Silents are silent no more

St James Cavalier will be bringing classics of silent cinema to light with an exciting new series of events that is both quaint and unique. Starting with The Cabinet of Dr Caligari – an Expressionist masterpiece and the inspiration for the character design of Edward Scissorhands – next Wednesday (October 27) at 19:30, the cinema will screen the film with improvisations by a live musician – in this case, pianist Kris Spiteri.

The events will remind enthusiasts – as well as those new to the genre – that calling silent films ‘silent’ is something of a misnomer anyway. Back in the day, movie theatres and other dream palaces provided pianists, wurlitzers, and other sound machines, and some films were produced with complete musical scores. Most early silents were accompanied with a full-fledged orchestra, organist or pianist to provide musical background and to underscore the narrative on the screen. Some even had live actors or narrators.
This series brings you back some of the greatest silent movies accompanied by some of Malta’s top musicians performing in a variety of styles from classical to jazz to techno.

For a film that is almost 90 years old, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari has a power to unsettle and disturb that is pretty astonishing. Directed by Robert Wiene, this silent classic is widely considered to be one of the first true horror films, and is one of the high points in German Expressionistic silent film. It also has an amazing, bizarre look and style that probably inspired countless filmmakers.

Like Nosferatu, Metropolis, King Kong and other early sci-fi/fantasy/horror films, the exact influence that The Cabinet of Dr Caligari has had on the history of film is probably immeasurable. The film centres around the young Francis (Friedrich Feher) who tells a story to another man regarding the sinister Dr Caligari (the wonderfully expressive Werner Krauss) and his somnambulist henchman Cesare (the silent film star Conrad Veidt). Francis believes that Dr. Caligari and Cesare are behind the murder of Alan (played by Hans Heinrich von Twardowski), Francis’ friend. Things get murkier when Cesare kidnaps Francis’ young love Jane (played by Lil Dagover). The sequence where Cesare abducts Jane is justifiably famous, and the moment where he plucks her out of her bed is still chilling after all of these years. Most films are lucky to have one memorable villain – this film has two.

The visual look of this film is astounding. The backgrounds are not realistic, but rather a nightmarish, unsettling landscape of twisting shapes and jagged edges. The Internet Movie Database reveals that the sets were made out of paper, with the shadows painted on the walls. All in all, none can say that the film doesn’t boast a unique look.

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari also feels ahead of its time in regards to the ending, which could probably be considered a ‘twist’. It’s unusual for a silent film to have an ending that makes the audience question the film they’ve just witnessed. This is a horror film, of course, but one that has psychological depth… partly of the reason why it has resonated with so many audiences over so many years.

The musician
Kris Spiteri has been performing as a singer/pianist in Malta since the age of 14. He acquired an A.T.C.L in Solo Piano, a B.A. Hons in music studies specialising in Performance, and also obtained the PGCE degree in Music Education from the University of Malta. In 2005, Spiteri was commissioned by St James Cavalier to compose seven non-religious pieces inspired by the last seven words of Jesus Christ.  The work was performed in the Passiontide Festival of that same year and repeated in 2006. Spiteri was also one of the Maltese artists to play in the Malta Jazz Festival 2006, performing some of his original works along with the band Noir. Spiteri has also released the singles Deflower me from Society and Merry-go-round as a solo artist which also made it to the charts of some local radio stations. He currently performs with the local bands Rug, Kite and The Residents.

In 2008 Kris joined Boris Cezek and Malcolm Galea in forming a production house called Indiskarf. Their first collaboration gave birth to an original musical entitled Porn – The Musical. The show took Malta by storm and attracted the attention of Sir Cameron Mackintosh who offered financial assistance to take the show further. A shorter version (70 mins) of the show was then staged for a second time in Malta in an open-air theatre in July 2009. Following this, the musical had a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2009, in which the show was nominated for the Best New Musical award. Most recently, the show was staged at the Theatre503 in London with a West End Cast between April 7 and May 1 2010. Ever since its first staging, this musical has garnered many local and foreign reviews, including a critic’s choice from Time Out London. Spiteri’s contribution to this musical was as a composer/ lyricist alongside Cezek, and as the Musical Director for all the three productions.

In December of 2009, Spiteri, thanks to Fm Productions, was also the Musical Director of a Maltese Production of Hairspray the Musical, which also included nine professional cast members from the West End. Later on this year he will also be the musical director of this year’s Pantomime at the Manoel Theatre.