Film Devouring Film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’s influence on Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (directed by Robert Wiene) is considered by many film historians to be one of the first horror movies ever made. Wiene’s film was produced in 1920 amidst the postwar gloom that surrounded Germany at the time of its creation. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the quintessential German Expressionist films drawing on the need for extreme visuals to express dark, human emotions. Is it for this reason that Wiene’s film makes such brilliant use of chiaroscuro, makeup and mise-en-scene that is distorted, jagged and claustrophobic to the point where gloom is permeated throughout the film, from the character’s clothing to the shape of furniture, buildings, windows and faces.  Similarly, in Tim Burton’s adaptation of the Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Burton employs the same expressionistic style that conveys a similar gloom onto the city of London. Burton’s work in the film is clearly influenced by the early works of German Expressionism like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.  In its make-up, mise-en-scene, lighting, clothing,  theatricality and thematic content, both The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, have expressionist elements within them that deal with the darker side of human emotion and Burton’s adaptation of the Broadway musical can be viewed as an artistic homage to Wiene’s disturbing silent film.

                                   As Ian Roberts denotes in his essay, Caligari Revisited: Circles, Cycles and Counter-Revolution in Robert Wiene’s Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari, “The German preoccupation with mise-en-scene and lighting in particular established these movies [German Expressionist movies] as a template others would seek to emulate” (175).  Burton has the same preoccupation in that he is deliberate in his use of mise-en-scene and lighting in order to display an aesthetic that resembles that of early German expressionists. The use of make-up in Burton’s film is similar to its use in The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari in that both Sweeney Todd (played by Johnny Depp) and Mrs. Lovett (played by Helena Bonham-Carter), the protagonists of the film, have abnormally pale faces with dark circles surrounding their eyes. This make-up makes them seen corpse-like which serves to indicate their inherent gloom and darkness of character. In The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari we have the abnormally pale face of Cesare particularly emphasized in the first close-up of his face as he is about to open his eyes for the audience at the fair. The white make-up makes Cesare look corpse-like but it also psychologically allows the audience to attach connotations of doom and death to his face, a similar effect that Burton employs.  Yet, make-up is just a small part of the elaborate design that the mise-en-scene presents in both films.

                                   In The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari we see the backdrop of the town, streets, houses, windows and even the furniture distorted and warped in angular and unusual shapes. Many critics, such as Siegfried Kracauer, have attributed this set design to the unusual and distorted times that Germany was facing historically after the end of the First World War (Roberts, 177). German Expressionists, therefore, turned toward their darker, more extreme emotions in order to reflect the unstable and gloomy time Germany was to face politically and economically. In the film the jagged and sometimes illogical mise-en-scene serves to express the mind’s eye of the protagonist, Francis, as the audience discovers his apparent insanity. Once his insanity is realized, the audience begin to witness everything that they have been shown up to this point, the weirdly shaped windows and

A world shaped to the emotional aspects of the film

curved walls, as an outward expression of the psychological instability of the protagonist from which most of the story is told. This tenet of illustrating the inner psychological dimensions of a character through the environment is what the German Expressionists were well known for. Similarly, in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, we see the dark and grimy world of industrial London lay bare before our eyes. The mise-en-scene therefore, like that of Wiene’s film, is adapted to express the inner turmoil of Sweeney Todd as well as to posit a socio-political commentary on the Industrial Age. For example, there is a scene in Burton’s film where Mr. Todd looks into a shattered mirror; the mirror itself serving as a metaphor for Todd’s shattered character and perspective. Again, in Burton’s film there is a fast-tracking shot that traces the journey of Todd to his former barber shop. In this scene, Burton shows us the inner world of London revealing rats, drunkards, a homeless man, everyday laborers, the court building and a brothel. All these images are shown to us in heavy shadow and illustrate the filth of London’s inner city. Burton does this not only to establish setting for the film but to begin constructing Sweeney’s reasoning as to why he believes everyone in London should die. This fast-tracking shot is also used to introduce the audience to the social-ills plaguing the city and foregrounds the further critique on industrial society that the film will develop.  In the settings of each film the environment is deliberately made to appear menacing in order to emulate the horror that is to come in the narrative. In Wiene’s film, the background of the town is restrictive and encroaching, this is especially prevalent in the scene where Jane seeks out Dr. Caligari and wanders through the town’s streets. In this scene, the sharp buildings literally hover over her, foreshadowing her eminent entrapment by Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist. The fast-tracking shot in Burton’s film serves a similar purpose in establishing this menacing atmosphere.

