Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari
(The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
)
I knew this film was a classic - I did not remembered why, though. A happy coincidence that I could not recall the major spoiler, since it allowed me to truly enjoy the ending and let myself get surprised. On the other hand, I spent more than an our wondering why the movie was considered to be such a masterpiece, since it did not seem that good. Only at the end I could really appreciate it.
The story is supposed to be an horror tale of a young man named Francis. Both he and his good friend Alan are in love in Jane. One day the, a doctor Caligari visits their town to exhibit a somnambulist at a fair, and that is when a series of murders occurs, causing much distress to all of the party. As Alan narrates the terrible events we get to know dr. Caligari better and discover the horrible truth about him.
Technically, quite good. Lots of colour manipulation (as it was with
Dracula
) in order to create the illusion of time lapse or lighting change.
All in all, the film can be found enjoyable, yet not extraordinary (except form the final twist, but that only makes a nice excuse to carry out an academic discussion, not a reason to actually watch the film), which contrasts with my experience with classic silent movies so far.
That was the first time I thought the live music was not good enough - too monotonous, too cheerful sometimes, seldom really matched the mood.
Stay tuned.
