Post by George Willson on Oct 27, 2005 16:47:48 GMT -5
This is the oldest film I've ever seen. I've got D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation from 1915 lined up for the future as well as a variety of shorts Griffith did between 1908 and 1913, but so far this is the oldest.
This was a weird and interesting film. It involves a Dr. Caligari who has a somnambulist (someone who sleeps all the time) named Cesare that can tell your fortune. Meanwhile, while he's in town, murders are occurring. A man who lost his best friend to the murderer works to unravel the mystery of Caligari and Cesare before more deaths occur.
For a silent film, it was interesting to watch, and easy enough to follow. The intertitles, though long in nature, were done in an interesting to read font that fit with the character of the piece. The sets were really bizarre to look at as well (I believe this film was classified as German expressionism). It even had a decent twist at the end.
For some weak points, the characters were hardly delved into at all beyond their basic function in the story, and we weren't even told the name of the girl until near the end. Almost no relationships were established between the characters -- only a thin one between the main character and his best friend who was murdered -- so I believe that made the story a little thinner than it could have been.
For a film that was still falls under the experimental time of filmmaking, it managed to age very well over the years. Despite its weak points, we did get some change in the characters, and something good to watch.
This was a weird and interesting film. It involves a Dr. Caligari who has a somnambulist (someone who sleeps all the time) named Cesare that can tell your fortune. Meanwhile, while he's in town, murders are occurring. A man who lost his best friend to the murderer works to unravel the mystery of Caligari and Cesare before more deaths occur.
For a silent film, it was interesting to watch, and easy enough to follow. The intertitles, though long in nature, were done in an interesting to read font that fit with the character of the piece. The sets were really bizarre to look at as well (I believe this film was classified as German expressionism). It even had a decent twist at the end.
For some weak points, the characters were hardly delved into at all beyond their basic function in the story, and we weren't even told the name of the girl until near the end. Almost no relationships were established between the characters -- only a thin one between the main character and his best friend who was murdered -- so I believe that made the story a little thinner than it could have been.
For a film that was still falls under the experimental time of filmmaking, it managed to age very well over the years. Despite its weak points, we did get some change in the characters, and something good to watch.
