Robert Eggers on What Makes His Nosferatu Different
As a film enthusiast with a penchant for the macabre and a fascination with the evolution of horror narratives, I find myself utterly captivated by the impending release of A24’s latest offering, “Nosferatu.” Having grown up watching B-grade horror films and delving into the history of vampire folklore, I can confidently say that this modern adaptation of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic seems poised to strike a chord with both seasoned connoisseurs and contemporary audiences alike.
“Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?”
In 2016, Robert Eggers‘ first film, The Witch, gained fame with this quote as its iconic tagline. The quote was spoken by Satan, disguised as the goat named Black Phillip, to Anya Taylor-Joy’s character, Thomasin, a Puritan teenager. The quote was essentially an offer for Thomasin to renounce her soul in order to escape the oppressive religious and sexual norms of 17th-century New England society. In response, Thomasin made a straightforward decision: she agreed, saying “Yes.
In his fourth film, titled Nosferatu, due for release on December 25, Eggers continues to explore a solitary young female lead grappling with her deepest desires through embracing the ominous. Unlike his previous works, this time the pact made in the film is sealed at the beginning rather than towards its conclusion. As Eggers explains, “I’m not intentionally replicating my own creations, but there are certainly recurring themes and elements that resonate with me.
The highly awaited remake of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent horror masterpiece Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror opens with Ellen Hutter (remarkably played by Lily-Rose Depp) pleading for a protective guardian, a soothing spirit, or anything at all from her old bedroom.
In a different phrasing, it can be stated that the entity responding to this call isn’t known for kindness or generosity. However, when the terrifying visage of Count Orlok (portrayed by Bill Skarsgård) appears at her window and demands Ellen “submit” to him, she responds in a way that straddles fear and enjoyment. This psychosexual bond between Ellen and Orlok is what sets Eggers’ version of the Nosferatu tale apart from its predecessors, with the filmmaker attributing this unique aspect to the 19th-century belief that women who sleepwalked, like Greta Schröder’s Ellen Hutter in the Murnau film, were connected to another dimension.
As a passionate cinephile, I find myself drawn to the intriguing portrayal of Ellen in Eggers’ work. He masterfully crafts Ellen as a young woman, isolated and otherworldly due to her melancholic disposition that sets her apart from her 19th-century contemporaries. In his words, “She’s an outsider. Her insight into the darker aspects of life runs deep, yet she lacks the means to express it. She’s utterly misinterpreted and invisible to those around her.
After that initial encounter, the story of “Nosferatu” leaps forward to 1838 Germany, specifically in the fictional town of Wisborg, where a newlywed woman named Ellen wakes up from a terrifying dream on the very day her husband, Thomas Hutter (played by Nicholas Hoult), is due to learn about his promotion at work. When he meets with his overly cheerful boss, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), Thomas gets assigned a mission to visit a remote castle in the Carpathian Mountains to secure a Transylvanian nobleman’s signature for the acquisition of an old mansion in Wisborg. Unbeknownst to him, this elusive Count Orlok is the embodiment of Ellen’s “melancholy” and has no desire to let them enjoy their marital happiness.
If you’re finding a resemblance between this story and Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, “Dracula”, it’s accurate. You might recall that when F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu” was released in 1922, with Max Schreck portraying Orlok, Stoker’s estate sued the filmmakers for copyright infringement. The court ruled in favor of Stoker’s estate, and all copies of the movie were ordered to be destroyed. However, some bootleg prints managed to survive. In 1981, efforts to restore the original “Nosferatu” began, two years after Werner Herzog’s remake, “Nosferatu the Vampyre”, featuring Klaus Kinski as Orlok, hit the screens. Fast forward nearly 20 years, and Elias Merhige’s 2000 film, “Shadow of the Vampire”, a fictionalized account of the making of the 1922 film, earned Willem Dafoe an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Schreck. Dafoe, who starred in Eggers’ 2019 psychological thriller “The Lighthouse” and also appeared in his 2022 film “The Northman”, returns in the new “Nosferatu” as Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz, a quirky character reminiscent of Van Helsing. This brings the story back to its origins.
Regarding what ignited Eggers’ fascination with Orlok, the filmmaker recalls being nine years old when he viewed an unrestored VHS version of Murnau’s Nosferatu for the first time. “One remarkable aspect of that unrestored version was its authenticity,” he notes. “Max Schreck, with his distinctive appearance and powerful performance, appeared as a genuine vampire to me because I couldn’t see his bald cap or grease paint.
That early fascination with a vampire that lived outside the realm of “the pale, handsome, aristocratic seducer” stuck with Eggers, leading him to put on a Nosferatu play in high school—which was later staged as a professional production—and eventually embark on a 10-year-journey to bring his vision for the film to life. “For whatever reason, whether it’s Edward Cullen or Blade, the vampires that have been the most popular are these relatable outsiders,” he says. “That’s not so much what I’m interested in.”
Despite Orlok having an element of pity in his being, as per Eggers, he intentionally crafted a true antagonist for his vampire. He delved into ancient folklore, emphasizing that the original vampires were often decaying, disgusting corpses rather than sophisticated gentlemen. He wanted to portray a dead Transylvanian nobleman who would transform into a masculine, phallic, demonic figure, aiming to create a vampire that could truly instill fear instead of one that sparkles.
The sinister aura radiating from Skarsgård’s Orlok intensifies the bond between the vampire and Ellen, compelling her to repeatedly face her attraction to his wickedness. This internal struggle prompts her to ponder, with sorrow, whether evil originates within us or outside ourselves, after a particularly brutal incident.
According to Eggers, you’ll observe her character battling fiercely in the movie. This struggle is depicted not only through what we might call hysterical fits in the 19th century, but also as a form of extreme, almost demonic possession.
In Stoker’s novel, Mina Harker depends on male characters to fight Dracula, but in Murnau’s 1922 adaptation and Eggers’ version, Ellen takes a more proactive role. Instead of relying on others for her rescue, she embarks on a grim journey that culminates in accepting the inevitability of her fate and choosing self-destruction.
According to Eggers, Thomas may see himself as the savior, but it’s actually his supposedly “crazy” wife, who is being silenced and even confined, that holds the key to resolving the issue. He finds this scenario far more intriguing.
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2024-12-23 17:06