Modernism’s Relation to Early Film
In The Cabinet of Caligari women are portrayed in a way that matches up with Modernism concepts. Dr. Olsen’s daughter is kidnapped and the men quickly hurry to rescue her. This scene shows how Dr. Caligari makes no attempts to resist savagery, in film men often must come to the rescue of women, and the savagery exemplifies why there are boundaries and standards in the world.
Dr. Olson’s daughter, Jane, puts herself on Dr. Caligari’s radar when she comes looking for her father. Caligari is using a sleepwalking man, Cesare, to commit murders in the town. Jane goes searching for her father, for no reason other than her curiosity and anxiety, and gets herself in trouble for it. In Modernism, searching for answers can be dangerous as one can see glimpses into the savage world, as Jane does with Caligari and Cesare. As we’ve seen over and over in this course, such as in Heart of Darkness, the savage world is truly too much for a civilized person to handle and leads to many problems. In this case, even though she wasn’t directly searching for knowledge on savagery, Jane’s inquiry helps get her kidnapped. Jane is kidnapped from her sleep. In Modernism sleep is often associated with being g able to see the truth as well as viewing one’s hopes, fears, and desires. While it’s impossible to know what Jane was dreaming about she is quickly awakened into a quick nightmare. However, this “nightmare” helps the truth about Caligari soon become known. Cesare chooses to kidnap Jane because much like in Modernism, his sexual desires for Jane are too strong. In Modernism sex and desire are both very strong and common motifs. When Cesare kidnaps Jane, the men hear Jane’s screams and quickly awaken and follow in pursuit. This scene follows a typical theme the movies of the time, the men saving a damsel in distress. In early 1900’s movies, women were portrayed as helpless and naïve. Men on the other hand were portrayed as strong and heroic. This portrayal goes against gender roles that go along with Modernism. In Modernism women often tried to escape into the savage world, such as with the flapper movement. During the early 1900’s women sought to take advantage of their independence. Feminism was very much on the rise during this time and women were often seen as wild and having no restraints. The portrayal of gender roles goes against the gender roles associated with Modernism. Dr. Caligari does not abide to the social and cultural norms of society. Caligari is obsessed with becoming “Caligari”, an 11th century Italian man who used a somnambulist named Cesare to commit murders. Caligari is clearly mad and this madness leads him to live in the savage world. Caligari comes across as strange, but he is able to come across as fairly normal to the public. However, Caligari becomes so obsessed with becoming “Caligari” that people start to suspect there is something off about him. He is a man that lives without any boundaries or restrictions. His actions show why we have these restrictions and how dangerous living this way is as he commits heinous crimes. Caligari’s mask begins to slip up and it helps lead to people finding out the truth about him. It is hard to find where escaping or living in the savage world has led to anything other than bad things. Some examples of the savage world that come to mind are war, imperialism, and crime. The scene where Jane is kidnapped be Cesare is very representative of many concepts found in Modernism. The scene includes men coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress, a man in Caligari who is without boundaries and standards that is completely immersed in the savage world, and the problems savagery leads to.