expressionism gave rise to a new approach to com-
position, set design, and directing. The object was to
create a totally unified mise-en-scène that would
increase the emotional impact of the production on
the audience.
Expressionist films were characterized by
extreme stylization in their sets, decor, acting, light-
ing, and camera angles. The grossly distorted,
largely abstract sets were as expressive as the
actors, if not more so. To ensure complete control196 CHAPTER 5 MISE-EN-SCÈNE
12The powerful influence of German Expressionist
design The color design ofThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
influenced many movies, including Dario Argento’s Suspiria
(1977; production designer: Giuseppe Bassan). The plot of this
popular slasher movie concerns Suzy Bannion (Jessica
Harper), a young American ballet student who is studying at
a supposedly prestigious German dance academy. She soon
realizes that life there is not what she expected, for it
includes murders, bizarre behavior, weird apparitions and
noises, and an erratic director and ballet mistress. When
Suzy investigates, she learns that a witches’ coven rules the
house and that they have tagged her for murder. Much like
Caligari, in which Wiene used hand-tinted colors to
externalize emotions, Argento saturated his shots (fifty-seven
years after Caligari) with deep Technicolor reds and blues. In
[1], these colors transform Suzy’s paranoid fears into a
surrealist stage setting. In [2], we see her escape this
claustrophobic mise-en-scène as it collapses around her.