M&M: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Dear reader,

I hesitated for a long time, to watch this movie. When I finally did it a couple of days ago, I knew by the end of it, which would be my next M&M movie: “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” from 1920. This film is a silent film and for the colour and spoken words spoiled viewers, this is certainly not a film for everyone to enjoy. With a running time of just a bit over an hour though, it's not taking up too much time and certainly shouldn't stop you from watching it! Also it's a german film, though english subtitles for the text cards do exist. So English-speaking readers of my blog can relax and go watch it, too, if you're interested!

Francis (Friedrich Feher) tells a friend of the very strange and scary experiences, he and his friend Jane (Lil Dagover) went through at the holstenwall fair. It was there when Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) exhibited the somnambulist Cesare (very brilliantly played by Conrad Veidt). Somnambulist is the more technical term for sleep walking, to sleep very deep and yet move around and do things as if in a waking state. Dr. Caligari says that Cesare is 23 years old and has been asleep for 23 years! Cesare isn't a wonder for just sleeping for 23 years though. He can also see into the future. When Alan (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski) asks him, for how long he, Alan, would live, Cesare tells him “Until dawn.” In fact Alan is dead the next morning. Francis suspects Cesare to be the murderer right away and starts spying after him. The next victim should be Jane. But when Cesare sees how beautiful she is, he can't stab her, but kidnaps her instead. Jane's father wakes up from the noise so that Cesare eventually puts Jane carefully on the ground, before he can flee. Dr. Caligari is able to run away from an inspection of his caravan. He finds refuge in a madhouse. Is that the right place for Francis, to find the truth behind Dr. Caligari's secrets? See for yourself!

The style of the film is much like that of a Tim Burton film. Many angles are just odd, also for example shapes doors. The character of Cesare bares close resemblance to Johnny Depp as Edward Scissorhands. Certainly Tim Burton found inspiration in this film for Edward. The film is quite similar to a theatre play in terms of the set design and, among other things, the fact that it is separated into 6 acts. A theatre stage, especially with odd angles, can create feelings of claustrophobia and restriction. In that respect this horror film is created in a very interesting way, especially since it was made when the history of film was still rather young. If you like Tim Burton movies and enjoy a bit of a fright, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” might be one for you. Don't be afraid of silent movies, be brave. I didn't regret it! If you should be afraid of Dr. Caligari is another question...

Thanks to Mark Gatiss (yes, “him” again...), who with his three part series "A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss" brought my attention to this movie.

Until next blog,
sarah

M&M: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Dear reader,

based on the book with the same title by Paul Torday the film came out in 2011 with Ewan McGregor as Dr. Alfred Jones, Emily Blunt ad Harriet Chetwode-Talbot and Amr Waked as Sheikh Muhammadin as leading roles.

The sheikh is a fishing enthusiast and wants to be able to fish salmon in the jemen. So he hires the financial adviser Harriet to take care of that. Now she contacts the fishing expert Dr. Alfred Jones. At first he thinks this is all a bad joke. But Harriet is on fire and Alfred has many difficulties, to bring this project to an end. Alfred doesn't have much of a choice but to take part, the british prime minister's press secretary forces him to, after she realises what a project like this could mean for britain, should it succeed. Alfred and Harriet soon turn this into a sort of game. All just in theory, of course, because salmon fishing in a desert area like the yemen is pretty crazy. Alfred one by one puts high requirements on Harriet for the project, in the hope that she has to say it can't be done... and Harriet fulfils them without an exception. Through this salmon project Alfred and Harriet get closer to each other. Alfred has a wife, but she thinks about her own career a lot and with that their emotional relationship has gone rather cold. Alfred has a wife though... Harriet on the other hand met the soldier Robert only a couple of weeks ago. He's now stationed in afghanistan. Then she gets a message that Robert has gone missing. Is that the chance for Alfred and Harriet to get close? Everything seems to go well, the fish are swimming and the sheikh can go fishing. Just then Robert is back and for PR-purposes he gets flown to Yemen to Harriet as a surprise for her. But that project of salmon fishing in the yemen has gone too well so far. A small group of rebels don't like that there is a dam for fish for the oh so open-minded sheikh to be able to go fishing. They blow up the dam and then everything seems lost for the fish. But is it really? And who will Harriet go for: Alfred or Robert?

It's a lot of fun to watch Harriet and Alfred together, the way they interact with each other. First how they're working all in a theoretical way and against each other and then work with each other and for salmon fishing in the yemen. Maybe sometimes what it needs is people, who are bound and determined and a big, nearly impossible project to work on step by step and for starters purely on a theoretical level. In the end it may just really work for real. A very beautiful film about the possibility of (seemingly) impossible projects.

Until next blog,

sarah