Nosferatu
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Movie Reviews of Nosferatu
Movie Review: Eine Symphonie Des Grauens
Summary: 5 Stars
(This review is for the Eureka version available in Australia)A horror film nowadays is a genre film, generally not meant to be taken seriously. That is fine. But "Nosferatu" is a quite different type of film.
The film exudes German Expressionist style. While not, perhaps, as breathtaking as the bizzare imagery in Lang's "Metropolis", "Nosferatu"'s imagery is quite unforgettable, and often unsettling.
My favourite scene is not among the famous scenes on board the ship. It is the scene where Hutter/Harker looks out of the door of his room, and sees Nosferatu standing there, stark and stiff, at the other end of the room outside. At first the audience cringes at the sight of Nosferatu unmasked; but the touch of genius is that the frame fades into a zoomed-in version of the same image - and Nosferatu IS STILL STANDING THERE...I think this is the only scene in any vampire film (admittedly I haven't seen many) where it is made symbolically clear that a vampirew is in fact an undead corpse. Nosferatu' stiff movements as he advances on Hutter also make him seem "dead".
There's also, of course, the most famous shot in the film, in which Nosferatu rises from his coffin like a stiff, dry Egyptian mummy. Again Nosferatu is emphasised to be really, really dead, and this is horrifying.
The reactions of Nosferatu's victims are also telling. My favourite is the scene where the captain ties himself to his tiller - then in a closeup we see his reaction to his first dight of Nosferatu. His terror is very underplayed, but since we have already seen the wildly hysterical reaction of his crewman, it is all the more horrible. Then there is the reaction of Hutter/Harker to the vampire, in which he literally grins with fear, then crawls into bed, completely paralysed with horror, looking like a frightened mouse or rabbit.
The "supernatural" quickness or jerkiness assoiated with the vampire is also effective, and somehow works better than the modern special effects in Coppola's film. Everyone knows about the freaky fast carriage that Count Orlok drives - a very very primitive special effect that is still eerie. The jerkiness of the carriage makes it seem, not merely fast, but possessed. There's also the scene where a jerky, superfast Orlok piles up coffins in his cart, then gets into one himself, then causes the coffin lid to jump on top of the coffin. Again, the primitive undercranking/stop motion makes the image jump unnaturally, producing a strange effect.
Nosferatu is a film with many memorable or disturbing images, which seem so original, even by todays standards, that it is no wonder the film is still so famous.
THE DVD - The Eureka edition of the DVD is both good and bad.
Good: The soundtrack by Art Zoyd is modern; but it is much better than it could have been. Admittedly I am not sure about the rap-style music that plays when Nosferatu is carrying his coffin around Wisborg; but aside from that the music is very appropriate, with whining electronic sounds, windy noises, slams, and organ music. The music when Nosferatu is advancing on Hutter is particularly good; the howling, screaming voices when Nosferatu's carriage turns into a "negative image" is also wonderful.
The intertitles are well-translated, though they could be less corny. I would not have translated one intertitle as "it is creepy on the other side of the river"...but who can forget the description of Mr Knock? "He paid his people well...!"
Bad: The CGI intertitles are too technologically slick for the disc, looking too contrived.
The tinting is nice; but for some reason all the scenes have been tinted sepia; the original British cinema release on which this is based had proper tinting, as well as the Art Zoyd soundtrack.
Furthermore this is not a perfect transfer. I admit, Nosferatu will probably never look perfect, thanks to problems with the loss of the negative; but there must be better transfers than this grainy, spotted one.
Overall the Eureka release is OK, and since it's the only version available in AUstralia, I suppose we have no real choice here!
Movie Review: "Your Wife has a Beautiful Neck"
Summary: 5 Stars
The German silent film classic "Nosferatu" was nearly lost to history less than three years after its release in 1922. The movie follows the exact same plot as all other adaptations of Bram Stokers "Dracula", so I won't continue with a review of an already well known story. The film itself has a history that is every bit as interesting as the movie's storyline. The film's director F.W. Murnau, had applied for the rights to the book, as well as the play adaptation, so he could make them into a movie. While waiting for the rights to be accquired, Murnau went ahead with production, changing character names and locations, in the hope that this would get him around the copyright laws. He seemed to know that the rights would never be his, and on a shoestring budget, he rushed from one hugh outdoor set to the next, to complete his masterpiece. Bram Stoker's widow, Florence sued the movie's studio Prana-Film, and won her case. The studio in turn filed bankruptcy, and the film dissappeared from the publics view shortly after its release. Florence Stoker eventually decided to have the court produce an order for the films destruction, which they did, that order included every known copy in existence. However, then, as today, you had people who made pirated copies of the film to keep as their own. And that is the reason this film exists today. It was a movie ordered destroyed because it had pirated its own storyline, but in the end, was saved for later generations by piracy of the movie itself. A true paradox in film history.
