Multimedia Collection
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
DVD
76 minutes
1919
PN1997 .C33 1997
Silent film. The film that forged the dark, ominous cinematic movement known as German Expressionism - and influenced vanguard filmmakers for generations - at least regains its original, electrifying authority in this definitive presentation of Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
Werner Krauss stars as a deranged hypnotist who spreads death through the countryside from a ramshackle traveling carnival. Before the naive eyes of the townspeople, he unveils the contents of his coffin-like cabinet: Cesare (Conrad Veidt), a spidery sleepwalker who obeys his every command. But at night, once the crowds have dispersed, Caligari lifts the lid on darker intentions, unleashing the dreadful Cesare to act upon his master's murderous whims and carnal desires.
In making Caligari, director Wiene and designers Warm, Reimann and RÖhrig combined techniques of painting, theatre and film to conjure a nightmare world of splintered reality ... boldly creating a visual representation of insanity ... taking the art of cinema a lengthy stride into unexplored stylistic and psychological terrain, hinting at the terrifying power the medium might possess.
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover Hans Heinz v. Twardowski
Director: Robert Weine
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