The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari + Un Chien andalou

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Delusion, deception and fear are wrought into the very design of this early horror from Robert Wiene.

  • Director

    Robert Wiene

  • With

    Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover

  • Germany 1920. 77min

  • Digital

  • Certificate

    U

  • English subtitles

  • With recorded score

Franzis encounters the mysterious and menacing Dr. Caligari at a carnival as he’s showing off his clairvoyant somnambulist. By the following morning the hypnotised man’s prediction of Franzis’ friend’s death has come to pass... Delusion, deception and fear are wrought into the very design of this early horror, as drunkenly askew streets, crooked buildings and twisted landscapes express the subjectivity of a deranged mind.

Also available on BFI Player.

+ Un Chien andalou

France 1929. Dir Luis Buñuel. With Simone Mareuil, Pierre Batcheff, Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel. 16min. 15

A young woman’s eye is sliced open by a razor. What ensues dispenses with plot and chronological coherence in favour of a ‘dream logic’ that offers a playful and anarchic assault on authority and convention. It’s hard to overstate the formative impact that Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s collaboration had on the development of cinema.

Screening on Saturday 15 January only:

+ Inside Cinema: David Bowie

Little Dot Studios-BBC 2021. 6min

A short video essay exploring Bowie’s fascination with the silver screen, by BFI season programmer Rhidian Davis.