The title character is played by a then unknown German actor named Max Schreck, and together with Murnau, they created the most terrifying vampire ever brought to the screen. Nothing in film, has come even remotely close to Schreck's Count Orlok for outright repugnance. Unquestionably, the character remains the ugliest vampire ever created. More animal like than human, Schreck had an overly large, mostly bald head, with pointed ears and a large hooked nose. His hands had extremely long, talon like fingers, that one could actually envision him using while on his unending quest for blood. Fittingly, Schreck's Count was also as pale and skinny as a corpse, a fact which seemed to be at odds with the remarkable, and seemingly effortless feats of strength he was capable of performing. For example, he carries a full sized, dirt filled, wooden coffin from the London docks all the way to his newly accquired home, under one arm, like anyone else might carry a small suitcase. The films other characters almost seem needless once Schreck appears on the screen, in fact, they appear as nothing more than targets of the vampires blood lust, as he travels from his Carpathian home to London. Of course, in the end, good triumphs over evil, and the vampire is killed through a selfless act of love.
Had the film not been kept from the public's view for so long, Schreck would have been a well remembered star in his day, and Murnau would have gotten the recognition he deserved for this film, as it was quite an accomplishment for its time. But that is something he would never see, since he was killed at the age of 43, in a car crash in 1929, only seven years after completing "Nosferatu". Despite all of this, it appears as if his film, like vampires themselves, will have a long and undying history that is already rich in little known details. It remains one of the best silent films ever made; and it will continue to stand on it's own merits, against the test of time.
Movie Review: The definitive DVD version of the definitive vampire film
Summary: 5 Stars
Filmed in 1922, the director F.W. Murnau set out to film an adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. Although he couldn't get the rights to the novel, he pursued filming it anyway, changing the names of the characters and some of the plot points in the process. Stoker's widow sued the makers of Nosferatu for copyright infringement and won. All known prints of the film were destroyed as per the settlement. The German character actor Max Schreck played the vampire (now named Count Orlok) and was ready for international stardom. Since the film didn't make it to the theaters, fame eluded him in his lifetime.Luckily years later, a print surfaced and the reputation of Nosferatu was restored. But why does it get such acclaim? A lot of viewers today find it old and dated, without the shocks and scares of modern gore-fests you currently see in the theaters and video stores. That's a shame because Nosferatu influenced a lot of those movies.
Modern viewers are more used to a "sexy" vampire. Since illicit sex is often the theme in vampire films, it makes more sense to be seduced by an attractive, exotic vampire. Count Orlok doesn't match that description in the least. He is repulsive-looking and resembles a rat.
And yet the underlying sex theme is still there. As it's pointed out on a DVD commentary, Count Orlok is the doppelgänger of Hutter, the male lead. Both vie for the attentions of Ellen. Though she is married to Hutter, she doesn't return his affections as strongly as he gives her. But to save the town, she gives herself freely to the vampire.
Of course, others see different themes in Nosferatu. Some view Count Orlok as a precursor to Hitler and the plague to Nazism, which would come a few years later. He even seems to give a Nazi salute as he dies.
And still others point out the many viewpoints through windows and the use of forbidding shots of nature, which show an influence of 19th century German painters like Caspar David Friedrich. Not to mention the equal influences of early 20th century German Expressionism with its use of stark shadows and unlit corners.
But you don't need to see any of that at first. You can enjoy it on its own merits as a very creepy horror film. One of my earliest memories of watching horror films was watching Nosferatu one October Saturday afternoon on TV. The scene where the vampire's shadow ascends the stairs on the way to his prey gave me nightmares for weeks and lingered in my memory until I saw it again twenty years later on video.
How ironic that Nosferatu is called A Symphony of Horror, when it's a silent film. But the audio tracks offered on the DVD from Image Entertainment do embellish the film well. Hitting the audio button on your DVD while the film plays will take you to your choice of three audio tracks recorded especially for this DVD. The first is a modern, quirky score by The Silent Orchestra. The second is a more traditional organ score by Timothy Howard. The third track is an illuminating commentary of the film by Lokke Heiss.
The goodies on the DVD don't stop there. The print itself has been remastered from high quality 35mm film and is restored to its original running time, as well as to its original color tints (although I think I preferred it in just black & white). A favorite feature of mine is the photo album of the locations used in Nosferatu as they appear in the film and how they look today.
