Wiene, Robert (1881–1938)

German film director. His reputation rests solely on a single film, the exceptional psychological horror film Das Kabinett des Dr Caligari/The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919). Its stylized expressionist design suggests a disturbed world in which the story of murder and madness takes place.

Wiene was born in Sasku, Germany, and started out as a stage actor. He entered films as a scriptwriter in 1914, making his directorial debut later the same year. Although Caligari had an enormous impact on German and Hollywood horror, Wiene's subsequent films were unremarkable. He died in Paris during the shooting of Ultimatum (1938).

His other films include Crime and Punishment (1923), I.N.R.I. (1923), Orlacs Hande/The Hands of Orlac (1924; named Mad Love in the USA), and Der Rosenkavalier/The Rose Cavalier (1926).