Director: Robert Wiene
Screenplay: Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover
Producers: Erich Pommer, Rudolf Meinert (both uncredited)
Country: Germany
Running Time: 77 min
Year: 1920
BBFC Certificate: U
We’ve twice reviewed director Robert Wiene’s 1920 silent expressionist horror masterpiece, Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari on Blueprint Review. You can check them out here from David – https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2014/09/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari/ – and here from William – https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2017/01/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari-2/. Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari has been on my “to watch” list for far too long, so when an opportunity came up to check out Eureka!’s brand new UHD release of the film, I jumped at the chance.
I’ve not seen many silent films so I always tend to find them to be fascinating and almost alien, a feeling that is only escalated by Dr. Caligari’s rather wonderful, otherworldly look. There truly is no other film like this, its angular, painted sets looking like some nightmarish stage production with their twisted perspectives and surreal shadows, a style that also extends into the films intertitles, presented in a handwritten style reminiscent (appropriately) of mad scrawlings.
The story of Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari is fairly straightforward, presented across its brisk 77 minute runtime – Francis (Feher) and his friend Alan attend a local carnival and visit the tent of one Dr. Caligari (Krauss), who presents the audience with his star attraction – a somnambulist called Cesare (a wonderfully gothic and ethereal performance by Conrad Veidt). As a fortune teller, Cesare predicts that Alan will be dead by the next day and, when that prediction comes true, Francis begins investigating the sinister Caligari, his mysterious thrall and their possible ties to the local asylum.
Visually and narratively it’s an electrifying and often genuinely unsettling film to watch which feels remarkably ahead of its time, even featuring a twist towards the end of the tale which leads the viewer to question the story that they have witnessed. This is enhanced to a great degree by the new UHD restoration from Eureka. Building on the previously restored version from the older Blu-Ray and DVD releases, this ups the image to a 4K resolution which is crisp and vivid, allowing the production design to truly pop. Being a monochrome film means that there’s not much colour for the HDR transfer, but the single colour tints used to highlight different scenes and often times of day are nicely bold here. Audio wise there are two soundtracks on offer, the older 2014 score or a newer one from 2019 which feels more sparse and sinister – both sound great and are ideal accompaniments to the film.
Bonus features:
- Hardbound Slipcase featuring artwork by Kevin Tong (Tragic Sunshine)
- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation from the extensive restoration completed by FWMS in 2014
- Score by Cornelius Schwer (2014) – LPCM stereo and 5.1 surround options
- Score by Uwe Dierksen & Hermann Kretzschmar (2019) – LPCM stereo
- Original German intertitles with optional English subtitles
- Brand new audio commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
- Audio commentary by film historian David Kalat
- The Asylum in Film – brand new interview with author / critic Kim Newman
- You Must Become Caligari – video essay by film critic David Cairns
- Caligari: The Birth of Horror in the First World War – 52 minute documentary on the cultural and historical impact of the film
- On The Restoration – three short video pieces on the film’s restoration
- Trailer
- PLUS: A LIMITED EDITION 100-PAGE BOOK featuring archival writing and articles including vintage writing on the film by Lotte H. Eisner; an original Variety review of the film; rare imagery; and more
Bonus features wise, this UHD release has a bounty of extras. Fans of the previous versions will want to consider double dipping for the new commentary and interview with Kim Newman, while the remaining features provide an insightful look at the making of the film, its historical impact and the process of the original restoration. Bundled into the limited edition release is a fascinating 49 page book with a wealth of detail and imagery for fans of the film and the genre to pour over.