I’m not the first to say this but The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is not only one of the best films of all time but one of the most important. It sets up the conventions of horror for the next 100 years in both style and substance. If you haven’t seen this film, you need to; it does not matter if you are a fan of silent films or German Expressionism, you NEED to see it. I don’t have a ton to say about this one because what else can be said that already hasn’t?
THE SONAMBULIST
One of the best things in the movie is Conrad Veidt’s performance as Cesare, the famed somnambulist. Veidt gives one of the best performances of the silent era even though he is pretending to be asleep a good amount of his on-screen time. Audiences were even said to have screamed during his reveal. Subtle and nuanced performances like this are something I seek when it comes to the silent era. Other examples of this I’ve mostly found in the work of Victor Sjöstöm, namely He Who Gets Slapped and A Man There Was.
There is also this incredibly chilling moment that caught my eye where Dr. Caligari and Cesare turn their heads together in unison. THIS is what the MOVIES are all about!
OH YEAH, SET DESIGN
Verisimilitude is easily built within the distorted world the film takes place in. Jagged edges and strange furniture never feels out of place or strange in the film and the handpainted sets are absolutely brilliant. Early films that really put the effort into creating entire worlds with sets always amaze me.
INTERTITLES!
The intertitle cards in the film are some of the best ones I have ever seen. The design on them is just perfect and far more interesting than the standard intertitles I’ve seen. Not only are they jagged and twisted but according to sources that can read German (not me) they contain archaic German spellings. Such small details really make the difference.
MUSIC
I’m going to pair this off with the self-titled album by Russian post-punk band, Утро (Utro). Specifically the songs “Как же я был слаб в те дни.” and “Сад”.
Here’s those two:
And here’s the entire album: