The movie "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligary was an entertaining piece of artwork. It was filled with true horror, darkness and many artistic styles. It tells the story of a Man named Dr. Caligary who had came to the town of Hostenwall to be in a vendor in the local fair. With Dr. Calagari was his trustee somnambulist who has slept for 25 years named Cesare, Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist quickly became the carnival's favorite attraction. Also, there were rumors that they were connected to a string of murders that occured. Caligari claimed that Cesare, the somnambulist, can predict the future, so it caught many peoples' attention. The movie is a great example of expressionism. It is kind of spooky and everything is distorted. In this movie is a great example of expressionism. It is kind of spooky and everything is distorted. In this movie you would most likely noticed some crooked doors, slanted walls and walls with dark paintings on them. Also, there were trees had weird shapes and doors that bend to show creepiness of the production, obviously, the themes of the expressionism was being emphasize in this movie, because the mood and tone of it was enhance by the scenery, light, and some shadows. The dark moody atmosphere played a huge part in this film.
In the beginning of this spooky movie, there were two best friends named Francis and Alan. They had planned to attend Dr. Caligari popular attraction at the local fair. It was very unusual in this part of the movie when the somnambulist started answering questions about the future of human kind. He even told Alan that he would be dead by dawn. And to everyone amazement that same day Alan was murdered and no one knows who committed his assassination. The somnambulist in this movie is a symbol for darkness and death, he hardly said a word. He was known as Caligari's faithful sleepwalking friend. Basically, Caligari took care of him. He feeds him and care for him. They were like the two duo of evil. That's the main reason why some citizen of the town wanted his house fully examine by the police. The somnambulist owner, Dr. Caligari also portrays evilness and darkness. Throughout the movie, he tried to seduce townsfolk and they will eventually become the victim to his somnambulist. This movie was impressive and most of the lighting was dark colored which was fine for a creepy movie.
There were several aspects of this movie links it to the movement of expressionism. As you can see, expressionism artists' tries to sometime focus on the light and shadows to increase a mood of a painting. They will try to distort reality for the emotional effect. They are very subjective in their art forms. It can sometimes express some intense emotion to it. But most of all they will try to express themselves.
In this movie, you can see that everything was mostly distorted and complex. For examples, the houses look like they were made from pieces of cardboard boxes painted in black. It was one of those silent movies to see though. It has a strange blackening in each of the scenes. The color that was used is a huge factor in the sets of this movie. Some would say that this movie had a little on-set camera tricks to it.
That is how the expressionists work; they focus greatly on the vivid emotional reactions through powerful colors and dynamic compositions.
As the movie continues, Francis is sort of distracted and worried for his life and a girl named Jane. The somnambulist was now a prime suspect. Being on the run, he was chased by the police and later fell to his death. That scene was very captivating and musically alive. He didn't really say anything and he looked so innocent. But, he really wasn't. At the end, francis fought Dr. Caligary in hope of getting him locked away by the police. A very unlikely twist occurs, when Francis realizes that he was having a flashback and this whole thing that just happened was actually a fantasy. Then he was at an insane asylum. But he's real doctor was Dr. Caligari who tried to cure him of his delusions. This silent film was really spooky due to many factors, and it also carries the qualities to the expressionism.