The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari Essay

Throughout the class course I believe that The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the greatest film of the first five decades of cinema. Aside from it being one of the most famous examples of German Expressionism, it has a brilliant use of mise-en-scene, which manifests in the areas of set design, color contrasts, camera movement and overall framing. The art behind it reaches beyond the Expressionism movement and straight into the horror genre and the evil side of a persons’ psychological mental state. Its ability to compel audiences even in contemporary art explains the film’s wide influence.
One of the important cinematic innovations is the distinguished schematic sets which capture the personal perceptions of the narrator by shaping the scenery from his thoughts. As described in “Film History” in chapter five, the most notable aspects of these designs are the number of tilted angles and sharp edges that are painted on canvas backdrops in a theatrical manner. These characteristics constantly reflect the blade attacks that occur throughout the film. Designing the set that way has a dual effect. On one hand, the sharp linear figures convey a prominent sense of unsettledness and danger throughout the city which mirror the narrator’s perspective. On the other hand, the areas that have more rounded

This is evident again in the frightening clip of Cesare’s abduction of Jane. The complexity in this shot allows the somnambulist to rupture the peacefulness of the space surrounding the scene. The killer preying on the helpless damsel as illustrated here became a frequent notion in horror movies to come. This also helps sustain the avant-garde feel of the film without diverting it from its visual form. While the captions in this picture are not as complex when compared Griffith’s other work during this period, it still relates to the story with stimulating