1.15.2012

Nosferatu

Initially, I was excited about watching "Nosferatu" because I had never seen a full-length silent film.  However, my enthusiasm and excitement started to wan in the first twenty minutes of the movie, but as soon as Nosferatu finally appeared I was back in it.  The actors, Gustav von Wangenheim as Jonathon Harker especially, seemed to be playing caricatures of their respective characters.  Von Wangenheim's constant cheerful dispositive through the first part of the film was a strange juxtaposition to what was happening to his character in the story.  For example, Harker stops at an inn on his way to Transylvania and the local townspeople warn him of the dangers near the castle and discourage him from continuing his journey.  Instead of appreciating or reacting to this ominous warning, Harker simply laughs it off.  This reaction was a bit confusing.  

Greta Schroeder as Nina, Harker's wife, also suffers from overacting.  However, for her character it works.  She has nightmares about Nosferatu and her husband.  Dreams like that would cause anyone to behave as tortured as she does in this film.  Toward the end of the film, Nina reads The Book of Vampires even though she promised her husband she would not.  As she opens the book, she has a kind of fit, which in and of itself is strange.  On the other hand, this "fit" could be Nina's physicalization of the internal struggle between the promise she made her husband and her desire to read the book.  

Count Dracula, portrayed by Max Schreck, is both frightening and humorous.  Unlike some other the other characters, the caricature works for the vampire because he is supernatural being.  During Harker's first night in the castle, the clock strikes midnight and Dracula's eyes appear over the top of the piece of paper he is reading.  Schreck's eyes are so expressive.  After Harker cuts his finger, the Count's eyes sparkle with hunger.  Part of what made Schreck's portrayal of Dracula both scary and funny was how slow the character moved.   His slow movements reminded me of how the zombies in George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" moved.  He did not run or chase after his victims.  Dracula slowly stalked them.  This is much for frightening than a monster running after its prey because even though he moves slowly, he is still going to get you.  This is especially true of the last crew member on the Demeter.   There is no escape for him, unless he jumps overboard.

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