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Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari. Performance & Style. Performance. Much of the acting style of early films was exaggerated like stage acting
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Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari Performance & Style
Performance • Much of the acting style of early films was exaggerated like stage acting • Stage actors were hired with little experience of working in film – on the stage, performances needed to be exaggerated to be seen & understood even in the rear seats • Film offered an opportunity for close-ups and tight shots that was not present on the stage
Performance • Watch the clip ‘Naturalistic acting’ & comment on the differences between the rest of the cast & Werner Krauss (Dr Caligari) [pause for clip] • “We actors got together and said, ‘We have to use quite different make-up. Look at the settings. Conny [Veidt] you make yourself a broad line under each eye.’” Werner Krauss
Performance • Expressionist acting was as stylised as the set design • In addition to the staccato (jerky) movements of Krauss & Veidt, other elements were included, such as symmetry [pause for ‘symmetry’ clip]
Performance • One of the chief criticisms the film has received is that all the performances are not as stylised as those of Krauss & Veidt • Watch the clip ‘Stylised’ and comment on: • What you think these performances bring to the tone of the film • What we can read into the fact that only these two characters are performed in such a way
Style: Set Design • Expressionist films wanted to achieve an emotional state in their audiences • This was captured in the mise-en-scene • Which emotional states to these images confer and how do they achieve that?
Style: Lighting • Caligari was filmed almost entirely within a studio • Light was painted on to the set and backdrops were hung in the background • How did this affect the style of the film?
Caligarisme & Expressionism • Not all the films that you will see on this course are truly expressionist • Caligari is by far the most stylised of the three films • Some critics refer to the style of Caligari as Caligarist, rather than expressionist • Read the handout ‘Caligarisme & Expressionism’ as an introduction to our next film Nosferatu.
