Before I watched The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari I honestly didnt expect to enjoy it very much cuz I
haven’t watched a silent film I liked. Because its a really old film I lowkey thought it was going
to be really boring. Honestly though I was surprised by how interesting and creative it was for its
time. Even though the movie is like over 100 years old it still managed to feel strange and
unsettling. The ending where it is revealed that the narrator is actually insane made the entire
movie feel more like meaningful I guess. Which again was unexpected because the movie was
like really old and old movies are boring usually.
The film is a example of German Expressionism because it doesn’t try to look realistic. The sets
are like very distorted crooked buildings, sharp angles, and strange shapes all throughout the set.
It gave of vibes of like uneasiness like something was always off. Instead of showing the world
as it like really is the movie shows the world as it is inside the narrator’s mind. This shows that
the visuals were meant to reflect the mental states rather than actual reality.
The set design really stood out to me. The buildings look unnatural, the streets are uneven, and
even the shadows look fake because many of them are painted on. This made the movie feel like
a nightmare instead of a normal town. I mean the sets just felt weird but once the ending revealed
that the narrator was mentally unstable the set design made a lot more sense. It was like we were
seeing the world the way he saw it which made the film more interesting.
As an early horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is honestly surprisingly effective. It doesnt
rely on gore or jump scares like modern horror movies thankfully. Instead it creates fear through
the atmosphere, strange characters, and uncomfortable visuals. Dr. Caligari comes off as creepy
because he is controlling and manipulative and Cesare is unsettling because he acts more like anobject than a person. The horror comes from psychological fear rather than any physical violence
well minus the murder and kidnapping.
Overall I think The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is an fairly impressive film for its time. Even though
the narrator turns out to be insane the story still feels important and well thought out. The twist
ending makes the strange visuals and events feel intentional instead of random or bad design.
This movie helped me understand how early filmmakers used style and design to tell deeper
stories than just like cool looking visuals. In the end I found it to be an amazing and creative
film, especially considering when it was made. I also didn’t like lose interest so that’s a plus.