Cesare - Expressionism

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Cesare – Expressionism. The somnambulist Cesare in Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is by far one of the more interesting screen personalities in early German cinema. Conrad Veidt's portrayal of a peaceful sleepwalker forced to carry out the demented whims of his showmaster is both touching and terrifying, and captures the viewer's attention immediately. Not only are Cesare's gestures, movements, and expressions far more restrained than those of his master Caligari or of his adversary Francis, but these movements show precisely the nature of Cesare's controlled sleeping state. Indeed, Cesare's domination is so total that he is almost never shown moving of his own volition, free of the will of his master Caligari. Through a detailed analysis of Cesare's actions and through a comparison of these actions with those of the other figures in the film, the viewer also becomes aware of certain underlying tensions in the plot, especially those between Francis and Cesare and Jane. Where Francis is shown to be generally hesitant and ineffectual, and Jane to be poised yet emotionally malleable, Cesare presents a strong contrast to both: he is restrained, controlled, and dominated by his master, yet he retains a strong identity and at moments manages even to break through this control. Perhaps the most striking example of Cesare's restraint and eventual release occurs in the sequence showing his abduction of Jane and subsequent fall from the rooftops of Holstenwall. After Jane, her father and Francis are seen coming out of the cemetery after Alan's funeral, the sequence of Jane's abduction begins. First, following the "Night again ..." title, the camera opens on Francis as he sneaks through the empty fairgrounds, attempting to determine more about Caligari's mysterious somnambulist. Significantly, this is precisely the same spot at which the fairgrounds scenes have
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