Tim Burton told production designer Anton Furst to build Gotham from a single image—Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). The twisted walls, oppressive shadows, architecture that threatens its inhabitants—this is Weimar anxiety translated into Gotham. German Expressionism isn't decoration here. It's the psychology of the city itself.
I've always been drawn to the look of old black and white movies, German Expressionism, old horror films... Batman was a great opportunity to explore that.
— Tim Burton · Burton on Burton by Mark Salisbury
Films That Influenced Batman
