The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

- Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari
It's like a work of art come to life., 14 July 2006

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is, for me, a tale of two movies. On one hand, there's no denying the film's historical significance or amazing "look". Instead of going into detail on the film's historical significance, I think that simply stating the fact that The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a German horror film from 1920 pretty much sums it up. As for the "look" of the film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a beautiful nightmare. The twisted images are something to behold. It's like a work of art come to life. The sight of Conrad Veidt dressed in black, looking like a shadow that has taken on human characteristics, slinking down a hall on the way to his next victim is an image that stays with you. The set design is brilliant. The skewed shapes of ordinary objects like windows and doors and the use of paint to represent light and shadows is stunning. Filmmakers today could spend literally millions trying to create the "look" found in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and never achieve anything nearly as memorable.

But, as I said, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the tale of two movies. Once you get past the film's place in history and the stylized look, you're left with the plot. And this is where I have problems with the movie. As I've said any number of times, I ultimately watch movies for entertainment. It may seem shallow to some, but if I'm not entertained, I can't in good conscious rate a film highly just because of technical or some other achievement. As a vehicle for entertainment, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari let me down. I was never drawn into or felt engaged by the story. The plot is so overly simplistic that I found much of the goings on dull. Don't misunderstand. My problems with the film have nothing to do with it being a silent movie. It may sound cliché, but some of my favorite movies (The Unknown being at the top of the list) are silent. It's unfortunate that the plot of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is in no way as memorable as the "look" of the film.

7/10