Oh, we're going old-school on this one. VERY old school, in fact. This is a 1920 film from Germany that still stands as one of the best and most famous films of the silent era. Best known for its insane set design and its twist ending, this movie still has an impact to this day.
You doubt me? Oh, but it's true. This was the second time I watched this; I watched it in a college course a few years ago. But I didn't watch it alone. I watched it with my middle son, Tanner, a fourteen-year-old who is totally into cool stuff, not Dad's old stuff. But he couldn't turn away.
Yes, it's silent, and yes, it's German, and yes, it's nowhere near as creepy and horrifying as the sort of stuff we've been given in movies for the past few decades. But it's got incredible atmosphere, a very clever script, and as I mentioned, the set design is unreal. Literally. Everything on the screen has a twisted, warped perspective. There isn't a single right-angle to be found anywhere. Clerks sit on stools five feet high and bend over desks piled with scraps of paper. Roads and sidewalks are slanted. It's utterly wrong...and it's perfect.
See, the original screenplay was intended to reflect the national post-war attitude in Germany; the writers, Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, were pacifists who had different experiences during the Great War; Janowitz was an officer, Mayer a draft-dodger who faked insanity to avoid serving. Their original idea was to write an allegory about how the German government had brainwashed the German people into fighting a war and paying the consequences for it. The twist ending was not part of their original script. But without it, the movie likely would not have been remembered nearly as well as it is today.
So, short synopsis. A man named Francis sits on a bench, watching Jane, the woman he loves, walking by, oblivious to his adoring gaze. He tells the man next to him that she is his fiancée, but they have both suffered through a terrible ordeal. The story is then told, with the twisted, Impressionist art and sets leading the way.
It turns out that not too long ago, a man calling himself Dr. Caligari showed up at the festival with a strange and unique exhibit: A somnambulist named Cesare, a man who has slept his entire life. Caligari claims to be able to control Cesare, and wakens him to the delight and horror of the paying audience. Cesare is also able to predict the future, and predicts the death of Alan, Francis' best friend and rival for Jane's affections. That night, Alan is indeed murdered, and the police cannot locate the murderer.
Francis soon suspects Caligari of having something to do with the murder, and he's right; Cesare is the murderer, unknowingly committing crimes at the behest of the insane Caligari. He is sent to murder Jane, but instead of killing her, he abducts her. A chase ensues, and Cesare leaves the dumbstruck girl behind before collapsing in the roadway.
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| Dr. Caligari (left), Cesare, and Jane |
Caligari turns out to be the director of the insane asylum, who has gone mad in an attempt to replicate the experiments of the actual Dr. Caligari, an 18th-century mystic who had hypnotized a somnambulist of his own, named Cesare. When the current Cesare was admitted to the asylum, the director successfully used him for his own experiments in hypnotism. When confronted, Caligari reveals his insanity, and is hauled into a padded cell of his own.
Returning to the bench, we reach the twist ending as we find out that Francis is actually a patient at the asylum, along with Jane (who believes she is a queen) and Cesare (who isn't a somnambulist, just a quiet, staring man with no homicidal tendencies). Caligari is the director, who now understands Francis' delusions and believes he can cure him.
Caligari was one of the highlights of German cinema in the 1920s, along with such films as Nosferatu, Metropolis, and The Golem. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, doing well with American audiences. And while the horror elements are incredibly tame by today's standards, they are quite striking for their time.
This is definitely not a movie for everyone; modern audiences often struggle with silent movies. But if it is an acquired taste, it's definitely a taste worth acquiring. And I'm not the only one who thinks so; Tanner enjoyed it just as much, although the twist ending caught him by surprise.
Check it out; it's public domain, so it's available on YouTube or the Internet Archive, as well as on DVD and Blu-Ray.
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