The Cabinet Of Dr. Calligari

Poetic Realism was a film movement in France during the 1930’s that combined qualities of both Impressionism and Surrealism to create a unique way to tell stories through narratives, long, continuous shots, and sets that took a slice of reality and made it their own. The various techniques used to create shots “more real than life itself” were groundbreaking for this time period. In the past, sets of films were unrealistic and exaggerated; they were telling stories outside of reality, so their sets were not attempting to immerse their viewer in the film’s location. The 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari used very simplistic sets to tell its story, but the filmmakers did not expect or want the audience to take them as reality. They were entirely aware that the walls

The major influences that led to Leni Riefenstahl’s rise to prominence includes a fateful event that kindles her fascination with film, the continual influence of mountain (Berg) films and acclaimed director Dr Arnold Fanck as well as her first début as a director and producer.

Caligari (1920) delivered a unique artistic style to the audience. When viewing the film, the first element the audience would notice is the outstanding visual elements. Reality in the film is reproduced as if it were a modern painting. The unique world with the distortions of the mise-en-scene sets the film apart from anything before it. As the plot revolves around the perspective of an asylum inmate, all of the characters were designed to have distorted behaviours. The characters actions seemed very exaggerated and unrealistic; however, it is difficult to be distracted by their unnatural

Wiene, Janowitz and Mayer portrayed through The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari their notion that the German war effort that time was a highly grotesque one complete with mind-controlling propaganda and objections against dying in the name of German imperial dominance, with the intent to shock audiences with the highly macabre features of the film. In contrast to the propaganda-promotion agenda of Germany during the 1910s, which stood as the reason for banning foreign film importation in the nation, The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari serves as a groundbreaking example of Expressionism that time – a complete opposite of German government propaganda due to its shockingly subjective anti-government message (Kellner 3-39; Kracauer 61-76; Wiene).

These impacted motion picture historically because after World War 1 Germany to created both new genre and styles, this is due to German film industry is working closed off from the rest of the world from 1916 to 1921. One of the major trends of genre and style that gained audience attention after World War 1 was the spectacle genre, the German Expressionist Movement, and the Kammerspiel film. For instance, movie such as Schuhpalast Pinkas in other words Shoe Palace Pinkas is a German film that has spectacle genre and this promoted German historical period. Then, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari promoted German Expressionist Movement because this film used stylized sets, with distorted buildings and it was painted on canvas backdrops and flats.

The film is simmilar to The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari. It is simmilar because the are expressionist films, and not because they are soundless and in greyscale. The transition period after World War I created Germany’s expressionist film industry. The feelings of horror and despair that most of the country felt after the war were projected onto this art style.

The silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), is a German expressionist film. The film illustrates subjectivity, an askew world and expression through its sets, costumes, shots, editing, and acting. Film theorist Mungsterberg’s main idea is that the film overcomes reality through manipulation and transformation of space, time, and causality. In addition, Mungsterberg emphasizes that the form of the film should match the content to create unity. Similarly, theorist Balazs’ main point is how close-up’s help transform reality in relation to quality and expression.

From 1924 to 1930, Soviet Russia experienced transformations that not only shaped the nation’s political perspective, but also cultivated a name for itself within the arts. War in combination with the demand for social justice and change encouraged people toward creative expression. Dziga Vertov was one of the prominent figures in Russia during this time. He was a documentarian that focused on depicting the highest form of reality in film. Vertov believed the only way to convey the highest form of reality and creativity in film was to never include a predetermined story, prearranged props, or actors.

In the book, “Film Noir Reader 3: Interviews with Filmmakers of the Classic Noir Period” Alain Silver states that “like its protagonists, film noir is more interested in style than theme, whereas American critics have been traditionally more interested in theme than style.” The aesthetics of film noir are synonymous with German Expressionism. In the film The Cabinet of Dr. Calgary (1919), the use of

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a German film from 1920, directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, both of whom emerged from World War I strongly embittered against the wartime government. The two writers used the powerful new medium of film to create an expressionist masterpiece, which became highly successful and is generally regarded as one of the first horror films.

In the early 1940’s, foreign films were made and created an important impact to filmmaking all around the world. Foreign films allowed viewers to see different cultures and traditions of other countries. Most of these films were shot in black and white with subtitles to go along against the background. They were sometimes grainy and did not have as good sound quality as Hollywood films had because they were produced with such a small budget. This transition of new camera techniques and editing began to end the Production Code era and started what was known as the neorealism movement in Italy. Films with subtitles are not very mainstream nowadays, although, people loved foreign films with subtitles post-war because mostly everyone was reading newspapers, letters and books during that generation. These foreign films were often played in art houses and they were very trendy for the newer generation because they were more truthful than the Hollywood films and what could be seen on television at the time.

Considered the quintessential work of German Expressionist films, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) remains one of the most influential films of both German cinema and the silent film era. The iconic visual style of Caligari embodies the element of revolt that is accepted to be the basis of Expressionism, which is defined as “a ‘total revolt against the existing order’ both in terms of style and idea, society and the individual, art and ethics” (Barlow 18). Caligari makes use of the mise-en-scène in order to overcome the restrictions of black and white film. In this way, the “expressionist stage, the startling zigzags, the swirling arabesques and the outrageously exaggerated furniture” that compose each shot all contribute to the portrayal

Germany immediately after the end of World War II, lay in ruins. The country’s infrastructure was in disarray. Its industry had come to a halt and its economy was ravaged, a completely new state needed to be built to get Germany back on its feet. In addition, Germany faced cultural instabilities involving the film industry. Along with everything else German cinema was completely destroyed. “The international reputation for German cinema was utterly discredited because of the abuse of the medium for state propaganda and the willful collaboration of a number of German directors, actors and producers” (Strathausen). The bulk of the films produced in this time period were of poor quality with no chance of going United States competitor. The German

Starting in the midst of the 19th century, the German movie industry started to emerge. In 1895, the Skladanowsky brothers, Max and Emil, created the first projection system. This system was later demonstrated at the Wintergarten Music Hall in Berlin, Germany. Around this time, the people of Germany thought that motion pictures were something that was only for the rich. Contradicting this is when motion pictures got put into fairs and festivals for all. Unlike a lot of modern societies, in the 1900’s the German movie industry went through major changes. These major changes were with the idea of sound on film. This let the film industry flourish before the collapse of the Weimar Republic in 1933 (Wikipedia.com “Cinema of Germany”).

In his assessment of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, (1920), Noel Burch describes the film as a play on “carefully contrived ambiguity,” (Burch, 174). The spectator of the film, the audience is both drawn in as a participant, a “motionless voyager” (Bordwell, 96, quoting Burch) forced to imagine their own dialogue, action, and expression, and then all at once, harkened back to severe reality with contrived moments. This play between audience immersion and expulsion from the film’s environment characterizes Director Robert Wiene’s simultaneous acceptance and rejection of what we would call institutional mode of representation (IMR). In this essay I will discuss IMR and key moments in film where departure from it is