Das Cabinet des Dr.

Caligari
Robert Wiene 1920

This thriller of a silent film, Das Cabinet des Dr.

Caligari by Robert Wiene is about a highly
positioned doctor of an asylum - Caligari - who
also has a passion for somnambulism (sleep
walking) and is thrilled when a somnambulist
patient named Cesare gets transferred to his
asylum. With the thesis that you can command a
somnambulist to commit crimes/actions against the
somnambulist's own will, Dr Caligari puts this to
the test and proves this to be true when he
commands Cesare to kill several people.

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At the beginning of the film we meet the other main

characters, Francis and Jane, Francis talking to an older
man sitting on the bench with him, the story of all he
and Jane had been through before their engagement,
this is where we meet Caligari, he is requesting a stand
at the fair to share the news of this somnambulist "The
man who has not been awoken in 23 years" and claims
Cesare can see into the future.
Francis and his friend Alan go inside to meet this all
knowing sleep walker, when Caligari commands the
sleep walker to awake, Cesare rises from the coffin like
cabinet to take questions, Alan asks "How long do I
have left to live?" the answer, until dawn and that night
Alan is mysteriously killed.
Saddened at the news of Alan's death, Francis decides
to investigate alongside the police into the murder. It is
revealed to the audience the mysterious killer is in fact
Cesare when he attempts to kill Jane in her sleep but
instead abducts her when she wakes up.

Cesare disappears meanwhile Francis and the police do some more

investigation work which leads them to Dr. Caligari's asylum, there he
is known as the Director, with the revelation that the Director is
Caligari, whilst he sleeps they investigate his office and finds his
obsession with the old story about a mystic Dr Caligari who uses a

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sleepwalker to commit murders, they also find a diary where he's wrote about becoming Caligari
and the crimes he's committed - how it is possible to get a somnambulist to commit crimes
against their own will.
The next day Cesare is found dead in a field and brought to the
asylum. Caligari/the director lashes out and is then put in a
straight jacket and put in his own asylum. In the ending Francis is
now able to be with Jane, get married and live their lives happily
together. However when the narrative resumes in the present time,
in the ultimate twist Jane refuses to marry Francis, Cesare is
walking around the asylum more alive than ever, Caligari enters
the room and has Francis put in the asylum. Francis is a patient at
the asylum who has took the story of the mystic Dr Caligari and in
his mind has made it real, taking people in his life and making them
characters of this story.
Even though silent films aren't my first choice of film to watch and thriller isn't my favourite
genre, Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari was a joy to watch. The story was told with the assistance of
words every now and again like at the beginning when Francis tells us Jane is his fiance. The
acting is good as you can understand almost everything that happens however some scenes offer
different interpretations depending how the viewer perceives the story like when Cesare dies, at
first I thought he wasn't dead that he only passed out in a field and was brought back and when
Caligari lashes out I thought it was because he was busted and was gonna make a run for it.
Filming techniques to create suspense was a great dramatic feature like when Cesare awakes for
the first time, theres one shot to show the whole scene of Caligari next to the cabinet on stage,
the next is a mid shot that shows Caligari staring intensely and creepily at Cesare followed by a
close up of Cesare with his his boldly done make up and his eyes suddenly open wide. The actor
who plays Cesare (Conrad Viedt) creates suspense and tension in his movements especially during
the scene where he attempts to kill Jane, the way he creeps about, his body shape - how he's
skinny and in dark clothing adds lurk and discreetness, in addition to his facial expressions too
like the way he wakes up suddenly like a shock, the face he pulls when he clutches Jane's head.
Caligari's actor: Werner Krauss also has good facial expressions, he clearly conveys that his
character is up to no good constantly. The lighting also adds effect, like when Alan is killed we see
silhouettes which adds mystery and we can see in the shadows whats about to happen. When
Cesare abducts Jane, there is poor lighting when he makes his way to her room but when he's
there the audience has enough light to see clearly whats happening. You know it's night time but
you don't need poor lighting to know that.

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The only problem with this film is that it goes on too long, at some parts it fails to sustain your
interest but it's not long before your attention is back. When this film finishes you're left thinking
about it for a while, wow - it was all in his head, Francis is the insane one, Caligari is actually
innocent, is Cesare even a somnambulist? The audience are hit with that "and it was all just a
dream" (well illusion) clich as a way of quickly wrapping up the ending.
Another great feature about the film is the whole style of it, the make up, the sets really work with
the black and white film, it adds to the creation of this world, everything is black and white,
everyone has big dark eyes and rarely smile, you feel its not an optimistic happy place to be.

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