After the First World War, cinema starts to feel much more recognisably modern. Filmmaking moved very quickly from its early epic, theatrical stage to much simpler stories of drama, comedy and horror, and suddenly the real psychological potential and uniqueness of the medium to tap into our hopes and fears became clear. I have to confess that, while it’s possible for a layman like me to really appreciate the technical craft and influence of those early epic films like Cabiria and Intolerance, Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is the first film on this list that I truly enjoyed watching.
Avant-garde in the truest sense, the film breaks new ground in so many ways, with its fantastical sets inspired by the German Expressionist movement, its narrative trickery (notable the surprise twist ending) and its pioneering of a new genre of cinema, the horror film. Without giving too much away regarding the plot, the film is about an insane hypnotist using a somnambulist to commit murder, and the mind-bending, nightmarish scenery reflects the warped mentality of the protagonists.
Watching the film, it's easy to just lose yourself in the art and magic of the costumes and staging, but also the narrative is full of surprising twists and turns that continually hold the viewer's attention. I think the golden rule for any good film is, "was I able to suspend disbelief?", and the answer watching The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is a resounding yes.
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