My Review on The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
If you went into the town with a spirit level everyone would go mad. The buildings were slanted, out of proportion and looked as if they could collapse if anyone entered them. 'Murderous mayhem and pursuit ensues in a cock-eyed artificial landscape of over-sized furniture and ill-formed spiky trees where everything tends towards spirals and spider webs.' (BBC) All these strange buildings were made to look unrealistic and add to the horror theme of the film. There were a lot of triangular shapes seen in this film, noticeable on the buildings and inside them. The sharp angles of these shapes could possibly represent the twisted mind of Dr. Caligari and his murderous assistant Cesare. They could also have the meaning of a sharp pointed knife which was the chosen weapon of Cesare. 'With its sharp angles and distorted shapes Expressionism--like Cubism and other Modernistic art--strives to impose emotional content on the objects portrayed. Thus, weird angles may suggest deranged minds.' (Old School Reviews)
This film had a very doom and gloom look to it with white dead like faces and dark make up used. This film was made just after WW1 in Germany. Germany used the gloomy traits of war in their film to create this dark and twisted feel. 'The story is a classic sampling of expressionist paranoia about a hypnotist who uses a somnambulist to do his murders, full of the gloom and fear that prevailed in Germany as it emerged from WWI.' (Time Out London)
Hey Katy - this is a much better review from you, both in terms of tone and content - much more centred on thematic analysis/critical observation and social/cultural context! Good stuff :-)
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