Art on Film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Experience one of the defining achievements of silent cinema through a screening of 1920’s "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," a groundbreaking film that stands as one of the most iconic and influential works of German Expressionist cinema. The story follows a mysterious showman, Dr. Caligari, and his somnambulist, Cesare, whose unsettling predictions become linked to a series of murders in a small town. Through its twisting narrative and psychological complexity, the film remains a landmark of both horror and suspense cinema. Presented in conjunction with AMFA’s exhibition "The Age of Anxiety: German Expressionism in Art and Film," the film reveals how artists and filmmakers responded to a rapidly changing world through imagery marked by psychological tension, distorted realities, and haunting beauty. Through its striking visual design, angular architecture, and dreamlike atmosphere, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" transformed cinematic storytelling and introduced themes of uncertainty, psyc