The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – Kino Lorber (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Germany, 1920
Director: Robert Wiene
Writers: Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz
Cast: Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Rudolf Lettinger

Release Date: October 22nd, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 77 Minutes 14 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 2160 Progressive / HEVC SDR
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 With German Intertitles, DTS-HD Stereo With German Intertitles
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free (UHD), Region A (Blu-Ray)
Retail Price: $39.95

"In 1920, one brilliant movie jolted the postwar masses and catapulted the German Expressionist film movement into history. That movie was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a plunge into the mind of insanity that severs all ties with the rational world. Director Robert Wiene and a team of visionary designers crafted a nightmare realm in which light, shadow and substance are abstracted, a world in which a demented doctor and a carnival sleepwalker perpetrate a series of ghastly murders in a small community." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "This 4K restoration was performed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Stiftung in Wiesbaden, working primarily from the camera negative preserved by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv in Berlin. The first act is missing from the negative and has been resconstructed from various surviving elements. Damaged or missing frames were replaced in 67 Instances.

No original German distribution prints survived. Two color-tinted nitrate prints, discovered in Latin America, represent the earliest surviving copies of the film and are now preserved by the Filmmuseum Düsseldorf and Cinteca di Bologna.

Intertitles were recreated from flash titles contained within the camera negative, as well as a 16mm film from 1935, sourced from the Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum of Film and Television in Berlin.

Digital restoration was performed by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna."

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 54.6 GB

Feature: 53.3 GB

The source looks excellent for a film of this vintage, especially considering its age and the available materials to work with. Image clarity, contrast, and black levels are strong; there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 33.1 GB

Feature: 22.4 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5 (All Audio Tracks)

This release comes with the following audio options for 4K UHD and Blu-ray: a DTS-HD 5.1 track with music by Jeff Beal, a DTS-HD stereo track with music by Jeff Beal, a DTS-HD stereo track with the 2014 orchestral score, and an audio description for the vision-impaired. There is one more audio track, a DTS-HD stereo track with music by Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, only on the Blu-ray disc. There are German intertitles that come with removable English subtitles. Range-wise, all of the audio tracks sound excellent.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with composer Jeff Beal.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include restoration demonstration 1 (1 minute 17 seconds, no sound), restoration demonstration 2 (2 minutes 42 seconds, no sound), a documentary titled Caligari: How Horror Came to the Cinema (52 minutes 52 seconds, DTS-HD stereo German with non-removable English subtitles) and an audio commentary with composer Jeff Beal.

Other extras include reversible cover art and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Robert Wiene directed The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. He’s known for Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire, Crime and Punishment, The Hands of Orlac and Panic in Chicago.

A somnambulist named Cesare is hypnotized by a man named Dr. Caligari, who forces him to commit a series of murders.

Before horror cinema became a product predominately geared towards the youth, there were films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari that transcended all audience demographics. Upon its release, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari set a standard that future horror films have followed. Its eerie advertising campaign included chilling lines such as, "You must become Caligari."

To appreciate The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, one must fully put into context when filmmakers made it. Germany was going through a massive change after World War I and with the change, they had just formed a new republic, leading to a creative freedom that would produce some of the most iconic and memorable films to ever grace the silver screen. Notable films from this era, known as German Expressionism, are The Golem: How He Came into the World, Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror, The Last Laugh, Metropolis, and M.

Saying that the narrative and the way things unfold are told in an unconventional way would be an understatement. It begins with a scene with two men sitting on a bench and one of the men tells the other man a story about a man named Dr. Caligari. The narrative then shifts to the story being told by the man. When he reaches the end of his tale, it prompts you to question everything you have witnessed up to that moment. Revealing much more would spoil The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari's climax for those who have yet to see it.

All around the performances are excellent, especially Conrad Veidt (The Man Who Laughs), who portrays Cesare, Dr. Caligari’s sleepwalking assassin. His performance relies solely on a presence and he delivers in spades. Other performances of note are Werner Krauss’ (Tartuffe) scene-stealing portrayal of Dr. Caligari and Friedrich Feher in the role of Francis. Through his character's eyes and memories, the narrative unfolds, showcasing a pitch-perfect portrayal of a man whose circumstances drive him to the brink of insanity.

From a production standpoint, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a film that was ahead of its time, and even over 100 years later, it still looks remarkable for what it was able to achieve. The production design is a textbook example of German Expressionism, and the visuals are filled with symbolism, surrealism, and social commentary. Ultimately, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is not only one of the high watermarks of German Expressionism, it is arguably one of horror cinema’s greatest films.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari gets a first-rate release from Kino Lorber that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a pair of insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer