Blind Spot: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1921)

Cesare and Dr. Caligari.

Directed by Robert Wiene
Produced by Rudolf Meinert and Erich Pommer (both uncredited)
Written by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz
Starring Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, and Friedrich Feher

Plot Summary: Dr. Caligari (Krauss) and his somnambulist, Cesare (Veidt), hold a show at a small fair and terrorize a village.

Significance: An innovative German Expressionist film often remembered for its use of Dutch angles and distinct production design, which incorporated abstractly painted sets and backgrounds.

Thoughts: This silent horror film is an intriguing piece of history, both for its innovation and influence. Visually it is a fascinating display, as most scenes feel off-kilter and disorienting. For its time, the performances are very good, with Krauss and Veidt delivering the best ones of the lot. Its style has been copied and altered by filmmakers for decades, and it's really an astounding piece of work. Amazingly, this film is over 90 years old, and it's still an essential for movie buffs. I'm glad I finally saw it.

Rating: ****

This is the first film in my 2013 Blind Spot Series, as started by Ryan McNeil.

The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen) 1921 **

Ever wonder where Ingmar Bergman got some of his ideas for The Seventh Seal? Look no further than this classic 1921 Swedish silent by Victor Sjostrom. Yes, the same Sjostrom who starred in the 1957 Bergman classic, Wild Strawberries, is the star and director of The Phantom Carriage (aka Korkarlen).

The opening of the story takes place on New Year's Eve at the deathbed of a Salvation Army sister who wants to see David Holm (played by Sjostrom) before she dies. The problem is David is out on a drunk--his usual state of being. Through a series of flashbacks we learn how the dying woman became ill--she contracted consumption from mending David's ratty coat after he passed out at her station the previous New Year's Eve. To make a long story short, David is found and told that the sister wants to see him. Being his usual SOB self, he refuses to go and proceeds to get into a fight with some men who crack him over the head with a bottle, seemingly killing him. This is where the phantom carriage comes into play.

Every year at the stroke of midnight a person condemned to hell dies and is given the duty of driving the carriage around collecting others like themselves for the rest of the year. The driver of David's carriage happens to be Georges, an old friend of his. In one of the most spectacular images captured in early film, you have David Holm's spirit rise from his body only to look down at his own corpse lying on the ground. David's first task as carriage driver (after visiting the sister) is to collect his wife and children who have perished by self-inflicted poisoning. In an unusual twist, Georges gives David a second chance to put things right. So after reawakening at midnight in his own human form, David races home to prevent his family's death. Unlike Bergman's Death, this one does grant reprieves.

While I don't like the ending (David deserved his cursed fate), the film is still a classic. The translucent shots are awesome for the time. The flashbacks within flashbacks make the story complex and compelling. And, quite simply, the phantom carriage itself is really creepy. A must see--but difficult to find.

Orphans of the Storm (1921) **1/2

The Plague, the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, the guillotine, blindness, poverty--what storm didn't these orphans encounter?

D.W. Griffith's last historical epic, Orphans of the Storm, stars the Gish sisters, Lillian and Dorothy, as two orphans facing uncertain times during the upheaval of the French Revolution. Recently orphaned and one blinded, the sisters leave the French countryside looking for a cure for the blind sister in not so gay Paris. The sisters become separated and each faces their own personal hell--one put out as a beggar, the other placed before the guillotine. Eventually the sisters are reunited, the blindness is cured, and all is well. Trust me, the story is too long (2.5 hours) to put every detail in this blog.

As someone who specialized in this area of history, I have an odd appreciation for this film.  However, I do have a slight problem with the part where Danton rushes in and saves one of the sisters from the guillotine--once you went out in the death wagon you didn't come back with your head still attached, let alone still breathing.

It is said that this is the best acting performance of Lillian Gish's silent career. That is debatable--I prefer her in Way Down East. The film is a bit melodramatic, but still, it really is a silent classic.