S P O N S O R E D B Y

S P O N S O R E D B Y

2020 DISCUSSION | 2020 LISTS

The movie that introduced me to the terms somnambulism and somnambulist. Happy 100! "Er ist Caligari.. Caligari... Caligari!"

Any suggestions for the classic versus contemporary score?

I had to look that word up myself.

Caligari is a fascinating film that I wish I could experience more in it's time - watching it now I think it looks cool and antique and fascinating that everyone involved might be dead so what life they must have lived (not the least of which is preserved as a snapshot here). It's unquestionably artistic with a far out interesting story and surreal set design with a seemingly timeless cool sleepwalking hook... the framing device element of 'what is real' is excellent but I feel like there's a lot of commentary I cannot 'get.' I guess the value of 'art' is being able to project whatever meaning you relate to on it - but that's why Caligari we perceive today may not be the Caligari that was filmed. I do not think the film makers intended Caligari to mimic and represent Trump; which is beyond bizarre and prophetic.

I listened to this with the commentary by film historian David Kalat [big thanks to Alyxstarr for providing detailed bonuses like that] - it's a good listen with a lot of back story and analysis of the film, there's a bit much debating which dead person gets credit for which artistic choices but... the beginning and end are especially strong (the last 20 minutes of commentary are interesting passionate dissection of the ending).

I love this film. Way back in college, I took a film class, which introduced me to silent films, and this was one of the film's that made the biggest impression on me. I've used it as a gateway film into silent movies for friends. Very effective.

I also listened to the audio commentary and would definitely recommend it. I can't recall the guy's name on the Blu-ray I have, but I'm assuming he's the same one already mentioned. It provides a lot of good historical information.

I've watched a number of silent horror films in my quest to get through the They Shoot Zombies list. They aren't my jam particularly. I have a hard time staying focused when there's no dialog. But I appreciate the gothic visual style on filmis like Der Golem and Faust. This one was also quite stunning visually, and I liked the unusual story of the guy who can bring a "somnambalist" to do his bidding. The ending twist was cool too.