It is 1922, in Germany. Far away from the reality of war and its dust, two men meet in a quiet little park. For an unknowing first-time spectator, the scene is about to take a horrific turn. Blurred between the lines of reality and illusion as a sick man rolls in bed between delirium and sleep, the story turns and twists through a quiet German town, far from a war-torn world.
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” a landmark of early cinema, is a chilling German expressionist film that has left an indelible mark on the horror genre. The show is playing Oct. 5 at the Overture Center with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Audiences are encouraged to put on costumes to accompany the horror with humor and memory.
The show replicates the authentic experience of watching a silent film in the 20th century, including an accompanying organist, according to the Overture Center’s website.
The film follows Francis, who becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding Dr. Caligari, a sinister carnival hypnotist using a sleepwalking man, Cesare, to commit murders.
It remains as an unimpeachable expression of authority, control and psychological manipulation. It mixes irony with screams, forcing the audience to question how much we can trust a reality on the sole bases of an authorial or popular claim.
Perfect for the newly beginning October and the season of Halloween, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is a silent harrow of horror.
It is to be first of Duck Soup Cinema’s series at the theater which explore the fine line between illusion and reality and the haunting limits of our own faculties.
Other shows to follow include “Yes or No,” a 1920s silent film starring Norma Talmadge and “The Dragon Painter” which recounts a story of an artist who is loses the most prized possession in life — his sanity — to his art.
