The mise-en-scene of the 1919 film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and the 1990 film, Edward Scissorhands, are very similar. Each of the movies both have a dark and eerie feel to them. This is expressed through similar setting, characters, costumes, makeup, lighting, and camera movements. These are the elements that make up the mise-en-scene of any movie. They are especially used a lot during these two specific ones. Without these mise-en-scene elements, the audience might not understand what is going on as well.
To start out with, the setting itself is a major part in both movies, The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari and Edward Scissorhands. When looking at the town in The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari from afar, it looks like a piece of artwork with a bunch of angular buildings. Nothing seems to look normal. In Edward Scissorhands, Edward lives in an old mansion. When looking at this mansion from afar, it looks like the town in Caligari. Both, of which don't look like ideal places to live. They are dark and scary. The setting in both movies does not always look this. When given a closer view of the town, in Caligari, it looks pleasant and even friendly in some ways. Also, in Scissorhands, past Edward's mansion is a suburban style area. These suburbs are very bland. All of the houses are somewhat the same with the same boring pastel colors as everyone else. This shows a great contrast between Edwards home and the town below it.
Each of these movies also have their own unique properties to them too. In Caligari, the creators of the film changed the tint of the film throughout it. This is used to represent day and night. Since movies back then weren't in color yet, they had to work with what they had to make the movie seem as realistic as possible to the audiences. In Edward Scissorhands, the movie jumps back in time to show Edward's life before he had met the family and everyone else in the town. This was a great choice made by the makers of this film. It shows us his story without him having to tell it himself. These were just two examples of the uniqueness of those two films, but there is plenty more about them than meets the eye. Neither one is just an ordinary film. They both have very distinct and different mise-en-scene from a lot of other movies out there.
