesare responds, "Until dawn."
True enough, before the next day begins, Alan is seen through the shadows being knifed to death. He is the second murder victim discovered. The town clerk was also killed on the day Dr. Caligari arrived. Francis reports his suspicions to the police that it is Dr. Caligari behind these killings, but the police soon pick up a criminal (Rudolf ) who is about to knife an old lady and charge him with all the murders, even though, he admits only to the attempted murder but not to the other two killings.
Meanwhile, Jane's old man (Lettinger) has disappeared and she goes to the carnival looking for him. She meets Dr. Caligari there and he shows off to her Cesare sleeping like a zombie in his cabinet. Jane gets bad feelings about these two characters, as Dr. Caligari ogles her. So, she leaves.
This seemingly simple murder plot, of a crazed medieval-type of Svengali, who orders his somnambulist to do his killings, is much more complex than that, and it is one of the reasons that this film has meant so much to so many different people at different time periods. A case can be made for it, as an example of what happened to the collective German psyche after the first war and how the degenerate ideals of Nazism seeped into the German being.
The simple explanation for the film's success, a success that is hard to deny, is that the subversive story is an allegory for an evil government (Dr. Caligari) that brainwashes its people (Cesare) to commit crimes it wants carried out. By its odd style, accented mannerisms, all the actors wearing grotesque makeup, and exhibiting a stagy acting method, it becomes a very unsettling film. Through its amazing sets, the film best expresses the insanity of its theme, and the story enhances this theme, as the authorities are shown to be either incompetent or uncaring, and madness proves to be the staple of the film.
It was brought to America by Samuel Goldwyn in 1921 and made an immediate impression on certain knowledgeable film critics in the U.S..
The odd twist the story takes, just when you assume that you know in which direction the film is going, is when Cesare, clad-in-all-black, is ordered into the bedroom of Jane to knife her to death but is instead attracted to her, with thoughts of rape overcoming his command to kill. When she screams and awakens her household, he is forced to kidnap her. This is the story that the narrator is telling.
Francis is convinced that Caligari is behind these crimes, but since he kept watch on him and had the doctor show him Cesare in his cabinet asleep, he has to admit that they did not leave their quarters and, therefore, he reasons, they couldn't have attacked Jane. It will later turn out that there is a dummy there in place of Cesare. But it is all so confusing, that the possibility exists the narrator is just making this whole thing up.
It turns out, there was a mountebank named 'Caligari' in 1612, in Italy, who had a somnambulist that he trained to commit murder. This asylum director must have liked what he read about the evil magician, with the idea that imitation is the best form of flattery, as this book is found in his desk. Francis discovers this secret when he has access to the director's office while visiting the asylum and going through the director's books while waiting for him to return; and, when he sees who the director is, he takes him for the lunatic killer.
The story remains purposefully unclear and bizarre, and in its supposed climax, Caligari is put under restraint by the orderlies, as Francis tells them his story and they find Cesare's dead body. But the story doesn't end on this note.
The reason for the confusion, is that the German government interfered with Robert Wiene's film, who was then forced to use a different beginning and ending to his film where the entire message was supposed to be reversed. They did not want a film with the message that authority is not to be trusted and should be subject to severe questioning.
This story is now viewed from the point of view of a "framing device," as it appears that all that previously happened could be derived from the narrator's deranged imagination.
Francis is now through telling his tale in the park, where he sees his girlfriend go sleepwalking by, and both men return to the asylum where they see Cesare alive and Dr. Caligari coming down the stairs and Jane thinking she is a queen, who refuses his advances by telling him that a queen can't follow the dictates of her heart when it comes to romance. When Francis accuses Caligari of being the killer who was in his fantasy, this time the orderlies, in the film's anticlimax, restrain Francis in a strait-jacket. The last chilling words coming from Dr. Caligari, who is now seen as a more benevolent soul, go loosely like this: boy, have I got a cure for you.
Caligari, however limited in scope, is still a powerhouse of a horror film, a significant breakthrough in style and in expression: a poetical vision. Even in its altered story form, the film is still spellbinding and weird, as its ambiguity makes for many interpretations. It is even possible, to make a case for Francis as being the deranged killer of his best friend. Either Francis or Caligari could be the lunatic. This note of ambiguity, instead of spoiling the story, only adds further intrigue. Everyone realizes that the world we live in has elements of evil and mystery in it. This tale of lunacy smolders in our psyches and allows us to look at this story's skewed world without knowing all the answers. We are left wondering if there could ever be justice in this world, as corrupt powers always seem to have a way of covering up their misdeeds.
REVIEWED ON 11/30/99 GRADE: A
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews