the cabinet of dr caligari

Tamala
Garrett
English 376 Due
1/29/96CRITIQUE OF THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari was written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, anddirected
by Robert Weine. It was produced in 1919 by Erich Pommer for
Decla-Bioscop. 1919 was a year in which the movie industry was
transformed into a giant industry. Although the movie was produced in
1919, it was not released in the United States until1921. A time when film
makers were out to prove that film was indeed art. In the year1921 525
films were released out of those 525, 50 still exist today, one of those 50
is TheCabinet of Dr. Caligari. At the time of its release in America, horror
films were virtuallyunheard of because filmakers felt that the subject
matter was tasteless or even repulsive,not to mention difficult to adjust to
the silent screen. The first horror film on record wasFrankenstein in
1910. Elements from Frankenstein are evident in The Cabinet of
Dr.Caligari.When the demonic somnambulist Cesare creeps into Lil
Dagover's bedchamber, directorRobert Wiene was exploiting a fear
common to us all. Prone and sleeping the woman isuttlerly helpless.
She is carried off into the expressionist labyrinth that Wiene used
tosymbolize the darkest torments of the human mind and soul. A
beautiful woman is carriedoff by evil, a play on the Beauty and the Beast
themes that would become so popular inhorror films. Used
expressionism, films that explored dream, nightmare and psyche and that
found theirnarrative shape determined less by action than emotion. Used
angular sets and heavyshadows to develop a macabre and horrific
atmosphere for its tale of murder and madness. The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari intentionally uses sets that look artificial. The
deliberatedistortions were meant to portray what a tormented soul might
perceive. Germanexpressionism, known as dada, and surrealism
rejected notions of reality, the Germanexpressionist movement, modern

art was underway. Used tilted sets, and twistedcardboard trees. Light
and shadow were used to create a response, and get the
vieweremotionally connected.Two films imported from Germany named
Passion and Sumurun starring a popular actressnamed Pola Negri
opened the door for other German imports. The popularity of Negriand
Caligari combined helped to create a small art-house market.The
expressionistic style was widely distrusted at the time but even so was
copied byAmerican directors looking to add European culture to their
films. The style soon becameso well known that a spoof was made of
Caligari in 1928 called The Life and Death of aHollywood Extra which is a
tale about a Hollywood extra whose dreams of fame andfortune are
frustrated.Caligari had a lot of effect on the content of future Hollywood
movies. It's influence canbe seen in later films such as The Bells (1925)
and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932).