The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)

Directed by Robert Wiene
Starring Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
Produced by Decla-Bioscop AG

Francis and Alan are friends, but in love with the same woman.  A fair arrives in town featuring the mysterious Dr. Caligari and his amazing somnambulist, Cesare.  Alan asks Cesare for his fortune and the sleepwalker tells Alan he will be dead by dawn. When Francis' friend is found murdered the following morning, suspicion falls on Caligari and Cesare.

Francis begins his own investigation and discovers that the suspects are in their trailer at the fair during a subsequent murder attempt.  Who is the killer?  And what other secrets remain in the cabinet of Dr. Caligari?

This is the most visually stunning movie I have seen to date. It's surreal.  It's Salvador Dali through the eyes of Tim Burton.  Every wall looks like it is about to fall over.  Every door and window looks like someone has grabbed the corners and stretched them to bizarre proportions.  Jagged pathways that seem to stretch for a mile are only a couple of feet.  The town bureaucrats sit on stools five feet off the ground.  Even the ladderback chairs look like someone forgot when to stop adding to their backs.  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a wonder of production design.

If the movie were only the marvelous sets and imagery, this would be a good movie.  The interplay between the plot and the imagery is what makes the film soar.  At its heart, this is a mystery, and the plot continually shows viewers just enough to make them think the answer is obvious, just before violently yanking the rug out from under you.

The only misstep in the entire film is toward the end.  Much of the initial reveal of the killer and his methods are shown through characters reading books and placing the printed pages on the screen.  At this moment, the film slows to a crawl.  Obviously, in the sound era, it would have been easier to convey a lot of information quickly.

SPOILER!  The end of the movie shows that the surreal nature of the movie is not simply a stylistic choice, but an integral element to the plot.  Francis is revealed to be an insane asylum inmate and the entire movie is his fantasy.  Caligari is the institution's director and Francis' love is a delusional woman believing herself to be a queen.  Once you realize this is all Francis' imagination, the look of his fantasy makes a lot of sense.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a great film.  More than just an experiment in mood and surrealism, it has a plot that is well served by its setting.

****1/2 out of *****

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Photos from The New York Times and