080 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Retro Grade Podcast

“UNTIL THE BREAK OF DAWN..”

On this Halloween, we decided to cover one of the first horror films ever made. We cover the famous, German Expressionist film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, directed by Robert Wiene from 1920. If you would like to watch the film before listening to us, the film is available for free on various sites, but we recommend watching the one that has fancy intertitles for the text and a blue tint in the beginning like this version here. The film is a “silent film“ so there is no spoken dialogue which we understand maybe might be a little intimidating for some audiences. However, we encourage you to give it a try so we can go on this adventure together. What does a horror film that is over 100 years old look like? How dated is it really? (Spoilers: It actually isn’t)

What is Expressionism? To put it simply, it is the artistic depiction of an emotional experience, rather than a realistic one. The set design of Caligari doesn’t resemble our own world, but a world that suits the content of the narrative. Caligari seeks to tell an emotional truth, how the characters feel living in this world, than present the world as it is. We talk about why we think this choice works and the film is rightly described as a classic, but also hope that if the film is ever remade, that this Expressionist theme isn’t lost in the translation to modern filmmaking sensibilities. The film’s strong style in its set design influenced the choices made for the actors, the costumes and even the previously mentioned intertitles. Some of the techniques used to generate audience anxiety in this film can be seen in films today such as Alien, It Follows, and even The Babadook!

We talk about how the film was made, and how not everyone agrees on how that went down. The film has a “frame story.” For this film, that means the bulk of the film takes place within a story told by one of the characters. The writers of the film were allegedly very upset about this, and stay they knew nothing about it, but 70 years later when the only surviving script was made available for public viewing, we find out that wasn’t 100% true. The writers talk about being on set, but the set designers say they were never there, there are conflicting reports on who actually was the producer for the film, etc etc. The narrative of the production of the film is almost as unreliable as the film’s narrator!

We also talk about the history of when this film came out. The world was different, and the expectations of what the experience of “going to the movies” was also very different. A close up on a giant screen hit different for those audiences, an authority figure taking advantage of ordinary citizens meant something different for a Germany that just got out on the losing side of a World War. Despite being 100 years removed from the intended audience, we believe the film can still resonate with a modern audience.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o