Expressions in Horror: Dr Caligari and Nosferatu Essay

Two of the earliest examples of German Expressionism in film, The footlocker of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu are classics remembered as some of the surpass horror films of all time. These two films, directed by Robert Wiene and F. W. Murnau respectively, share several(prenominal) key aspects in common, maculation still retaining their own uniqueness that has left people debating which film is paramount, even out nearly a century after their releases. This paper will project these similarities and differences, and will specifyk address them in light of the German expressionistic movement they each resonate.The footlocker of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu both tell the story of a boy like German mans subjection to the madness of a dark overlord with seemingly supernatural powers. In Caligari, a young man named Cesare, who is a somnambulist (or sleep walker) is controlled by the powers of a senile doctor, who orders him to kill innocent victims. In Nosferatu, a young man named doub ting Thomas Harker is sent to sell property to account genus Dracula, a vampire who comes to refuge his life and town after becoming obsessed with Hutters wife, Nina.though while these films share some key comp iodinents in common, no one could ever call the two films the same. Robert Wienes The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is defined by the films stage-like quality, due mostly to the unique set it is shot on. An example of German Expressionism, the director bring to passs a world of stark lines, sharp angles, darkness, and shadows bringing the beauty into a surreal world. Unnaturally go houses line crooked pave roads. Misshapen rooms contain demented furniture. Rooftops are acutely angled to the sides.It is radically warped scenery, and helps create a genuine expressionist set. F. W Murnaus Nosferatu, however, is shot in real world environments, but employs shadows to stain small rooms appear larger then life, adding suspense and a feel of supernaturalism to the movie. The Count s castle perhaps better(p) conveys the expressionistic form, with its gothic architecture and abundance of shadow. Or, better still, the Count himself embodies the expressionist form, with his exaggerated features. His ears, chin and teeth are all pointed, and his stature is unique, round-shouldered and very thin of frame.His eyes, much like Wienes Cesare, are in darkness shaded, and his nails are long giving him a distinctly monster like quality. Both films successfully impress a dark mood by exaggerating the films dark aesthetic, drawing viewers into the mindscape of German Expressionism. The films alike share in common a sleepwalking theme, and perhaps it was practiced Murnau paying homage to Wienes Caligari. Partway through Nosferatu, Harkers wife Nina is draw as being in a sleepwalking trance, specifically barter it somnambulistic.In fact, the character Nina looks surprisingly similar to how the character Jane looks in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I dont believe it is too extreme to insinuate that perhaps Marnau played off certain motifs created by Wiene in abstracted to create a horror film. However, Marnaus depiction of Count Dracula is unsettling to this day, and many still believe that it remains the most terrorise characterisation of the character ever on film, perhaps only second to the iconic Dracula played by Bela Lugosi. Murnau certainly created his own sort of horror, so it could not be suggested Nosferatu is unoriginal.The use of shadows, especially when it comes to scenes involving the Count, create a slimy imagine on the screen. While having never seen Nosferatu before deciding to economise this paper, I immediately recognized a scene towards the end of the film, when the Count ascended a staircase to Ninas room. Perhaps one of the most iconic scenes of early horror films, you see the shadow of the Count as he makes his climb up the staircase, hunched form, long fingernails, offsetting movement and all. It is his shadow you see cli mbing the steps, never his actual form, which may possibly hint at a metaphor.The German Expressionist movement was born out of the concern following the Great War and before the birth of Hilters Germany. Perhaps, as suggested by James Franklin in The Shadow in Early German Cinema, shadows acted as a sort of visual metaphor for unrighteous or for the dark and threatening forces that allegedly lurked in the pre-Hitler German capitulum or soul . Both films use music to add suspense to the plot, however each film approaches its use in fail ways. Caligari is distinctively jazzy in nature, where as Nosferatu is to a greater extent classical. Both films, however, create music that mirrors and changes with the action on the screen.In Nosferatu, music creates a terrifying feel to the movie, shaping the most horrific scenes remembered from the film. There are several instances throughout the film where silence is broken by a instead sound, almost like a heartbeat in the background, yet more off putting. While I am in no sentiment to argue which film is the better, both have come to be the best examples of horror films to come out of this time period. Classic examples of German Expressionism at work, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu play with the presence of shadow, the distortion of nature, and the imaginations of audiences, even today.