# Cabinet of Dr Caligari (and others-- German Expressionism chat) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661 "2006-09-22T03:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/1 "2006-09-22T03:13:17Z")
Ok, I’ve been on a German silent-era film kick for a couple of weeks and just got through this one finally and I’m delighted. What a kick in the pants! This out-expressionisms them all. This was the DVD version with the intertitles based on the original ones that lots of people seem to think look like Hell but I love them (are there any images of the German ones floating around?). What sets! What costumes! Nice tint job on the film, too-- I liked the blue effect for nighttime. I like my films stylized to a fare-thee-well, obviously. And I was very very pleased with the ending. . . I think this is the earliest example of the “implied unreliable narrator” in film that I can think of. How cool is that? Other things I’ve watched lately-- the earlier Dr Mabuse films (Der Spieler and Das Testament des D M), M, Faust (also very cool sets), How the Golem came into the World. Next up will be The Spiders and the Student of Prague (already seen Metropolis a few times). Any other suggestions? * * * MODERATOR COMMENT: Please note this thread is from 2006, until revived in Post #9 in November 2013. – CKDH ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/2 "2006-09-22T03:42:19Z")
I saw Caligari in my Film class. I had one thing to say on it: I wonder how much of ‘Caligari’ inspired last years “The Skeleton Key” But then again, I don’t think most people will even understand where I am comming from on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/3 "2006-09-22T03:45:15Z")
Also, I forgot about this:: A link to download the film (Caligari) The website above states that the film is now Public Domain. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/4 "2006-09-22T03:52:56Z")
I just saw _M_ (brilliant and disturbing) for the first time a couple weeks ago, and _Caligari_ (I saw a model of the set at the film museum in Berlin) is near the top of my Netflix queue. But nothing new to add to the thread. When you get on a French, 60’s, prison-break film kick, I’ve got just the movie for you. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/5 "2006-09-22T04:22:26Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] Ok, I’ve been on a German silent-era film kick for a couple of weeks and just got through this one finally and I’m delighted. What a kick in the pants! … And I was very very pleased with the ending. . . I think this is the earliest example of the “implied unreliable narrator” in film that I can think of. How cool is that? [/QUOTE] The odd thing is that was not how the director, Robert Wiene, wanted to end the movie. The plot-twist where the whole story turns out to be the delusion of a paranoid schizophrenic was forced on the filmmakers by German censors. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/6 "2006-09-22T04:37:38Z")
But why would that be (re: the ending and censors and all)? I’ve heard this as well. Is it a sort of urban myth or is there some sort of documentation for it? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/7 "2006-09-22T05:23:35Z")
The [Wikepedia article on **The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligari) states it was _the producers_ who forced the ending on the director. Supposedly the reason for the change was the original story was seen as a thinly-veiled attack on the German government for leading the nation into WWI. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/8 "2006-09-22T05:55:05Z")
I love Caligari, and Das Testament, and Faust. For me, the masterpiece of the whole lot is Murnau’s _Sunrise_. It’s often left off lists of German Expressionist films, but watch it and see if you can figure out why; I can’t. Further afield, the best of the Noirs, and Val Lewton’s collaborations with Jacques Tourneur, Robert Wise, and Mark Robson–tell me if _Cat People_ ever could have happened without the German Expressionist stuff coming first. And Douglas Sirk’s use of surface and lighting came strictly from those older German films. He was a stage director in Berlin in those days, doing Expressionist stagings of Brecht plays, and the angles and shadows he brought to those Hollywood weepers of the fifties is a big part of what elevated them above their source material. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/9 "2013-11-28T17:25:05Z")
Anybody awake here? I am looking for a German silent film called “the Chinese magician”-anybody ever heard of it? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/10 "2013-11-28T19:03:12Z")
Could you be thinking of **The Indian Tomb** , which is available from Image? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/11 "2013-11-28T21:35:20Z")
My favorite German film of the pre-war era is _The Blue Angel_. Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich. Very haunting film. Especially the background clown character early on and what that turns out to imply later. Saw it again in the past year or so. Still holds me. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/12 "2013-11-28T21:42:50Z")
Although this thread is from 2006, a discussion of German expressionism is always interesting. the impact can be felt on such diverse films as 1931 FRANKENSTEIN (the Boris Karloff original) and 1940s film noir. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/13 "2013-11-29T10:09:01Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Although this thread is from 2006, a discussion of German expressionism is always interesting. the impact can be felt on such diverse films as 1931 FRANKENSTEIN (the Boris Karloff original) and 1940s film noir. And many, many music videos - anything that ever referenced Metropolis, or there’s [this Red Hot Chili Peppers song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn_YodiJO6k) that’s more Caligari-esque… ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/14 "2013-11-29T11:40:18Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Although this thread is from 2006, a discussion of German expressionism is always interesting. the impact can be felt on such diverse films as 1931 FRANKENSTEIN (the Boris Karloff original) and 1940s film noir. > [@MrDibble](#): > > And many, many music videos The ultimate music video tribute to silent horror, _very_ influenced by _The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari_: [Rob Zombie’s “Living Dead Girl” (directed by Zombie as well)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvsMPOfblfg) ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/15 "2013-11-29T22:05:27Z")
There’s a nice little scene set in an Expressionist set in the David Niven **Casino Royale**. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-and-others-german-expressionism-chat/373661/16 "2013-12-01T17:48:25Z")
**Algol** is a 1923 German Expressionist film about extraterrestrials. Not up to the same mark as Caligari, but still an interesting early SF **Warning Shadows** from 1923 is more gothic; I like it as being arty but not as show-offy as Nosfaratu Both are on YouTube and worth a glimpse, if not the entire duration.