Dr. Caligari
I saw Dr. Caligari back in early September last year -- only now am I getting around to posting about it. You'd think I'd forget quite a bit from back then, but this little bit of weirdness kinda stays with you. This movie supposedly picks up a couple generations after the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ends. For those not in the know, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1919 silent art film from Germany that has a lot of critical acclaim. I can't comment on it, as I've never seen it -- but it did spawn a remake last year, that again, I haven't seen either.
This 1989 film picks up with the granddaughter of Caligari -- a doctor as well, who practices at the Caligari Insane Asylum (CIA) for people who are mostly insane when they enter -- and definitely insane when they leave. The bad doctor likes to dress in a hot-pink PVC dress, use a phallic-looking syringe and talk to her grandfather's brain that she keeps preserved in a jar. In this asylum, a Mrs. Van Houten, suffering from bizarre hallucinations, is handed over to Dr. Caligari for treatment. Of course, if Mrs. Van Houten wasn't completely insane before, she's about to be. The hallucinations get far worse -- one of them involves a wall that has a giant tongue -- it has to be seen, but only if you're over 18 -- not that it's pornographic or anything -- close, probably, but it's just way-way-too bizarre.
Dr. Caligari's experiments on her patients involve extracting synaptic fluid, with which she hopes to transfer personalities. Her end goal is to be able to get some of her own grandfather's synaptic fluid into her, so she can gain his genius. Whatever. The film uses lots of weird angles, bright colours and overacting. I'm not sure if it's good. It kept me watching it, but I think that's mostly because I wanted to see just what weirdness was going to come next. I wouldn't characterize this film as enjoyable. It's pretentious and weird for the sake of being weird. A warning -- this film was made by Stephen Sayadian -- who's only other films seem to be porn. Dr. Caligari appears to be his only mainstream movie, and the only film of his that he credited himself using his real name. He must have been proud.
This 1989 film picks up with the granddaughter of Caligari -- a doctor as well, who practices at the Caligari Insane Asylum (CIA) for people who are mostly insane when they enter -- and definitely insane when they leave. The bad doctor likes to dress in a hot-pink PVC dress, use a phallic-looking syringe and talk to her grandfather's brain that she keeps preserved in a jar. In this asylum, a Mrs. Van Houten, suffering from bizarre hallucinations, is handed over to Dr. Caligari for treatment. Of course, if Mrs. Van Houten wasn't completely insane before, she's about to be. The hallucinations get far worse -- one of them involves a wall that has a giant tongue -- it has to be seen, but only if you're over 18 -- not that it's pornographic or anything -- close, probably, but it's just way-way-too bizarre.
Dr. Caligari's experiments on her patients involve extracting synaptic fluid, with which she hopes to transfer personalities. Her end goal is to be able to get some of her own grandfather's synaptic fluid into her, so she can gain his genius. Whatever. The film uses lots of weird angles, bright colours and overacting. I'm not sure if it's good. It kept me watching it, but I think that's mostly because I wanted to see just what weirdness was going to come next. I wouldn't characterize this film as enjoyable. It's pretentious and weird for the sake of being weird. A warning -- this film was made by Stephen Sayadian -- who's only other films seem to be porn. Dr. Caligari appears to be his only mainstream movie, and the only film of his that he credited himself using his real name. He must have been proud.
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