The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Directed By: Robert Wiene
Starring: Lil Dagover, Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Fredrich Feher
Length: 71 min
A twist ending! I love it!
The movie starts off with a man named Francis (Fredrich Feher) telling another person how he and his wife had gotten engaged.
Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) shows up at a carnival to display is somnabulist (sleepwalker), Cesare (Conrad Veidt). Cesare has been sleeping for 24 years and awakens at the command of Dr. Caligari to answer questions about anything. One person, a friend of Francis' and a "competitor" to win the hand of the one they both love, asks when will he die, and Cesare answers, in a horror-like fashion, that the man will ide at dawn tomorrow. And then it happens.
The police suspect Dr. Caligari, but he escapes when the police are inspecting the cabinet that Cesare live in, basically, and find a dummy. Cesare was not in the box, as he was trying to murder the woman Francis was in love with. The attempted murder is foiled. Francis goes to a hospital to ask if any of them know a Dr. Caligari, and finds out that Dr. Caligari is the head of the hospital! Francis, along with several employees of the hospital, break into his office one night and find his journal, proving that he is the man who was at the carnival. They capture him, put him in a straightjacket.
Then it cuts back to Francis telling the man about his wife, and we find out that Francis is actually locked away in the insane asylum, along with is "wife", Cesare, and other people who appeared in his story. Dr. Caligari is still the head of the hospital and is attacked by Francis. They lock Francis away as the movie ends. But as the movie fades out, Dr. Caligari puts on his glasses and looks the way he did in Francis' story. We are left not knowing if any part of Francis' story was true, but in what will become tradition for horror mivies, we get a "The End?" ending instead of a "The End." ending.
A very satisfying twist ending that didn't feel cheap at all. The opening of the movie gives hints at the twist ending to come, as the characters say wierd things and act unusual.
The German Expressionism in this film is far more noticable than in Der Golem. Every set was twisted and surreal. It's clear that this film influenced Tim Burton not only in set design, but Edward Scissorhands has a bit more than a passing similarity in appearance to Caligari's somnabulist Cesare, and for that same movie, the structure is the same. Start off with the main protagonist telling a story to someone else, playing out the story, and then coming back at the end.
For historical rating, this film is mentioned far more than Der Golem, and is talked about as the beginning of the horror genre. I'm not even sure if you could overstate the amount of influence this movie had over the entire genre (as well as other genres) for the entire history of film. It even influenced music artists like Rob Zombie (the music video for "Living Dead Girl") and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (the music video for "Otherside"). Somone even adapted the movie as an opera.
As far as entertainment goes, this is so far my favorite silent film. It was suspenseful, the pace was good, it was unpredictable and smart. I don't think I ever thought "Now, why the hell are you doing that!? You idiot!!" during the movie, like I do in a lot of horror movies. I enjoyed this one a lot and it will probably make it onto my list of DVDs to buy.
Historical Rating: 9/10
Entertainment Rating: 8/10