The shattered person reflected in the mirror. 

                                   The atmosphere of both films is largely attributed to its lighting. As Roberts notes, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari “…utilizes a highly artificial form of chiaroscuro in which images of light and dark are rendered by two-dimensional painted backdrops…”(182). This heavy chiaroscuro creates dramatic facial expressions and covers figures in shadow, making them seem more malevolent. In Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, we see the low-key lighting of the mise-en-scene produce a grim atmosphere where pervasive grey and blue colors permeate the scenes of London. The viewer is then startled when Burton cuts to scenes from the past or imagined scenes of the future which are deliberately imbued with bright, pastel colors and high-key lighting. Burton does this in order to convey the message that the past and future carry more life than the present that Mr. Todd and Mrs.  Lovett find themselves in. Here Burton, while drawing on the characteristically low-key lighting of the German Expressionist era, utilizes color saturation and high-key lighting to create a visual contrast that imparts its own meaning.

                                 

The villain, Cesare, moves with an inhuman quality, further unnerving the audience. 

  Along with lighting comes the added dimension of costume design which is integral in any film wishing to stay true to its setting but also its filmic inspiration. In The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari most of the characters wear dark clothing which serves to highlight the gloomy nature of the film. Dr. Caligari, in particular, sports a top hat and a cape that hangs down to the floor. Both his top hat and cape are pitch black, illustrating his malevolence while also indicating his authority as the narrative reveals him to be the head psychiatrist of the mental hospital. It is also pertinent to note that Dr. Caligari’s cape hides his actual physical dimension, making him seem almost supernatural and indeed in Francis’s unstable mind he becomes a supernatural entity. Characters like Jane wear white suggesting her innocence and purity which serves to elaborate on her allure to both Dr. Caligari and Cesare. In Burton’s film clothing is just as important in indicating purity, malevolence and character dimension. Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett’s wear black and grey clothing, which appears dusty. This indicates their dark nature but also their socio-economic status. Johanna, Mr. Todd’s daughter, is seen wearing a white dress and then a blue one, denoting her purity but also her melancholy in being trapped in judge Turpin’s house. In both films we see elaborate costume design as an important dimension of mis-en-scene, used to create disturbing character personas as well as hint at deeper psychological structures.

                                  

Insanity brilliantly displayed by Johnny Depp 

A further layer added to the atmosphere of gloom and dread is the element of theatricality that is prevalent in both films. In The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari we see the actors/actresses involved in huge, articulate gestures as well as using the whites of their eyes to show shock and horror at what they discover as the narrative unfolds. While we can attribute this to the fact that these actors/actresses were involved in the silent era where theatricality was still a much needed element of acting, we can still see the effects of expressionism on the acting style of those involved in early German film. For example, the famous scene where Cesare creeps into Jane’s room and walks alongside the wall in a distorted and inhuman way is illustrative of the influence expressionism had on every aspect of the film-making process.  German Expressionism, therefore, added an extra layer of theatricality to an already theatrical silent film era, thus staying true to its goals in seeking radical and amplified emotions. Similar theatrical acting and filmic material is employed in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street where we see the excessive use of squirting blood as Todd goes about killing his victims. This over-the-top use of blood serves to illustrate the excessive violence perpetuated by Sweeney. Another instance of theatricality is found in the musical element of the film as Todd goes through the streets singing about killing his customers. This scene, which takes place in Todd’s mind’s eye, not only adds to the theatricality of the film but also illustrates Todd’s mental instability through its constant changing of melody in the song he sings.

