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Dr Caligari and The

Cabinet: Architecture
Style
“German expressionism was an early twentieth century
German art movement that emphasized the artist's inner
feelings or ideas over replicating reality, and was
characterised by simplified shapes, bright colours and
gestural marks or brushstrokes”
The psychological side of “the cabernet of Dr Caligari” architecture
After watching the movie, I quite clear to see the implication of
how the architecture effected the psychological side, stated in an
article on (interiors) “include the exploration of themes of
paranoia, fear, and schizophrenia through mise-en-scène,
cinematography and lighting.” From this single sentence we get a
larger look on how the movie is constructed how each event and
instance that happens throughout the entirety of the movie tapping
a singular part of our brains relating to the emotion that they tried
to pull forward.

After reading another extract from this same page, we see the not only architecture
expressionism is use to amplify the emotion of the scene but the psychological implications of
the film can also be reflected in the extreme warped interior and exterior of the building in the
films the patterns and designs and shapes of the building even the texture are apparently
supposed to reference the state of a schizophrenic mind.

EXTRACT
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari makes use of expressionist architecture and expresses interior reality through exterior means with its use of extreme distortion in
its production design. The film, as a result, presents us with a dark and twisted world with distorted shapes and angles. This expressive style presents us with
a grotesque worldview – buildings are slanted, doors and windows are unusually shaped, and walls and floors consist of schizophrenic patterns and designs.
The hallways, intersections, and buildings in the film are all artificial and unnatural. In addition to the design of the sets, the excessive stylization also
extends to the intertitles of the film. The texture, underscoring of certain words and phrases, and lettering emphasize a schizophrenic state of mind.
1920 German Architecture
“create the new structure of the future, which will embrace The Bauhaus Movement (1919-)
architecture and sculpture and painting in one unity” - Walter states how architecture should be true
Gropius, to its own materials and purpose,
meaning that each material used in
the structure should present itself
appropriately. For example, the
supportive materials such as steel,
should appear on the external
appearance of the building rather than
hidden with the walls or furniture. This
could be reflected in the harsh lines
which cover the walls, as they appear
like pipes and supporting rods.
The Bauhaus movement heavily influenced
the design of modern and traditional
furniture, including tables, chairs and
lamps. In the film, the design of certain
elements within the streets and housing
reflect this movement effectively. In this
particular shot, we can see that the window
frames and street lights clearly resemble
the movement and style.
Conclusion

Overall the whole architecture is based around the German expressionism movement which
is displayed through the use of shapes and textures, linking to its phycological
representation of schizophrenia and paranoia. With the combination of the Bauhaus
movement, the film is able to present a world and atmosphere in which is accurate to the
character’s emotion and mental state.
Harvard Illustration list
Images:
Style – Picture 1 - Josh Saco. (2009). Inside The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari: A Classic Of Expressionist Cinema .
Available: Inside The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari: A Classic Of Expressionist Cinema . Last
accessed 20th September 2018.
Picture 2 - J.Derbyshire. (2015). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Available:
http://jds1001movies.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1923.html. Last
accessed 20th September 2018
Picture 3 - Aubreym. (2014). Senior Thesis Part 2: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
(1920). Available: https://aeb85937.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/senior-
thesis-part-2-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920/. Last accessed 20th
September 2018.

Phycological- Lemaster, D. (2018). Film Appreciation: The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari.


[online] Thinkingcinema.com. Available at:
https://www.thinkingcinema.com/film-appreciation-the-cabinet-of-dr-
caligari/ [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].

1920s German Architecture - Portilla,Daniel . (2012). Films & Architecture: “The Cabinet of Dr Caligari”. Available:
https://www.archdaily.com/300945/films-architecture-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari. Last
accessed 20th September
Bibliography
Websites:
Style – Dankile Lin. (2016). Architecture in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Available:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/a1lieblang/2016/01/25/architecture-in-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari/. Last
accessed 20th September 2018.
Mehruss Jon Ahi and Armen Karaoghlanian. (2013). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Director: Robert Wiene (Scene: 00:30:09 - 00:31:49, 00:32:46 - 00:34:16). Available:
https://www.intjournal.com/0813/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari/. Last accessed 20th September
2018.
N/a. (N/a). German expressionism . Available: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-
terms/g/german-expressionism. Last accessed 20th September 2018.

Phycological- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)


Ahi, M. and Karaoghlanian, A. (2013). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). [online] Interiors.
Available at: https://www.intjournal.com/0813/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari/ [Accessed 20 Sep.
2018].

1920s German Architecture- N/a. (n/a). the bauhaus movement. Available: http://bauhausinteriors.com/blog/the-
bauhaus-movement/. Last accessed 20th September 2018.

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