If we critique The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in this age, comparing it to the popular horror movies which are popular today, we might think The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was such a cliche, because a lot of scenes seemed like exaggerating and over dramatic. However, consider the year which the film was produced, that was in 20s, last century when the “fancy” filming techniques have not been invented yet. The Cabinet of Dr. Cagliari has only depended on the most basic rules of filming to convey a horror story, which as far as I am concerned, it was already a phenomenal success.
What I found the film element most fascinating was the color. Not only the color of the film itself—-black and white with an orange tune, but also the color of background and the “ridiculous” heavy make-ups on the actors’ faces. If you paid attention to those props, you would notice that the direct had done a lot of work on building a horror/scary environment. The actors were “wearing” an “abnormal” expression: for example, they had dark eye shadows, strange hair styles and crazy cloths. Also the background, we can see all kinds of weird shapes on the wall, they made the whole story flow have a sense of uncomfortable feelings.
What also worth to mention is the music. The music in this film was as dark as the stage and the film themselves. Those film techniques, although easy and basic, I have to say: they have served the story so well and so right. It was a story full of confusion, depression, desperation, etc. The producer created a world that everything was different from the real world therefore to convey the surrealism and expressionism.