                                   Apart from the technical elements of the film, both Burton and Wiene’s film contain similar thematic content which comments on the nature of anarchy and anti-authoritarian movements. In Wiene’s film we see the protagonist, Francis, rebel against the head psychiatrist, Dr.  Caligari, a clear message of rebellion against authoritarian institutions, but then this rebellion is degraded through the revelation of Francis’s apparent madness. Critics, like Siegfried Kracaucer, have argued that Wiene’s directorial influence in making Francis insane degraded the message of anti-authoritarian rule and anarchy (Roberts, 175). Yet, as Roberts argues, Wiene’s influence rather highlighted the cyclical nature of reaction and counter-revolution that became a pattern of German history, thus deepening the film’s potential for political and historical commentary. Roberts asserts that, “For the Weimar cinema-goer, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari served as a terrifying vision of reaction and counter-revolution” (186). In a similar sense, Burton’s film contains messages of anarchy and anti-authoritarian rule. In the film we are shown the inherent corruption of the judicial system of London in the persona of judge Turpin, who imprisons the former Benjamin Barker to acquire his wife and who sentences young, homeless kids to death. Through the murderous actions of Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett we witness their rebellion against a society that is bound by the evils of industrialization, corrupt judges, and class struggle that places insignificant value on human life and human relationships. A sense of anarchy is particularly felt in the scene where Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett decide to kill people and make pies out of their flesh. When Mr. Todd sings “Its man devouring man my dear,” we are called to recognize this song as an anthem of the oppressed. By choosing to use human beings as raw material for profit Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett decide to use the capitalist teachings of “man devouring man” in order to prosper. Their giving in to capitalist pursuits is rather a rebellion against a system of class division that keeps them poor, as Mr. Todd sings, “How gratifying that once to know that those above will serve those down below.”  Similarly, in Wiene’s film, Francis’s madness does not detract from the message of being suspicious of authoritarian institutions which seek to control you as Dr. Caligari controls Cesare and usurps upon Francis’s wracked psyche.

                                   The endings of both films are of particular interest in the use of cyclical imagery. In The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Roberts argues that the use of iris-out and iris-in reinforces the circular motif in the film (185). Also, Francis stands in the middle of a spiral pattern in the psychiatric institution twice in the film, when he seemingly overthrows Caligari and again when it is revealed that Francis is mad (185). Roberts denotes that, “Wiene’s artful mixing of cyclical and circular imagery amongst all the Expressionist angles serves to accentuate the film’s warning that power-mongers do inevitably reassert their supremacy” (186). Here, we see Wiene’s attempt at making subtle political commentary on the nature of Germany’s political landscape. Similarly, there is a cyclical nature to Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. At the start of the film we are presented with a multitude of animated images, amongst these being the circular face of the meat grinder along with the circular cogs of the machinery that operates Mr. Todd’s barber chair. In these opening sequences blood runs from Mr. Todd’s barber into what is presumably the Thames River. This running of blood at the start of the film is then reinforced at the end of the film, as the camera hones in on Todd’s blood running over his wife’s dead body. It is also interesting to note that a narrative cycle is at play in the film as well, as the older characters that were involved in Todd’s past or immediate present are killed off. It is only the young (Toby, Anthony and Johanna) who narrowly survive the murderous ordeal.  It is possible that another cycle of murder is hinted at when the Toby cuts the throat of Mr. Todd. Here, the young, innocent boy is made into a killer, his eyes and face visually mirroring that of Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett. Clearly, a loss of innocence has occurred and the film’s cyclical nature indicates that murder and human degradation will not abate with the killing of Sweeney Todd.

