Nosferatu

‘If we are to tame darkness we must first face that it exists’.  This is a masterpiece and I struggle to find how anybody thinks it isn’t. Eggers has done so well in his new portrayal, sticking to the classic roots of the story and characters whilst avoiding a direct copy, bringing the story forward for newer generations to enjoy, fear and marvel at.  The visual shots are mesmerising, all coming down to the lighting, backdrop, colour pallet and cinematic techniques. Almost every single shot throughout the movie, the set ups and technicality used were done with such vehemence that as a viewer you knew exactly how to respond and feel, whilst also witnessing the obvious passion and fervour of Eggers’ career.  Complimenting the cinematography is the score. Beautiful at times as much as it were dread-inducing, perfectly summarising the story of Nosferatu. Each and every note, instrument and technicality so purposely used and melting into the scenes so perfectly that it’s difficult to fathom which came first, the shot or the score?  How am I this far in without mentioning Orlok himself? Critiques of his new appearance are understandable and I’m not the first person to wonder why the Rasputin-esque ‘stache. Which led me to wonder; is that intentional? When I was younger I learnt about Rasputin in history and what always stuck with me was ‘why were people so afraid of him?’. After delving into myths and rumours that circulated around him, perhaps there were some that could relate to Orlok. Meanwhile, Dracula was written in 1987 and Rasputin was only powerful in the early 1900s, however am I foolish to think that the Dracula adaptation had some political Rasputin notes? (Yes, probably).  Rasputin ‘stache behind us, I wondered why Orlok looked so different this time around. Was it Eggers bringing his own interpretation and adaptation, or was there a reason? Again, after researching early depictions of vampires I found an interesting read about mass hysteria across Europe, specifically Austria, in the 18th century after two Hungarian nobles seemingly rose from the dead and members of their family not soon after died from blood loss. Knowing that, the appearance of Eggers’ Orlok makes sense. The big moustache seemingly now more appropriate, the ashen, mottled skin, the frailty of his frame, Orlok looks like a reanimated corpse, making him more realistic and thus scarier. However I did also find that Murnau’s Orlok in 1922 was loosely based around negative ideologies of Jewish people so perhaps that’s the reason for the change.  Finally, how can I not speak about the phenomena of the movie: the acting. Not a single performance gave less than 100% and every actor played their roles incredibly. From Skarsgård, Depp, Hoult, Dafoe, they all performed immaculately and their passion reeks through the screen. At least once, every actor used their ability to act through body language so well they looked like old, beautiful, oil paintings. The ability to act so well without using verbal communications feels so rare for an actor to achieve yet every actor involved made it look easy.  Eggers, cast, crew, you haven’t tamed the darkness but my god have you acknowledged it’s existence and utilised it so well you’ve created a drop dead gorgeous piece of art. You can all retire happy now.