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Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari

Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari. Themes & Narrative. Themes. Expressionist films usually have fairly deep themes The themes in Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari [hereafter Caligari ] include: Great War Puppetry Social Chaos Madness. Themes: Great War Puppetry.

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Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari

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  1. Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari Themes & Narrative

  2. Themes • Expressionist films usually have fairly deep themes • The themes in Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari [hereafter Caligari] include: • Great War Puppetry • Social Chaos • Madness

  3. Themes: Great War Puppetry • Cesare is compelled to kill people on behalf of Caligari • The town clerk • Alan • Jane • No explanation is ever offered for these murders • Soldiers in the Great War were compelled to kill by the higher-ups in Germany • There was a lot of ill-feeling about Germany’s loss in the Great War • Many saw it as a pointless waste of life and were angry at figures in authority • The German Kaiser had been forced to abducate in 1918

  4. Themes: Great War Puppetry • Caligari is quite anti-authoritarian. What evidence can you find for this statement in the film? • Police are bumblers – arrest the wrong man • ‘Caligari’ is the head of a mental institution (and so a respected doctor) • The mental institution seems to have failed in its duty both to Cesare & Francis • This interpretation is complicated by the ending...

  5. Themes: Madness • This film has been hailed as the first film truly to explore madness. • If we take the text at face value, Francis is mad and Herr Doctor is sane • If we read into the film, Herr Doctor is mad (becoming Caligari) and Francis is sane... though it is he who is locked away • What do these two views say about the film’s approach to madness?

  6. Themes: Madness • Re-watch the scene in which Herr Doctor is in the grip of an obsession • Du musstCaligariwerdenmeans ‘You will become Caligari.’ • Where are the words coming from? What is this scene supposed to represent about madness? • How are audiences supposed to Feel and how are these feelings Constructed?

  7. Themes: The Fairground • The Fairground is supposed to stand as a symbol for the social chaos prevalent in Germany after the Great War. Watch the two scenes involving the fairground How is the theme of social chaos suggested by the setting, performances and events within?

  8. Themes: The Fairground • Hurly-Burly of the scene – people coming and going – represents social chaos • Enter Caligari to impose order • People willing to trust him as he has power • They give him their trust – leads to death • Chaos • Order (authority) • Death

  9. Narrative: Origins • The story has its origins in a murder that Hans Janowitz (one of the writers) all-but-witnessed • A borgeois stranger emerging from the bushes at a carnival, looking dishevelled • The next morning, a young girl was reported murdered: her body found in the bushes... • Carl Mayer (the other writer) recalled angst about his military psychiatrist during the war, using the template to create Dr Caligari

  10. Narrative: The Frame • Erich Pommer (producer) insisted that the story of an authority figure abusing his power was too upsetting for German audiences • He insisted on the narrative frame that made it clear the whole flashback was a delusion of Francis’ making. • Robert Wiene (director) filmed it so that the audience might make up thier own minds

  11. Narrative: Intentions • It was always the intention of the writers to have Caligari as the puppet-master, and Cesare as his instrument • What do you think this intention says about German society at the time? • What do you think the changes made by Pommer add to this view?

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