Mr Lovett suffering for her deceit 

                        The story of Caligari and Sweeny Todd both have twist endings to them, endings that leave the viewer asking questions about the narrative. Michael Budd states in his essay, Retrospective Narration in Film: Re-reading “The Cabinet of Dr. Caliagri”, that Caligari’s narrative “…throws into question the status of truth-value of what had come before by revealing that its protagonist-narrator is mad”(35). This madness that Francis experiences stems from an obsession with the head psychiatrist of the institution where he is a patient. Francis, therefore, is blinded by his obsession unable to separate reality from apparent fantasy. In Sweeney Todd’s case, his obsession with killing judge Turpin and enacting revenge on all of London drives him into a type of madness which sees no one exempt from his murderous rampage. The nature of truth is further placed into question when Mrs. Lovett reveals that she lied about Sweeney’s wife’s death. One could argue that Todd’s obsession with revenge blinded him in seeing his own wife before him as she asks him “Don’t I know you sir”. By the end of both films, the viewer must take a retrospective reading of the narrative as Budd argues, “…the active reading mentioned above is necessitated by the revelation near the end of the film that Francis is mad; the subject/viewer is thereby motivated to re-evaluate his/her experience in the light of new information”(37). Here, we see a retrospective reading is required in both narratives in order to separate the truth from misrepresented truth. Though, Caligari’s retrospective reading requires more from viewers than Todd’s as the viewer is called to separate madness from sanity. Sweeney Todd’s retrospective reading calls for viewers to examine the places in the film where the homeless woman (who is in fact Todd’s wife) shows herself.  The truth of Mrs. Lovett’s lies gives reason as to why she detests the homeless woman, for she fears that she will lose Mr. Todd if he realizes that his wife is still alive.  By employing expressionistic elements in both films, viewers are taken into the psyche of the protagonist which distorts reality according to their own perspective. Hence in both films, viewers are left exposed to twist endings when what is actually true finally emerges. By the end of both films, viewers are thrust out of the protagonist’s psyche into the real world of disillusion.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has had enormous influence on the way filmmakers choose to represent setting, character and mis-en-scene. It also inspired directors to create movies from fresh perspectives that are disturbing and that probe the darker parts of the human mind.  Tim Burton draws from Wiene’s film and transforms a story about a murderous barber into an aesthetically melancholic film that is about love, jealously, obsession, madness, poverty, revenge and the corrupt side of Industrial London. As every facet of Wiene’s film reflects the underlying emotions and fears of its characters, so does Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street impart an elaborate, holistic picture of a world ensnared by dark and menacing emotions.

Works Cited

Budd, Michael. "Retrospective Narration in Film: Re-Reading "The Cabinet of Dr.             Caligari." Film Criticism 4.1 (1979): 35-43. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Mar.             2016.

Roberts, Ian. "Caligari Revisited: Circles, Cycles And Counter-Revolution In Robert Wiene's           Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari." German Life & Letters 57.2 (2004): 175-187. Academic            Search Premier. Web. 2 Mar. 2016

Why Shameless is one of the best shows on Television.

If you haven’t heard of the hit TV series Shameless then where on Earth have you been? The US TV series, adapted from the British version, has been running for seven seasons with each season bringing to light fresh and interesting issues for its main characters to face. The series follows a dysfunctional family living in the South side of Chicago on the fringes of poverty and destitution.

The patriarch of the family, Frank Gallagher is an all-out alcoholic and drug addict who does not take care of his family but instead leaves his kids (Fiona, Debbi, Lip, Ian, Carl and Liam) to fend for themselves. Throughout the first six seasons we see Fiona, the eldest sister, take charge of the family responsibilities and attempt to take care of her family while each sibling goes through their own self-actualization. This short review will attempt to frame each character of the family in the broader context of the show while also revealing why the show is so alluring and just down right intoxicating in the way it chooses to tackle the most taboo issues in our contemporary age.

We start off with the care-taker of the family, Fiona, who leads the charge of the Gallagher’s as they attempt to survive a life of poverty. Throughout the first six seasons we see Fiona go from one chaotic relationship to another, depending in some way on the lover that she is with for a sense of belonging and emotional support. As the care-taker of the family Fiona has barely any time for herself or even any sense of a career. She cheated on a good corporate guy with his bad ass brother, she’s left cocaine out for her baby brother to snort, she’s went to jail and survived addiction and recently dated a drug addict who break her heart at the wedding altar. Yet, still Fiona carries on and in this new season has taken a dramatic turn in that she chooses to no longer be the care-taker of everyone else but rather to focus on herself and her own career goals. She encapsulates the Shameless version of the modern woman, hooking up on Tinder without any emotional ties while driving hard to make some semblance of a career for herself.

