Abstract

Inspired by the work of Eric Santner on political theology and the king’s two bodies, in this paper, I question the political theology of film. I analyze how the carnal dimension of sovereignty, migrates into a new body, the body of the people, and in various traces appears in the filmic mode of production that marked the twentieth century. I analyse or instead bring into imaginary connection two characters who in a way embody this migration: Judge Daniel Paul Schreber, occupied the attention not only of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts but also of various theorists) and Dr. Caligari, a hypnotist in the film The Office of Dr. Caligari, one of the most famous characters of German expressionist film.