Thinking in Frames: Can Fear Be Moral?

Does horror serve to uphold, or undermine, morality? Why do we find immoral acts we would reject in real life so fascinating? Is an abuse of power by regular people or otherworldly evil the ultimate horror? Arguably the most indulgent, exploitative and paradoxical of genres, horror cinema has long been concerned with exploring our most enduring assumptions on morality and what it means to be human. Join us at Conway Hall for a screening of Robert Wiene’s mysterious and striking film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a seminal work which throws deeper questions of the complexity of moral responsibility and what the horror genre unveils about human nature. At a local carnival in a small German town, hypnotist Dr. Caligari (Werner Kraus) presents the somnambulist Cesare (Conrad Veidt), who can purportedly predict the future of curious fairgoers. But at night, the doctor wakes Cesare from his sleep to enact his evil bidding. A monument of the silent film era and often considered one of the earliest examples of horror in cinema, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari remains a thrilling and innovative work well over a century after its release. This screening is part of Thinking in Frames, a series exploring the big philosophical questions provoked by cinema and will be followed by an interactive discussion unpacking the film’s themes.