Tim Burton returned to German Expressionism for Batman Returns, specifically mining The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari for the visual language of psychological distortion. The Penguin's warped posture, the gothic architecture of Gotham that seems to move independently of physics, the shadows that are darker than black—Burton cited Wiene's film as proof that design itself could be a character. Burton showed his crew Caligari before pre-production. The twisted, oppressive world of Gotham is Expressionism made flesh.
Films That Influenced Batman Returns
