The Roundhay Garden Scene, running at 2:11 is considered the first surviving film. It was released in 1888, and by the late 1890s, filmmakers were already creating horror films. The first of these short films is considered Le Manoir du Diable, by George Méliès. The film was a mere three minutes long. Other horror films followed, including the first adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, created by Edison studios in 1910. In 1920, a German film which only took a month to shoot, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was released, and it is still considered one of the great horror films of the silent era, alongside Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Phantom of the Opera. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari attains its horror not only through the plot and character, but through the sets of the film; these images become even more unsettling when colorized.
Source: (IMDb/colorized).
The film, which was written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer and directed by Robert Wiene, is also a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema. The story is told abstractly, and exists within a frame as it begins with Francis, played by Friedrich Fehér, talking to an older man, when a dazed woman passes them. After Francis explains that the woman is his fiancée, Jane, he begins to recount his story, and the rest of the film is the flashback to his story, which happened in a village called Holstenwall. He had made plans to visit the town fair; meanwhile, Dr. Caligari, played by Werner Krauss, had obtained a permit to present a spectacle at the fair. When he tried to obtain the permit, the clerk mocks Dr. Caligari. That night, the clerk is stabbed and killed.
The Horror That's Sleeping In The Box
When Francis and his friend Alan visit Dr. Caligari’s spectacle the next day, Caligari opens a box that looks like a coffin and reveals Cesare (Conrad Veidt), the somnambulist. Alan asks Cesare how long he will live, and Cesare replies, “The time is short. You die at dawn!” After Alan is stabbed to death in bed that night, Francis and Jane, with the help of her father, Dr. Olsen. The police then apprehend a man who was trying to stab a woman, but he denies having killed Alan and the clerk.
What Is Actually Going On?
Source: (That Old Picture Show/colorized).
Francis then watches Dr. Caligari at night and sees who he assumes to be Cesare asleep in the box, but it’s not him and the real Cesare sneaks into Jane’s home, and does not stab her, but instead drags her into the street. When a mob chases him, he drops Jane and dies. Eventually, Francis discovers that Caligari is the director of an insane asylum, and when Francis studies his records he learns of Caligari’s obsession with an 11th century monk who shared his name. this monk used a somnambulist named Cesare to commit murders. The director then experiments on a somnambulist who becomes his Cesare. Francis and the police then show Caligari Cesare’s corpse, which causes Caligari to attack his own staff and be restrained in a strait jacket. He then becomes an inmate in his own asylum. After this flashback is complete, the story returns to the present, but it ends with a twist ending, completing the frame story and leaving the audience to contemplate the nature of insanity.
The Madness Of The Settings
Source: (Moma.org/colorized).
Hermann Warm designed the set along with Walter Reimann and Walter Rohlig, and Warm’s belief that “films must be drawings brought to life” is clearly seen in the sets, which are nightmarish and outside the ordinary. As expressionism was fashionable at the time, the designers were told to make the sets as crazy as possible. As a German Expressionist film, it employs dark, twisted visuals: sharp forms, curving lines, and landscapes and buildings that lean and twist. There are streaks of light and shadows painted directly onto the sets. While the film does not delve into the psychological motivations of the characters, that psychology may actually be revealed by the very sets and costumes.
The Scriptwriters Were Inspired By Their Own Experiences
Source: (dw.com/colorized).
The scriptwriters were inspired by their own life experiences, specifically a distrust of authority which arose after World War I. The writers were both pacificists, and Carl Mayer feigned madness to avoid military service during World War I; the military psychiatrist who examined him served as a model for the character of Caligari. The film was also inspired in part by a circus sideshow called “Man or Machine” that the writers had visited on the Kantststrasse in Berlin. In the sideshow, after being hypnotized, a man was able to perform feats of tremendous strength.
It Has Had A Wide Influence
Source: (Pinterest.de/colorized).
Some critics have claimed that the film reflects an unwillingness to rebel against authority, and some critics have interpreted Caligari as representing the German government, with Cesare representing common man who is conditioned to kill. There are a number of other themes in the film, including the perception of reality and the notion of sanity.
When the film was released, it was said that women screamed when Cesare was revealed. Although its financial and critical success at the time of its release are unclear, modern critics have praised it, including Roger Ebert, who called it “the first true horror film.” It continues to endure as one of the most influential early films.