Movie Review: A Masterpiece of Horror From F.W. Murnau
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1921, director F.W. Murnau set out to make a horror film based on Bram Stoker's novel, "Dracula," but was denied the rights to the property by Stoker's estate. Undeterred, however, Murnau merely changed the title to "Nosferatu," the name of the title character to "Count Orlok," then proceeded to make what has come to be considered nothing less than a classic of the silent film era. An unsettling film (especially for the times in which it was made), it is a faithful adaptation of Stoker's story, and brings images to the screen, the likes of which at the time, had never before been seen. And although by today's standards much of it may seem relatively tame, there is an innate sense of the sinister about it that is timeless. For the same elements that so unnerved audiences in 1922 when it was released, are equally discomfiting now, most of which is courtesy of Max Schreck, who portrayed Count Orlok. It was the first screen appearance for what is now the most famous vampire in history, and the German character actor Schreck brought an eerie presence to the role that has never been equaled. Bela Lugosi may be considered the definitive Dracula-- his portrayal is certainly the most well known-- but even he could not match the sense of evil that Schreck brought to the character. The scene in which Schreck's shadow is cast on the wall as he slowly negotiates a staircase, emphasizing his misshapen head and elongated fingers and nails, is an image that leaves an indelible impression on the memory, as does Schreck's overall appearance: Lanky, though slightly stooped, with oversized, pointed ears and haunted, sunken eyes. It was Schreck's greatest screen role, and had it not been for a lawsuit by Stoker's estate that prevented wide distribution of the film, it would no doubt have made him a star. The supporting cast includes John gottowt, Alexander Granach, Wolfgang Heinz, Max Nemetz, Gustav von Wangenheim, Ruth Landshoff and Greta Schroder. An air of mystery surrounded the set during the filming of "Nosferatu" that became something of a myth, which began with the fact that Schreck, a method actor, was never seen by cast nor crew without his makeup and in character. And it was further perpetuated when it may have been implied by Murnau that Schreck was actually a vampire playing an actor playing a vampire, all of which goes a long way toward proving that "hype" is nothing new to the entertainment industry. One of the three most highly regarded German directors of the times, Murnau, whose philosophy was that "nothing existed beyond the frame," directed a number of films, but none achieved the lasting notoriety of "Nosferatu." For film buffs everywhere, as well as aficionados of silent pictures, this film is a must-see, and a perfect companion piece to the recently released (2000) "Shadow of the Vampire," the film by E. Elias Merhige that chronicles the making of "Nosferatu." A comparatively short film-- the restored DVD version runs 81 minutes, the video, 63 minutes-- it will nevertheless provide an entertaining and memorable cinematic experience. This is an example of not only the magic, but the magic at the very core of the movies.Movie Review: A mask on the mask!
Summary: 5 Stars
"The cinema implies- according to Antonin Artaud -a total demolition of the values, a complete transformation of the optic, the perspective and the logic. It' s further exciting than the match, it' s even more captivating than love... I ask for phantasmagoric films, poetic films in the dense sense, philosophical of the word; physic films. What it doesn't exclude neither the psychology nor love, as well as the disjoint of any of the feelings of man. I want these films in which it operates a kind of crushing, fusion, of blending of these things of the heart and spirit, to confer them the cinematographic virtue that all of us must seek."
I keep for this movie a very special affection. I have watched so many times that it is has become an unavoidable confident as the sublime art.
The German Expressionism dressed its best clothes with this towering masterpiece pregnant of dark poetry and awesome beauty. Watching this film means to experiment similar feelings respect let' s say around the famous Sonnet 144 of Shakespeare.
In Nosferatu, Murnau' s vampire the fantastic accompanies us, empowers us of a perfectly natural way. The beyond grayish grave described by Bram Stocker incorporates in front of us with all the power of a real vision.
Lotte Eisner states:" ... Murnau knew discern in the nature the possibility of getting beauty images. He captures the fragile form of a white cloud floating above the dunes and fixes the filigree that the mass of branches design on a spring sky that invades the twilight. The nature shares in the whole drama..."
With the German Expressionism, spouted after the hecatomb that meant the WW1, the cinema disinters the ghosts that inhabited the Romanticism in Germany. Mysticism, magic, nostalgia of the shadows and reflects, delirious love for the fantastic allies with the lineaments of an intellectual rebellion and a cinematographic aesthetic.
In North America a name: Tod Browning will receive all the weight of the horror and the hopeless and will materialize it in "Freaks."
Ado Kyrou states those powerful and unbeatable words:"...I greet you, corps born from the imagination, friendly ectoplasms...Cesare (Robert Wiene 's Caligari) , the dolls of the devil and the Golem will murder their masters and Frankenstein, the monster will be more meritorious of our love than his shy creator. The fantastic birds will rend the screen and the final image, definitive in the mobility, free, will be a complete world, without Gods, but with circular doors where our unchained forces will whine the jubilee of the life and love in the wonderful"
A majuscule picture, a true masterpiece, a film of films.
One million stars.