The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

The plot of Caligari is a frame narrative that begins with Francis sitting in a courtyard with another character. The two see a seemingly mesmerized woman (Jane) walk by, inspiring Francis to tell the story of some recent, strange events. The movie then moves to the inner story, set in a fictional North German town, into which a fair has recently moved. With the fair come Dr. Caligari and his spectacle: a somnambulist (sleepwalker) named Cesare who, in a dreamlike trance, can prophetically answer questions. Before he is allowed to perform, Caligari must obtain a license from the arrogant town clerk, who laughs at Caligari about his show. The next morning, this clerk is found stabbed to death.

Francis and his friend Alan attend the fair and step into Caligari’s tent, where they observe Cesare, in a trance, step out of a cabinet and answer questions from the audience. Alan excitedly asks Cesare how long he has to live, to which Cesare replies, “Until Dawn.” When dawn comes, Alan is discovered dead, stabbed just like the clerk. This causes Francis to suspect Caligari and Cesare.

Francis’s investigations into Caligari prove unfruitful, although a copycat killer, who claims he is not the sought-after murder, is caught in the act of trying to kill a woman. Though this man is in custody, Francis remains suspicious of Caligari and returns in the night to peer through the window of Caligari’s wagon, where he observes the somnambulist asleep in his box. At the same time, Cesare is in Jane’s room, with a knife poised to stab her, but, struck by her beauty, decides instead to carry her away, pursued by her awoken father and other citizens of the town. Cesare eventually drops Jane and dies of exhaustion. Jane later insists that it was Cesare who attacked her, though Francis swears he saw the sleepwalker asleep in Caligari’s wagon.

To further investigate, Francis and a couple of police officers search Caligari’s wagon and discover that the Cesare in