The Cabinet Of Dr.Calagarie and the use of German Expressionism 

The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari (1920) was a film directed by Robert Wiene. This was one of the most influential films at the time it was made, for many reasons. 

First, throughout the film the Mise-En-Scene of the film was unique compared to anything that had come before it. Objects in the scenery, such as buildings, chairs and doorways are made to look extremely distorted, compared to reality. This was mainly done to reflect what Germans people’s minds were thinking at the time. They had just come out of World War one with a massive loss. Everyone in the country felt like the world was distorted, with poverty and a lack of jobs. It’s also done as part of the film, as it’s revealed at the end of the story that the protagonist is actual insane. He makes up everything in the story, we’re seeing his distorted view on reality. This is all done in order to put the audience off and make them feel uneasy intently.  

Another good example of things not looking how they should, is the character Cesare. His facial features look weird compared to everyone else in the film. He’s very pale with round black eyes. This was used to influence other characters in the future, such as Edward Scissor Cesare also seems to have a thousand-yard stare, sometimes staring straight into the camera. This use of breaking the forth wall is another use of Mise-En-Scene that makes the audience uneasy. When Cesare is reveled to the audience, it is shown through a close up. Allowing us to see all of his facial details, the dramatic make up and odd-looking face give the audience a feeling of being uneasy, and unsettle them, it lets the audience guess that Cesare is an odd character, there isn’t something quite right about him. 

The cinematographer for this film, Willy Hameister, famously uses an iris in this film for certain shots. He uses an iris in order to force the audience to focus in on a certain character. For instance, there’s one time the camera focus in on Dr.Calagarie. This is to let the audience know that he is the center of the shot, the main point of focus, by only allowing us to see Dr.Calagarie. As well as that, there is another scene where an Iris is used when focusing on Cesare. This shot is suddenly cut in out of nowhere, which is meant to shock the audience. This ’close up’, along with the iris giving the audience the feeling of being pulled closer to Cesare. This use of cinematography with editing, was revolutionary for the time, and shocked audiences. 

As well as that, there was a Technique used called an ‘Iris Wipe’ which was commonly used in silent films. The technique is basically, an iris closes on the lens of the camera as far as it can go, and then a blank piece of card is placed in front of the camera to give the impression that it closed all the way.