The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)

Cautiously Recommended

Germany

Feature Film

Original Title: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Director: Robert Wiene

Writers: Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer

Cinematographer: Willy Hameister

Composer: Timothy Brock (1996)

Cast: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Fehér, Lil Dagover, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Rudolf Lettinger

This stylish but rather silly tale of somnambulism, murder, and madness contains one or two scenes of breathtaking film-making (Cesare’s abduction of the girl is particularly well done), but the film’s over reliance on intertitles to tell its story, the twist ending, and a general feeling of absurdness ensure that it is no more than mildly diverting. Iain.Stott