Viewed in
2010
Formats
Netflix streaming (Xbox 360)
Premise
A German town is besieged by mysterious murders coinciding with the appearance of a somnambulist.
Loved
The awesome art designs.
Liked
The psychological mystery.
Thoughts
If Tim Burton made a silent picture, I think it would look a lot like this.
Visually, there was a lot interesting things going on. I loved the sets, oozing with off-kilter, unfriendly, jagged edges. Somehow the film makers tinted the film in different background colors to help dictate the time of day in the story. Each character's makeup was equally bizarre, especially the mad Dr. Caligari (wearing what looked like Mickey Mouse gloves).
The story was surprisingly complicated for a 71 minute silent picture, with a moving plot, spooky intrigue, and psychological twists.
It was interesting to see how early movie makers tried to use the iris. In this case, they utilized it like spotlights and curtains in a stage production.
Unfortunately, I could not dig up any research on if the score was original or not, or who translated the subtitles to English. All I know was that the incessantly dissonant score drove my mom batty.
The biggest flaw was that sometimes I had trouble understanding what was happening in the story onscreen. This probably had to do with the limitations of black-and-white silent pictures.
I highly recommend this film, not just because it was credited with pioneering German Expressionism, film noir, horror, and twist endings, but because it was haunting, intriguing, and memorable.
What I would change
Nothing.