Then we have Lip. The chosen one of the family. The one with the brains to succeed yet his circumstances and his environment enforce an attitude of apathy and at times down-right recklessness in the face of his promising future. While Lip and Fiona both wish to escape their family responsibilities they also feel a powerful duty to take care of the Gallagher family in a way that Frank (the father) cannot or will not. Lip has his own share of problems, from battling alcoholism to sleeping with a college professor and getting expelled. A recent development may see Lip turn to internet fraud to make money, a decision which could lead to some disastrous consequences. Lip represents what happens to individuals with higher than normal intellect who either get lost in the system or who cannot reach their inner potential because of the way they have been brought up or the hidden ideologies that are embedded in their character.

 Ian, one of my favorite characters, has grown from season one as a shy homosexual into a paramedic with bipolar and a potentially transsexual boyfriend waiting in the wings for him. With Ian we the semblance of Monica, his mother and Frank’s ex-wife, come through simply because he inherited her bi-polar tendencies. Ian has gone from the military to being a go-go boy at a gay club, to being in a mental hospital and finally finding some stability in a paramedic job that he is especially good at. Ian is an important character for the show because he is the presence of the LGBT experience. Ian’s character reveals how LGBT people experience poverty and how this poverty affects the LGBT experience.  In the recent season we see him face a host of intellectual and personal challenges as he learns about intersectional sexualities and the wide spectrum of sexual expression that exists. In this way the show includes a side of the human experience that is seen as taboo but also is very necessary to explore and represent accurately on TV.

Debbie has gone from the innocent young girl to a sexually awakened young woman who soon learns the real way of the world. She becomes pregnant and decides to keep the baby, a decision that has caused a rift between Fiona and her. The father of the child (a young high school boy) has left her to fend for herself and in her desperation she turned momentarily to stealing prams and mommy clothes to get by. Debbie represents for me how the circumstances of poverty can twist even the most innocent of people to accept their circumstance and do what is supremely necessary to survive. Though everyone at every turn suggests that she becomes a prostitute (i.e Frank and the Russian bartender Svetlana) she holds to a kind of moral code that seems to prevent her from ever becoming such a character.

Carl is the bad boy of the family. The one no one sees any future in other than possibly landing up in jail. But as Carl goes from being a drug dealer, to selling guns at school and eventually having his first girlfriend he begins to see what he is actually lacking in life: a father figure to show him how to be a man. This is a journey of manhood that Carl must walk alone as he attempts to enter military school to learn how to be a man. Carl’s presence in the show deals with issues of masculinity and how our conception of manhood and owning your “ish” can lead to some positive effects on youth who are seen as delinquent or lost to the never-ending cycle of poverty. It becomes interesting then to note how the issue of poverty and masculinity link up in the show. If we see poverty as a emasculating tool of oppression then we must seek to look at how we are perceiving masculinity and how characters in shows such as Shameless view their own masculinity. This is a further topic of exploration for a later date.

Liam, while not saying much in seven seasons, represents the ultimate innocence in the show. This innocence is surrounded by sex, drugs and poverty and it is this environment that makes Liam character all the more striking because it contrasts his fragile state as a baby boy but also brings to light the experience of babies in such circumstances and how they learn from their surroundings.

 Shameless is a successful show because of the issues that it deals with. It takes a family and puts them through the most hellish of situations and tests their faculties to see how far a human being can be pushed in such dire circumstances of economic oppression. From dealing with issues from gentrification to prostitution, drug smuggling, homelessness, sexual fluidity, social media hookups, crime, heartbreak, lies, growing up, mental illness, addiction and many more nuanced issues we as viewers are not only made to feel aware of our immense privileged positions in society, but we are also challenged and enticed by the taboo. This concept of taboo makes us unsettled yet also allows us to tap into that dark side of our own nature and enjoy vicariously the craziness that the Gallagher family get up to. It is darkly comical to see people pushed to do absurd things to survive in a Capitalist system hell bent on making as much money as humanly possible. Yet also there is a touch of humanity and liberation to see these characters rise above their circumstances, find love, deal with their addictions and mental flaws and still hold on to the bond of family that exists between each other.  Though Frank may be the devil in the show, he seems to be the necessary devil that the family bond around and that pushes each and every one of the Gallagher siblings into a frantic state of self-becoming.