The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
...ight, Alan is murdered. Francis is distraught, and works with the police to find the killer; Dr. Caligari, once again, is alluded to being the mastermind, and Cesare his puppet. Then, to finalize the guilt, Cesare is shown ready to kill Jane. However, he spares her life, but dies in a field while fleeing from the townspeople. Now, the icing is on the cake. Clearly, Dr. Caligari is responsible for the murders. However, he cleverly escapes, but Francis is hot on his trail. He searches the mental institution, and yet another twist is added: the head director of the asylum is Dr. Caligari! Francis has the police put Dr. Caligari in a straight jacket, and lock him away. Now, the tale begins. Francis is shown as he was in the beginning of the film, telling the story; this time, however, the rest of the setting is revealed. Francis is actually in the straight jacket. Jane is a mental patient, as well as Cesare, who is no longer a somnambulist. And to boot, Dr. Caligari is actually the head of the asylum. This final twist obviously presents many questions, especially concerning the validity of Francis’ story. Did he actually perform these murders for his own benefit, namely Jane? Has Francis always resided at the institution, and the entire story is the ranting of a mad man? Or, better yet, is Dr. Caligari so clever that he turns Francis and Jane insane in order to keep his murderous personality a secret? The frame story definitely adds many other dimensions to the main story, making it extremely open to the individual watcher, and also making it a very intriguing tale. Group B Question 5 The role of a woman is very important in both Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu. In both tales, the women are responsible for the major events that occur. However, in both tales, the women are not directly responsible for the murders, but are the driving forces behind the men that carry out crimes. On the same hand, the men are basically helpless slaves to their manly impulses and urges, killing anyone who gets in the way of their women. In both films, the women were attacked by men. Most importantly, the topic issue is the role of women in these films as being directly responsible for the downfall of the men depicted. In the film Nosferatu, Ellen is portrayed in the typical woman sense, shown playing with a kitten, and loving flowers so much that she would rather them flourish in the wild than die on her table. Nevertheless, Ellen has much power in this movie. She becomes the affection of the vampire Count Orlok, something which may save ...