Film Review • DAS CABINET DES DR CALIGARI (1920)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Almost an hour long this silent film struggled to keep my attention.
I did find it interesting but in one go it was a little hard to focus on.
The film itself was slightly confusing, others believed it was a straightforward story with a classic twist.
As it is an old film it was in black and white which allowed for some manipulation of perspective, camera angles were set with painted backgrounds, the contrast was pushed to its extremes with the paint, clothing and makeup.
Upon some research it appears the version we watched was an abridged version, meaning it had been edited down.
The version we watched was roughly 50 minutes long whereas others appear to be over an hour long, I have not watched the longer versions so my view is only based on this shorter version.
In an article from 1923, points out that other film producers were chastised for the producer of this film being a stage actor, someone with little knowledge of film and camera, the original writer of the review praises Wiene’s use of shading and line.
From my own eye I can see that Wiene was a clear inspiration for Tim Burton, as Burton is an inspiration to me but I did not look into his own influences.
This has made me think more about who influences who, as the further back you go they may all have similar influences.
Using only what was available they have created what was possibly cutting edge at the time of making, but now seems like it is only a steppingstone to get to today’s more modern approach to film making.
Upon a second watch the backgrounds are rather telling of where the characters are.
With the ending in mind you can tell the twisted angles, hard lines and how nothing looked properly aligned were to show the state of the characters mind and how it was not altogether.
The state of insanity is marked well as this story goes on, upon first watch some things go unnoticed, as the ending proves all is not as it seemed.
Reality seemed to have a harsher look to it, even the room the lead role was placed in at the end seemed harsh, corners pushed back and the walls grungy, painting over what was there in a previous scene but changed enough to appear more trapping.
The rest of the film was based on the lead roles recounting of what had happened, which the watcher believes to be the truth although it is unreliable.
Bibliography
Brooke Lansdell, (2019) Quick redraw of screenshot from 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' [digital painting]
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) [Silent Movie] [Horror] [Film Streamed online] Robert Wiene, Timeless Classic Movies (1920) 51 mins At: https://youtu.be/aimAeeDx2p4 (Accessed on 2 October 2019)
The Guardian. (2014) From the archive, 3 November 1923: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - review [online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/03/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-review-archive-1923 (Accessed on 2 October 2019)
Conrad Veidt and Lil Dagover in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. [Photograph] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/03/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-review-archive-1923 (Accessed on 2 October 2019)
Hi Brooke,
ReplyDeleteWell done on getting your first film review done and dusted!
A couple of pointers for future reviews - don't worry about editing this one, just take the advice forwards for the next one.
Don't centre your text; it makes it look like verse rather than prose. You should either align it to the left or justify it, so that it is evenly spaced.
Have another look at the brief and you will see that you are asked to support your own ideas and discussions with at least 3 quotations from reputable sources, such as recognised film critics, journal articles etc. These quotes should be introduced and then 'unpicked' in relation to your discussion ( so in other words, don't just drop them in without any explanation as to why you have used them.)
Although these are called 'film reviews', you should avoid using the 1st person... we are not looking for your own opinion on whether you enjoyed the film or not, but rather an exploration of the themes/styles etc within the film.
I am going to put a brief guide to writing a film review on the group blog in just a moment, so keep an eye out for that.
I believe that I may have not been gotten the clearest idea to this task at hand but its hard enough to write this one, as I was really unsure as what I was supposed to focus on in the writing itself.
DeleteCan you please email it to me too so I definitely cant lose it.