Reflection of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene

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Reflection of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene
As an artistic style, expressionism was first used in the late 19th and 20th century in Europe and precisely Germany. Robert Weine’s, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, applies visual and thematic expressionism in relaying its intended message to viewers. The 1920 film is still considered an influential movie that inspires filmmakers who wish to use the method of expressionism. The horror film showcases the dark side of the human life with its dark and frightening theme. In fact, viewers do not need to listen to what the cast is saying to decipher the genre of the movie. Wiene managed to deploy visual artistic elements that create a strange and fictional world by deploying expressionism thematically.
The movie was set when the German expressionism movement had been started. This dates back to the early 1920s when America defeated Germany. Germans were not ready to face up to facts with such reality, and therefore the majority of them resulted in using art to depict the nature of a world they considered surreal and tormented. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari focuses on how terrifying humankind can be by portraying the hideous and unconscious insanity. Throughout the entire film, Weine uses tormenting dark shadows and other visual elements such as harsh lighting to showcase a world of madness (“Youtube”). Lighting only appears in what resembles a painting with the sole intention of highlighting the main part of any given scene.

However, the backgrounds are always dark while the floor and wall lighting changes to draw the attention of the audience regarding a highlighted character or scene.
Although some parts of any given scene are poorly lit and engraved with dark shadows, some are well lit using a high-colored and accentuated tone. Ordinary scenes are presented in standard and low-key lighting. Highlighted scenes on the other hands use sharp tone lighting to create an exaggerated visual reality of human sanity and insanity. Light and shadows are two contrasting elements, but Wiene decides to use them concurrently but in a thematic manner. It is also evident that the film’s main characters, Cesare and Dr. Caligari, have been screened using sharp shadows showcasing their faces. Rein intended to showcase the dark and malicious identity of humanity (“YouTube”).
The setting of the story is haunting and unnatural with a distorted architecture. In fact, the film is presented in the form of painted arts with a dark background. Besides the painted setting, Wiene also used distorted and what may be considered simulated asymmetrical angels. A typical example is the house walls which assumes an oblique and strange orientation rather than the apparent upright position. The hill featured in the scene where Cesare carries a girl also assumes a similar orientation which is perceived to be disharmonious. As the film unfolds, it is also evident that the chairs, doorways, the windows, and even the mirror assume an asymmetrical orientation (“YouTube”). The chairs and the tables in the scene involving the town clerks are abnormally tall. Additionally, the doors and what seems to be stairways are all in a distorted manner.
If I had the opportunity to make a film, I would consider applying the method of expressionism. However, it must be a horror movie with my sole intention being to showcase the other side of humanity. We live in a world where people do not like to confront the reality. At times, expressionism is the only approach to showcase that the two extremes of humanity exist.
Work Cited
YouTube. “The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920) – Full Movie.” 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGdUG7TgCxA. Accessed on Feb 01, 2018.