While there will be no film in our regular monthly film series for October, the Clinton Street Theater is showing The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari), the German silent horror film, released in 1920, that is widely considered the first great work in the genre.
Friday, October 20, 2023 @ 7.00 PM
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari)
Germany, 1920, . Silent, with musical accompaniment. English intertitles. (Approx. 75 min.)
Directed by Robert Wiene
Screenplay by Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer, based on a story by Hans Janowitz.
Cast: Conrad Veidt, Lil Dagover, Werner Krauss
The poster child for German Expressionist cinema, “A mystery story told in the Poe manner,” according to the original Variety review, the titular Dr Caligari (Werner Krauss) is the host of a fairground attraction, and his eponymous cabinet contains Cesare (Conrad Veidt), a somnambulist who Caligari controls — at the fair, to answer questions from the audience; and at night, to do his evil bidding, including murder. Caligari’s activities come to the attention of young Franzis (Friedrich Feher), who attempts to uncover the truth about the doctor and expose him.
But the most famous thing about Caligari by far is not the storyline or the characters, but the visual style. Painted backdrops evoke a landscape straight out of a nightmare: jagged lines and stark monochromatic shapes, they give the impression of the winding streets of a town and its locales without actually being one. The implied structures tower over the characters, leaning in above, creating an oppressive and unnerving atmosphere, while their total lack of reality evoke theater more than the liberalism we’re now used to from film. The make-up and performances are the same: heightened; dreamlike — or nightmarish.
Which may be entirely appropriate given the film’s framing narrative, which introduce an ending that’s a little bit “and it was all a dream”. Or was it? Well, that depends how you interpret what happens. The bookends were apparently added to help sell the film to the public, framing its fantastical narrative in something more grounded. The screenwriters weren’t happy — as Lotte H. Eisner writes (in the MoC booklet), “the result of these modifications was to falsify the action and ultimately to reduce it to the ravings of a madman. The film’s [screenwriters], Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz, had had the very different intention of unmasking the absurdity of asocial authority, represented by Dr. Caligari.” Well, the tacked-on ending doesn’t necessarily negate such an interpretation, you just need to fill in the blanks to get there yourself.
This film will be accompanied by LIVE music – see all details on the Clinton Street Theater website. We will update when available.