Q: Pick 2 of the 4 elements listed there and discuss the way they are used in the film.

Ones Picked: Mise-en-scene & Narrative

A: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the pinpoint start of the German expressionism movement. Its narrative and the way that it used distortion in the backdrops and fantasy / horror makes it a classic. The mise-en-scene was particularly brilliant. The backdrop had a sort of distorted cartoonish look, which was most definitely done on purpose to further the plot of the story that Francis was, in fact, insane. The switch from the cartoonish, almost completely distorted backdrop of the village to the perfectly rigid and worldly look of the asylum displayed this switch from the perspective of an insane person to the narrative of the sane. The horror and fantasy aspect of the story really popped out with the plot twist towards the end of the story. It definitely came across as a Pioneer movie in the field of psychological horror rather than that of slasher horror.