Architecture in Film (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari)Link to Article [http://www.moria.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=687Itemid=1]
"What made the entire world pay attention to The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was its distorted worldview. All the sets are built crooked and misshapen; the backgrounds are jutting angular flats and zigzag perspectives; and the lighting is filled with bloated shadows. As such it inspired few direct imitators – and one can see why, it was such a bewildering take on everything that had gone before. But most importantly in terms of its influence on the German silents and Hollywood’s Golden Age, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari taught that architecture could stand for mood. Hollywood of the 1930s would tie this directly to a Gothic view of the world filled with science-unleashed monsters."
- Author Anonymous, Date 15/02/08
[ NB: Here is an extract from an article on a science fiction fansite. I have chosen to look at an anonymous writing because the majority of reviews on this website appear coherent and well informed.
The rest of the scripture mentions many scholar's work analyzing the film and thus, although I am unable to locate an author, I am happy to continue to analyze and review this statement.]
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is a German expressionist film, much of the imagery and artistic style can be categorized as Cubism. There is much debate; still arousing today, as to who came up with the concept for the film, but it was written, directed and produced by Hans Janowitz and Robert Wiene in 1919.
Much of the quoted statement is backed up in scholar Siegfried Kracauer (German writer, journalist, social culturist and film critic)'s dissertation: From Caligari to Hitler [A psychological history of the German film] (1947)
This quote completely empathises with the plight of the film's later misunderstood imagery and ideas.
Indeed the very fabric of the film relies on the expressionist movement 'cubism' as a reflection of current German affairs -to forever contextualize The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and stylize it to this period, and emphasize with architecture, the mood of the piece.
"What made the entire world pay attention to The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was its distorted worldview. All the sets are built crooked and misshapen; the backgrounds are jutting angular flats and zigzag perspectives; and the lighting is filled with bloated shadows. As such it inspired few direct imitators – and one can see why, it was such a bewildering take on everything that had gone before. But most importantly in terms of its influence on the German silents and Hollywood’s Golden Age, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari taught that architecture could stand for mood. Hollywood of the 1930s would tie this directly to a Gothic view of the world filled with science-unleashed monsters."
- Author Anonymous, Date 15/02/08
[ NB: Here is an extract from an article on a science fiction fansite. I have chosen to look at an anonymous writing because the majority of reviews on this website appear coherent and well informed.
The rest of the scripture mentions many scholar's work analyzing the film and thus, although I am unable to locate an author, I am happy to continue to analyze and review this statement.]
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is a German expressionist film, much of the imagery and artistic style can be categorized as Cubism. There is much debate; still arousing today, as to who came up with the concept for the film, but it was written, directed and produced by Hans Janowitz and Robert Wiene in 1919.
Much of the quoted statement is backed up in scholar Siegfried Kracauer (German writer, journalist, social culturist and film critic)'s dissertation: From Caligari to Hitler [A psychological history of the German film] (1947)
This quote completely empathises with the plight of the film's later misunderstood imagery and ideas.
Indeed the very fabric of the film relies on the expressionist movement 'cubism' as a reflection of current German affairs -to forever contextualize The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and stylize it to this period, and emphasize with architecture, the mood of the piece.
The Cubist and Expressionist movements hit Germany soon after it colonised, previously Germany was not a country but a wide array of states. This generacy left its inhabitants feeling as if they did not have a voice, and without identity.
The Cubist [in particular] movement was German artists suggesting that things do not always have to be viewed as they are physically seen. It was a great way for struggling artists in Germany to bring a feeling of identity and create something 'German' in their work.
Most Cubist/ Expressionist work is terribly upsetting to view, a little borders on surrealism but most depicts a total lack of identity and a feeling of loss. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari reflects these cubism movements architecturally.
German artist Kurt Schwitter-Merz re-modeled his parent's house completely taking years to create a breathtaking internal structural masterpiece, perhaps Janowitz was inspired by this when the sets for his film were devised. -Thus proving the latter part of the above statement, that the use of cubist architecture within the film indicates the mood, artistic movement, and era the film was created in.
However, the quote above suggests that although an unique take on the use of architecture in film, it has not since been emulated, and the author appears bewildered as to why.
I wholeheartedly do not agree with this bewilderment, although the sets are distinctive and unique, and the film has most likely been taken as a visual experimental case-in-point, its imagery has certainly been replicated to date.
None-the less, to be fair to the author, the use of cubist architecture has made this film stand up to time and is probably its main contributor to its vast success in the film world.
