Screened/ Silent Night: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with live accompaniment
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
Screened/ MCR host a special, festive evening in celebration of silent cinema. There will be a screening of The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari, silent shorts, speakers and a live accompainment.
The team behind this monthly film night have been putting on great events for a while now – previous evenings have included a screening of Citizen Kane alongside a discussion of Donald Trump and LGBTQ ballroom film Kiki which showed along with a live poetry performance. For this, their ninth outing, Screened/ Mcr are looking back to the early days of cinema with a celebration of silent film at Texture.
The main event is a screening of Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Overwhelming on the big screen, this highly influential gothic masterpiece is one of the most famous films of the silent era. The film tells the story of the wicked hypnotist Dr. Caligari, who manipulates sleepwalker Cesare into committing murders on his behalf. Wiene’s film may be approaching its one hundredth birthday, but viewers will be find expressive shadows, jagged landscapes and an inescapable sense of terror that continues to haunt and impress.
Showing alongside Wiene’s film will be a a pair of silent short films from students at Manchester Metropolitan and as an added bonus, musician Dairius Battiwalla will be on hand to provide live piano accompaniment throughout.
