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By
DEBORAH NICOL
In a mad world mad visions
abound, and nothing could illustrate that idea
more clearly than writers Hans Janowitz and Carl
Mayer's silent German horror fantasy, "The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari." Set designers Walter Reimann,
Walter Röhrig (soon after an F.W. Murnau
favorite), and Hermann Warm create a beautifully
gothic world of extreme angles, striking
contrasts, and permanent shadows, which
effortlessly absorb the story's odd characters.
Director Robert Wiene's deliciously visual feast
conjures a future amalgamation of Dr. Suess and
Edward Gorey, most recently seen in the visions of
Tim Burton.
Outstanding to their Hollywood contemporaries,
early German cinema made an effort to utilize film
as another artistic medium, rather than simply a
portrayer of everyday happenings. This film of the
Weiman Era is a striking example of the
Expressionist movement, where reality and
naturalism are secondary to deranged inner
revelations. However, this artistic rebellion was
not merely a tie to two-dimensional modern art,
but also a stand against political authority. The
story grew out of frustration against soldiers
being sent off to fight in the madness of World
War I. In an ironic and embittered twist, director
Wiene altered the story so that a framework
diluted the true madness, and allowed it to be
merely the creation of one character's insanity.
In the much-discussed book by Siegfried Kracauer,
"From Caligari to Hitler," the author creates a
link between films of this era easing the way for
political power of Adolf Hitler, by diluting true
intentions such as this.
Despite this sabotage of the writer's objective,
the movie has become the precursor of an entire
genre of horror movies to come. Emphasis on
chilling images and grotesquely dressed villains
are the trademarks of any good horror film, and
more so if the story involves unexpected and
frightening plot twists. Conrad Veidt is
hauntingly memorable as somnambulist Cesare, the
graceful sleeping beauty/murderer trapped in his
own nightmare. (Ironically towards the writer's
purpose, Veidt would later appear as a Nazi in
"Casablanca.") Werner Krauss portrays evil
incarnate as the title's doctor, with every crease
and snarl darkened in order to strike fear in all
he meets. The film's hero, Francis, is played with
true silent over-dramatization by Friedrich Feher
(himself also a director).
Extras on this fantastic DVD include a photo
gallery, footage from another film by Wiene
("Genuine: a Tale of a Vampire"), and a booklet
with liner notes. The film transfer is clean,
aside from a single line across the top of the
screen. Dialogue cards have been recreated in
English in the same style as the original. The
film can be played either with music or with the
terrifically thorough commentary by critic Mike
Budd, which is not to be missed by true film
fanatics. |