As fore mentioned however, I do not agree that it has never been emulated however, and I will prove my point with a direct visual comparison to some modern films.
As afore mentioned, I do not agree with that statement in its entirety, Tim Burton, for one, emulates the set design in his feature length film Sleepy Hollow:
Ichabod Craine in his room -Burton Sleepy Hollow /Cesare in his room - The cabinet of Dr Caligari
- As is it plain to see there are some striking similarities between the two sets, while Burton has not used full-out cubist architectural practice, his conflicting contours and jagged lines, along with the use of light mimic that used in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.
Burton certainly incorporates an element of cubism into the sets of Edward's castle in Edward Scissorhands, and many of his other films.
The Cubist [in particular] movement was German artists suggesting that things do not always have to be viewed as they are physically seen. It was a great way for struggling artists in Germany to bring a feeling of identity and create something 'German' in their work.
Most Cubist/ Expressionist work is terribly upsetting to view, a little borders on surrealism but most depicts a total lack of identity and a feeling of loss. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari reflects these cubism movements architecturally.
German artist Kurt Schwitter-Merz re-modeled his parent's house completely taking years to create a breathtaking internal structural masterpiece, perhaps Janowitz was inspired by this when the sets for his film were devised. -Thus proving the latter part of the above statement, that the use of cubist architecture within the film indicates the mood, artistic movement, and era the film was created in.
However, the quote above suggests that although an unique take on the use of architecture in film, it has not since been emulated, and the author appears bewildered as to why.
I wholeheartedly do not agree with this bewilderment, although the sets are distinctive and unique, and the film has most likely been taken as a visual experimental case-in-point, its imagery has certainly been replicated to date.
None-the less, to be fair to the author, the use of cubist architecture has made this film stand up to time and is probably its main contributor to its vast success in the film world.
As fore mentioned however, I do not agree that it has never been emulated however, and I will prove my point with a direct visual comparison to some modern films.
As afore mentioned, I do not agree with that statement in its entirety, Tim Burton, for one, emulates the set design in his feature length film Sleepy Hollow:
Ichabod Craine in his room -Burton Sleepy Hollow /Cesare in his room - The cabinet of Dr Caligari
- As is it plain to see there are some striking similarities between the two sets, while Burton has not used full-out cubist architectural practice, his conflicting contours and jagged lines, along with the use of light mimic that used in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.
Burton certainly incorporates an element of cubism into the sets of Edward's castle in Edward Scissorhands, and many of his other films.
Some of Burton's characters are also blased [visually] loosely on those from The Cabinet of Dr Caligari:
Edward, Edward Scissorhands/ Cesar, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
-Again a striking similarity, proving the above quote about the imagery from The cabinet of Dr Caligari having never been used again, null and void; and one only has to watch The Corpse Bride or Sleepy Hollow along side The Cabinet of Dr Caligari to note obvious similarities in costume design and makeup.
By way of linking this to animation in Burton's first short animation Vincent, he scews the lines of the sets to add to Vincent's madness, and again the bloated shadows cast on the distorted contours of the walls are certainly cubist at times.
Edward, Edward Scissorhands/ Cesar, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
-Again a striking similarity, proving the above quote about the imagery from The cabinet of Dr Caligari having never been used again, null and void; and one only has to watch The Corpse Bride or Sleepy Hollow along side The Cabinet of Dr Caligari to note obvious similarities in costume design and makeup.
By way of linking this to animation in Burton's first short animation Vincent, he scews the lines of the sets to add to Vincent's madness, and again the bloated shadows cast on the distorted contours of the walls are certainly cubist at times.
Vincent -1982 Tim Burton.Here we see a definite use of cubist architecture, and by way of agreeing with the statement: "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari taught that architecture could stand for mood", the jagged distortion of the easel and the light fall do indeed stand for the violent insanity experienced by the character.
As one can see, architecture is equally as important in animation as it is in live action film, and supporting the above statement, indeed it is not just music, lighting or expression that can indicate the mood of a piece but architecture also.
To Conclude:
One does not require a background in the history of German arts to read a sense of disorder and a grim sense of contextual chaos from the sets in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, and although I agree with parts of the above quote, and the majority of the article there after is well informed and I agree with it, the opening statement as quoted above is un-informed and incorrect [in my opinion].
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(own knowledge)
INTERNET:
Author: Unknown
Date: 02/08
Date link was last proved active: 15/02/09
URL:http://www.moria.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=687&Itemid=0
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