influential Films: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)
"The art cinema is not just a type of film, but a set of institutions, an alternative apparatus within the commercial cinema."
- Michael Budd
b. April 24, 1873
d. July 17, 1938
German filmmaker Robert Wiene directed dozens of films over his career, but he is best remembered for directing the expressionist masterpiece ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.’ Weine studied theater history at the University of Vienna and then worked in theater before joining the film industry as a scenarist. Other notable Weine films include ‘Raskolnikov’ (1923) and the spooky ‘Orlacs Hande.’ He fled to France in the early ’30s after the Nazis took over. He died in 1938 while working on the film ‘Ultimatum.’ [Fandango]
In one of the most influential films of the silent era, Werner Krauss plays the title character, a sinister hypnotist who travels the carnival circuit displaying a somnambulist named Cesare. In one tiny German town, a series of murders coincides with Caligari’s visit.
Caligari’s Expressionist style ultimately led to the dark shadows and sharp angles of the film noir urban crime dramas of the 1940s, many of which were directed by such German émigrés as Billy Wilder and Robert Siodmak. [Rotten Tomatoes]
Cardullo, Bert. “Expressionism and the Real Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” Film Criticism, vol. 6, no. 2, Winter 1982, pp 28-34,67. [View]
Budd, Michael. “Authorship as a Commodity: The Art Cinema and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” Wide Angle, vol. 6, Jan 1984, pp. 12. [View]
- Jung, Uli and Schatzberg, Walter. “The Invisible Man Behind Caligari: The Life of Robert Wiene.” Film History, vol. v, no. 1, Mar 1993, pp. 22-35. [View]
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: The Making of a Restoration [YouTube]
100 years of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: The Film that Inspired Virginia Woolf, David Bowie and Tim Burton [theconversation.com]
Roger Ebert Film Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [rogerebert.com]