Analysis of German Expressionism in Horror Mystery Films

This essay provides a comparative analysis of two influential horror mystery films: Robert Wiene's 1920 film, 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,' and Rudolph Maté's 1949 film 'D.O.A.' The essay delves into the origins of German Expressionism and its impact on the cinematic style, highlighting the use of distorted visuals, shadows, and thematic elements such as paranoia and crime drama. It examines how German Expressionism, characterized by its emphasis on subjective perception and emotional expression, influenced the development of film noir, with 'D.O.A.' serving as a prime example. The essay explores the similarities in narrative structure, stylistic techniques, and thematic concerns between the two films, emphasizing the role of shadows, suspense, and the portrayal of psychological states. The conclusion underscores the enduring legacy of both films as classics within the horror mystery genre, demonstrating the lasting influence of German Expressionism on cinematic storytelling.

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A COLLATION OF TWO HORROR MYSTERIES
ESSAY
11/20/2018

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INTRODUCTION:
This essay is discussed on the similarities of the two great movies that is ‘The cabinet of Dr.
Caligari’ by Robert Wiene’s 1920 and ‘Noir D.O.A’ by Rudolph Mates film 1949. German
expressionism style and the influential factor in both the films are discussed further. This
thesis statement, states that the two classic films and their similarities on horror mystery with
the influential factors of film noir from German expressionism.
ORIGIN OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM INTO FILMS:
German expressionism is an artistic genre that originated in Europe in the 1920s, and it is
defined in the film world as the refusal of Western agreements, and the artist’s impression on
reality that is widely inaccurate for emotional effect. The relationship between art and society
was indulged in this movement which was surrounded by architecture, painting, and film.
Expressionist films were originated from German’s relative isolation during 1910s and it
started spreading in high demand as the government banned foreign films at that time period.
These kinds of films soon started to spread internationally by 1920s. Many European
filmmakers had already been influenced by German expressionism and hence started to work
on this genre of films such as ‘Metropolis’ (1927), by Fritz Lang (Austrian, 1877–1961),
and ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ (1920), by Robert Wiene (German, 1873–1938).
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI:
The movie ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ filmed in 1920 directed by Robert Wiene and
produced by Erich Pommer. This film is a psychological horror in the salient era. The story is
told by Francis and his experiences which surrounds around the terrifying experiences at a
carnival in a small village of Germany. In this carnival Dr.Caligari introduced himself to the
crowd to his powers to control a man who has been sleeping for 20 years. Then there has
been going mysterious murders and a police investigation is held. There is a twist in the story.
That the storyteller Francis is actually in natively silent and Dr. Caligari is the director.
This film is one of the most important works of German expressionism as the goal of earlier
films was to capture the moment of the life as it really was but expressionism run in direct
and ponderous difference to seek and not resend the world as it was by using images, acting
and lighting to express a subjective perception of the world particularly exploring emotional
and mental state through its imagery (Shrader, p.p 585-586). Set designer Walter Reimann
used twisted buildings and streets in different angles, shadows painted to reflect the mental
state of the protagonist and to also expression of detention, distrust and anxiety of post-world

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war of Germany. ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ story is the visual representation of German
people’s feelings towards German government. It has themes of control and subservience
(Shrader, p.p 587). Francis also represents the German government who was left alone to
die in the dungeon. Shadows play the most important part of the film which influences the
film Noir which is similar between both the films. Caligari was cinema’s first masterpiece
due to these elements.
D.O.A:
The film Noir ‘D.O.A’ made in the year 1950 directed by Rudolph Mate. This is a dark
horror mysterious film. This film is dramatically intense on the Noir theme on an average
person who is living an ordinary life who is suddenly in a desperate situation to know about
his mysterious murderer (Shrader, p.p 587). This theme is also used in many other classical
Noir films. This film starts with the protagonist entering to the police station to complain
about his own murder and then flashbacks happen and the story starts. The plot is the
protagonist gets his drink poisoned and he got one week to live and he tries to find his
murderer. Following the trails he gets to know about the murderer and then the flashback
ends. The police make his report and marks “D.O.A.”
In film Noir from 1940s Hollywood used urban landscape cities to shoot like Los Angeles
and San Francisco due to cheap budget. Most of the films were filmed on that location. In the
film D.O.A there are untrustworthy characters, people trying to murder or harm each other by
mysterious ways. In the film the first scenes opens with the dialogue or quote “I want to
report a murder.”(2:32), this dialogue itself made suspense in the first scene of the film. This
scene said by the protagonist reporting his own murder and then narration is story by
flashback. D.O.A is also best known for its plot and exceptional role played by the actors.
The film noir has astonishing set and it is very different from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as
the D.O.A had crowed jazz bar and beautiful architectural buildings and scenes shot on
different locations whereas on the other hand, the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has
twisted buildings and streets with hand painted by German expressionist. In both the movies
shadow plays a vital role as they shadow gave audience a glare that there is a deep mystery
which is going to be solved in the end (Shrader, p.p 586).
SOLVED MYSTERY AND STYLE OF BOTH THE FILMS:
The study of stylistics of film noir is correlated on its techniques, themes, and casual
elements into a stylistic scene (Shrader, p.p 585-586). Most of the scenes are lit for night.
And as in German expressionism in film noir, they prefer horizontal lines which are opposite

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to American tradition. Also, the shadow effect speaks a lot and is a big part of the film noir.
There is also a love romantic narration in this film noir D.O.A. Film noir is influenced by
German expressionism as D.O.A has the similar elements as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari such
as horror mystery, lighting and shadows used to create suspense and tension. These two films
also have similar themes such as paranoia and scepticism, crime drama and romance. Both
the films are narrated and took the audience towards dark topics such as insanity or issues
from the society.
CONCLUSION:
Both the films are classics and best at its genre that is horror mystery. And both the films
starts with the protagonist narrating the story to the other character and then the flashbacks
happen. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is silent expressionist film in 1920. Film noir was
influenced by German expressionism as the scene in films where the shadow effects are
similar and the sharp lines used in the sets to make it look realistic.
REFERENCES:
D.O.A. Dir. Rudolph Maté’s. Perf. Edmond O'Brien and Pamela Britton. 1949.
Shrader, Paul. notes on film noir. 1972.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Dir. Robert Wiene. Perf. Friedrich Feher and Conrad Veidt.
1920.