Iris Talks is a series of post-screening discussions with film professionals on a broad range of topics related to founding Department of Film curator Iris Barry (1895–1969). The inaugural Iris Talk, which takes place after the screening of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, features associate curator Anne Morra in discussion with Laurence Kardish, former senior curator in MoMA’s Department of Film.
The event is followed by a discussion with Laurence Kardish; Piano accompaniment by Ben Model
Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). 1920. Germany. Directed by Robert Wiene. Screenplay by Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer, based on a story by Hans Janowitz. With Conrad Veidt, Lil Dagover, Werner Krauss. 35mm. Silent, with musical accompaniment. German main titles and English intertitles. Approx. 75 min.
“It was for its settings that Caligari was first acclaimed and has remained famous. They are not particularly cinematic and, indeed, hardly anything takes place in the film that could not have been presented identically on a stage. They derive from expressionist paintings, through the settings of expressionist plays and particularly of Der Sturm group, on view in Berlin at that time. The actors, especially Krauss and Veidt, in make-up and in movement alike succeed in harmonizing with this atmosphere of unreality.”