The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

I find it fairly difficult to write about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari because I found the movie difficult itself. Needless to say, I wasn't a big fan of the movie, and this was not because of the absence of sound. It was the absence of much more that kept me to having this opinion.

I understand this was a movie of the "German Expressionism" period and that money played a big factor, or rather, the absence of money, but the key was to make an interesting film while using formulism, a technique that allows things to look like a fantasy. There is no doubt this film used technique and that formulism was very evident in it. This formulismn affect is what makes this movie a great source of film technique. That is about the only thing that really kept me interested. I enjoyed seeing more use of technique, especially knowing that this movie along with other movies from this period were the movies that introduced these techniques to the movie world. There were excessive times when technique, which was new to people back then, was used to portray a point perfectly in the movie. As well, it helped me follow the story because I found myself confused sometimes.

The whole movie wasn't bad although a lot of it wasn't that great to me, but there were neat things I found pretty interesting. I like how each scene was given the most attention. Since it wasn't a flowing movie and was interrupted by the narration a lot, each scene seemed like the director, Robert Wiene, spent a lot of time perfecting. It wasn't just these three or four scenes that blew away the movie and toppled over everything else. Another thing I almost found really awesome about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was the fact that it was made allowing the audience to have a personal interpretation. Made within this era, as expressionism and impressionism played big parts, the movie created a sense where the viewer was able to view the movie and interpret in any way they wanted to. What I found difficult about this was the fact that I couldn't seem to make use of that. I tried, but I really couldn't get anything from this movie. So, although the option was there and I attempted to fulfill it, I never really could.

Even though in the beginning it took some time for me to get into the movie, I did start towards the end. The storyline was very deceiving sometimes and I went crazy everytime the story took a loop and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Realizing what happend now, I think if I watched it again I might be able to realize more things about it instead of always worrying about the generalization of the movie. I did like the ending a lot because I like movies that keep you wondering. It was pretty cool how we are left with the question of whether or not Dr. Caligari is back.

Without a doubt, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari made an impact of cinema and film. It introduced the German Expressionism era, which introduced film technique and many other things to the cinema world. Although it wasn't my favorite, I can't not respect the accomplishments it has put forth. From critic praise to winning awards, this movie has captured many eyes. The things that have come from this movie are endless, ranging from technique to the intro to horror movies. There is a way to dislike the movie but no way to disrespect it.

-Kevin