Essays on Caligari

Introduction: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligart

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligart” is German horror movie that was made in 1920 and stands out as an exceptional work of the German expressionist ideology based cinematic art. The theme of the movie is a psychological genre based murder mystery where the antagonist used a somnambulist to conduct homicides on his command by hypnotizing him. Ths essay deals with the other aspects of the movie concerning its generalized opinion , time and era in which it is set, its characters and genre, and the impact of major art movements like Bauhaus and Dada on the cinematic art depicted via ...

Define or describe the following terms and their importance to the history of the American science fiction and horror genre:

1) Expressionist film in Germany is a period of silent movies. The primary feature of Expressionist film is the theatrical appearance in the films. The actors used painted, dramatic scenery and exaggerated make-up. The changes in the German art were reflected in the sets, which had high contrast between white and black, different geometric shapes were used, all of which created exaggerated light and shadow. 2) Dracula of 1930 was inspired by the novel written by Bram Stoker and it is significant to the history of the American cinematography, as its main character, Dracula, set the bar for numerous ...

Define or describe the following terms and their importance to the history of the American science fiction and horror genre:

1) Expressionist film in Germany is a part of the Expressionism movement in the country of 1920ies. This was a period of the silent movies and their main feature was the theatrical look in the films. The actors used painted, dramatic scenery and exaggerated make-up, which is commonly used in the theater. The changes in the German art were reflected in the sets, which had high contrast between white and black, different geometric shapes were used, all of which created exaggerated light and shadow. Although this movement did not last for long, it had significant impact on film makers from different ...

Expressionism in Film

Robert Weine’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) encapsulates expressionism in film so much so that expressionist cinema was dubbed as Caligarisme. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ventures into the psyche of Francis, the protagonist. Francis’ flashbacks are featured throughout the film. Nevertheless, the film ends with a twist that reveals Francis’ flashbacks were a product of his imagination. Francis, is in fact, in a mental institution and the characters in his flashbacks were other patients in the asylum including his doctor, Dr. Caligari. Expressionism is prominent in the way that Francis’ flashbacks were featured in the film, which played a role ...

The film The Cabinet by Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene (1919) was designed in an expressionist style. Expressionism was an avant-garde that began in paintings between the years 1898 to 1905. Expressionism was taken up in theatre, literature, architecture until eventually it was taken up on film by Robert Wiene in 1919.the expressionist style of Cligari was advanced by three designers by the names Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Rogrig. This film by Robert Wiene expresses the viewpoint of a madman whose vision is the projection of the movie. Expressionism is an art movement with its roots dating ...

Essay for Lesson 3: German Expressionism and Dadaism

Introduction Revolutionary forms of art have dominated much of Germany, apparently as a reaction to the First World War. The era in which the First World War took place – throughout the 1910s, featured artists coming together against what they think the pointless aggression said major conflict brought. German artists, in particular, protested against the social structures prevalent during the 1910s, within which the social structures of the Second Reich were prevalent. German society initially saw film, in particular, as quite an inelegant alternative to the bourgeoisie-associated theater. Such is due to the inability of the domestic film industry in ...

The expressionist movement, branching out from modernism began approximately in 1910, and was a movement that in the literal sense of the word encouraged being expressive candid about pressing issues. Even though this movement began before the surges of World War I, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, represents the first few expressionist films that surfaced in Germany during that period. Like all expressionist art forms, this movie too incorporates certain undertones of crucial themes that then nation underwent, through the characters and the broad plot. After the World War, many German soldiers refused to accept their defeat and believe ...

War and technological innovation have often gone hand-in-hand. Advancements in weaponry are, of course, inevitable under the circumstances of armed conflict, but the necessities of logistical concerns like supply, transport, communication and medicine are likewise sources of invention. World War I, a global conflict the likes of which the world had never seen, yielded an unprecedented number of technical advances, the magnitude of which were commensurate with a conflict large enough to destroy the old world order. This was the first war that brought entire citizen populations under fire. As such, it was inevitable that the world’s governments should turn ...