A remake of the 1922 F. W. Murnau film ‘Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror,’ which is a loose adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel ‘Dracula,’ Robert Eggers ‘Nosferatu’ is a gorgeously filmed gothic horror that is exquisitely directed, balancing fear, sensuality, and whimsy in equal measure. With exceptional cinematography by Jarin Blaschke and delicate editing by Louise Ford, the film vacillates from beauty to horror seamlessly. As the original film is loosely based on Bram Stoker’s popular story, the narrative is very familiar but there are modern touches that creates a reflection of modern issues as well.
The film is set in the early 1800s in Germany, and a young woman, Ellen prays for some being to rid her of her loneliness. This call manages to awaken a dark, malevolent spirit who promises to be with her forever. We cut to much later, when Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is now married to Thomas (Nicholas Hoult). They love each other very much, their first scene together shows them incapable of separating, even if he is late for work.
Thomas ends up at his office and his boss, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), offers him an unusual opportunity. He requests that Thomas acts as solicitor to Count Orlok of the Carpathians, a whole 6-week travel away. He is to broker the sale of an old, decrepit mansion in Wisburg, where they live. If Thomas makes the journey, he will be given a huge bonus and a promotion at work. Ellen is against this, though, as she has been having dreams, but Thomas is insistent. Ellen stays with her rich friend Anna (Emma Corrin) and her husband, Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) while Thomas makes the journey. But we all know that Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) is a vampire, and he holds Thomas captive in his castle while he makes his way to Wisburg to be closer to Ellen. The closer he gets; the more Ellen suffers manic fits and hallucinations. She is then introduced to a brilliant but ostracized doctor, Doctor Von Franz (Willem Dafoe), who is connects her mania with a dark, sinister evil approaching Wisburg.
Most of the plot points are very similar to that of ‘Dracula,’ so the story is nothing new. But what Eggers suffuses with his film is the highly erotic nature of Ellen’s connection to both Thomas and Count Orlok. The sound design of the film is exquisite, amplifying the hard intake and release of breaths that, in scenes where the characters are experiencing great stress, if you close your eyes, it could sound sexual in nature. Even when Count Orlok drains his victims of blood, he straddles over them, both writhing, that one cannot help but think of the erotic.
In Eggers’ ‘Nosferatu,’ Ellen is a victim but not of Count Orlok but by her own innocent call for companionship. Unaware of her own power, she sends out a prayer to the angels but instead conjures up a demon. Her own power leads her to have fits and seizures, marking her as an outcast, someone different and strange. Regarded as an oddity, it feels connected to her call for help and has led her to vulnerable to such a being like Count Orlok. Count Orlok then uses great wealth and power to corrupt the people around him – Herr Knock, for example – to extend his reach and access the vulnerable.
In other version of the Dracula story that I’ve seen, the emphasis had always been on the vampiric and supernatural nature of the demon. While Eggers is not above filling his film’s world with the supernatural and the occult, but the real-world metaphors rise to the surface and become painfully apparent. Count Orlok is a vampire in the movie, the metaphor stands of people in power who act as predators and gain access to the vulnerable by people who are eager to have a taste of that power and richness.
And while the composition, editing, production and costume design is exceptional, I love how ‘Nosferatu’ is not afraid to lean into its silliness and how the whole cast is fully committed to this world and seamlessly allowing themselves to fully imbibe the gothic horror and the camp that can come with it. By never taking itself too seriously, we see the work for what it is and marvel at each well-executed part while still enjoying the whole, which is completely familiar to us as well.
Eggers has shown from this and his previous films – ‘The Witch’ and ‘The Lighthouse’ – that he is truly a master of tone, creating horror and dread through gorgeous imagery, while unafraid to being both literary and flighty in equal measure.
My Rating:
Nosferatu is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.
