To name NOSFERATU in this review without the often omitted 'Symphony of Horror' bit would be to disregard the major reflection of the film's mood within its title. For, this 1922 film by German Expressionist director F.W. Murnau is all about mood. It's a silent film, and that's a strength, as its story is the first about vampires to appear on film. It is the inspiration for all of the films of that genre that have come since, based on Bram Stoker's DRACULA, but almost fetishistically concentrating on the eeriest parts of that tale: the boat which Count Orlok travels on to reach the mainland, where his presence alone causes death and terror, the castle which is surrounded by a mad hyena and frightened horses. Murnau's images are sublimely awry and disconcerting, placing images in corners, using negatives as a print, sped up walking as if he imagined in some misplaced dream of scurrying animal-humans. Nosferatu is the vampire: Count Orlok. He is visited by a man from a quiet, pleasant town and asked to move there. This man has been asked to do this by his boss, who happens to be the servant of Orlok. Orlok is strangely invited to wreak havoc, and so he does. Death follows him, and mostly madness does. This idea of an animal-human is so integral to the vampire that its use in Murnau's film makes it a brilliant translation. We are shown spiders and venus fly traps in broken scenes, and that is paralleled obliquely to Nosferatu's presence, transformation, stiffness, evil.
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror: ★★★★
No comments:
Post a Comment