Visions of Madness and Myth: Caligari and Siegfried

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) is an uncanny psychological drama famed for jagged, implausible Expressionist sets. The Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924), Fritz Lang’s adaptation from the Nibelungenlied, looks like illuminated manuscripts come to life. On an epic scale, it moves from first guilt to final destiny. We will analyze and discuss both films with clips. It’s not required but recommended: Please watch the films beforehand on YouTube.

Donald Gluck, PhD, was an aerospace engineer. For eleven years he taught classic and foreign films for The Institute for LifeLong Learning for New Mexicans. At Renesan he taught “American Actresses in Early European Cinema.”