I really found this movie haunting and moving, so I appreciated your thoughtful remarks on it. It still is sticking in my mind a month after seeing it. Thanks for all the time and effort that went into writing up your thoughts for us!
Nice take. I’ve been ambivalent about the absence of visible screen time Bill Skarsgård got—as in I could hardly see him. But that sort of negative space kind of works, giving the viewer their own space to fill in their version of shadow
I hadn't thought about "Nosferatu" in these ways, but so much to chew on!
I've always been fascinated in this idea of "Nosferatu" referring to a spiritual double. It's basically an alt-universe Dracula. A ripoff meant to be destroyed, it has somehow persevered. There is something backwards about this -- our popular conception of vampires is sexy and alluring, and yet Nosferatu remains a repellent, disgusting beast.
And then there is the matter of the recurring Willem Dafoe, once Max Shreck in "Shadow Of The Vampire", now repurposed as a foil.
I saw the re-release of the original last fall, scored with Radiohead. I expected the movie to begin with "Kid A", starting with the narrative ease of "Everything In It's Right Place". Instead, the movie started with "Amnesiac", opening with the jangly, upsetting "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box", getting to "Kid A" later, immediately informing us of the repression at the heart of the narrative. The movie begins, already upside down and backwards.
Right? The sheer amount of history and layers and ideas packed into this myth consistently blows my mind. The vampire legend stripped of its popular baggage down to its purest form. If only someone had given Ellen that same grace.
That re-release showing sounds incredible, and makes me wonder what sort of mileage and niche a silent film could have if one were made today. Surely there's a market for feature-length projects whose only sound is the score of a musical artist, right? Daft Punk did it with Interstella 5555. I hear Taylor Swift is directing a feature film...
The company that did the Radiohead/Nosferatu re-release have a bunch of other silent releases planned as a traveling roadshow, matching them with contemporary music. I think the next one is “Sherlock Jr.” with music from R.E.M.
It’s surprising you haven’t seen The Witch. I consider it to be peak Egger. The stand out praise I have for Egger’s Nosferatu is its aesthetic, but your expression provides a lot to think about. I can’t resist saying, death is not something that captures us. It’s a constant shedding, at its most polite, toward an ultimate silence that barely counts as a return to sender. Death’s decisive commitment to nothingness is what makes it alarmingly effective. Here it comes and here it is.
I'll certainly get around to The Witch at some point. Honestly, I've probably put it off because of how strongly Eggers traffics in thoughtful horror, and I've yet to section off the necessary headspace.
I don't disagree with your description of death, but the qualifying factor in both of our definitions is the inescapability of it. In this context, the fact of death underlines the wisdom of accepting that which we don't understand, so as to more freely embrace our purest humanity.
Ah makes sense. I’ve grown saturated and consumed through making and watching, enough that I forget what it’s like to ‘section off’ space for the demands of particular moods, ha. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your commentary on The Witch if you get around to it.
Fair enough! I saw that coming and meant to express my fear of seeming pedantic, or worse ha.
There’s a combination of complacent literal minded Freudianism and sentimentality that makes Nosferatu—for all its gorgeous ‘production value—Eggers least interesting work. There’s a numbing obviousness to the movie that makes it decidedly not scary . Bring back the sophisticated uncertainties of The Lighthouse. Please! And don’t remake films by mystics when you are a 21st century liberal humanist. Sodobergh and Von Trier made the same error when they sought to enter Tarkovsky/Dreyer country. Eggers is a huge talent but this was a misfire.
Your mention of Freudianism interests me a lot, Larry. If we understand that as compliance with the idea that much of human behaviour can be explained by unconscious and often sexual drives, then yes, that's absolutely present in and relevant to what Nosferatu plays upon here. Though Babygirl has more of an interest in that, I think. I'll probably talk about that in another post; thanks for the idea!
I agree @Larry thought the photography was glorious - but the movie itself completely flat, dull and uninvolving - found it so wrongheaded that I wasn't surprised when I heard people had been laughing in the cinema - I found some of the performances tone deaf and over the top nonsense. I haven't liked anything since the VVitch - and I'm giving up on Eggers now. Saw The Brutalist the next day, and that's a different kettle of fish - a proper horror.
I really found this movie haunting and moving, so I appreciated your thoughtful remarks on it. It still is sticking in my mind a month after seeing it. Thanks for all the time and effort that went into writing up your thoughts for us!
Nice take. I’ve been ambivalent about the absence of visible screen time Bill Skarsgård got—as in I could hardly see him. But that sort of negative space kind of works, giving the viewer their own space to fill in their version of shadow
I hadn't thought about "Nosferatu" in these ways, but so much to chew on!
I've always been fascinated in this idea of "Nosferatu" referring to a spiritual double. It's basically an alt-universe Dracula. A ripoff meant to be destroyed, it has somehow persevered. There is something backwards about this -- our popular conception of vampires is sexy and alluring, and yet Nosferatu remains a repellent, disgusting beast.
And then there is the matter of the recurring Willem Dafoe, once Max Shreck in "Shadow Of The Vampire", now repurposed as a foil.
I saw the re-release of the original last fall, scored with Radiohead. I expected the movie to begin with "Kid A", starting with the narrative ease of "Everything In It's Right Place". Instead, the movie started with "Amnesiac", opening with the jangly, upsetting "Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box", getting to "Kid A" later, immediately informing us of the repression at the heart of the narrative. The movie begins, already upside down and backwards.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
Right? The sheer amount of history and layers and ideas packed into this myth consistently blows my mind. The vampire legend stripped of its popular baggage down to its purest form. If only someone had given Ellen that same grace.
That re-release showing sounds incredible, and makes me wonder what sort of mileage and niche a silent film could have if one were made today. Surely there's a market for feature-length projects whose only sound is the score of a musical artist, right? Daft Punk did it with Interstella 5555. I hear Taylor Swift is directing a feature film...
The company that did the Radiohead/Nosferatu re-release have a bunch of other silent releases planned as a traveling roadshow, matching them with contemporary music. I think the next one is “Sherlock Jr.” with music from R.E.M.
It’s surprising you haven’t seen The Witch. I consider it to be peak Egger. The stand out praise I have for Egger’s Nosferatu is its aesthetic, but your expression provides a lot to think about. I can’t resist saying, death is not something that captures us. It’s a constant shedding, at its most polite, toward an ultimate silence that barely counts as a return to sender. Death’s decisive commitment to nothingness is what makes it alarmingly effective. Here it comes and here it is.
I'll certainly get around to The Witch at some point. Honestly, I've probably put it off because of how strongly Eggers traffics in thoughtful horror, and I've yet to section off the necessary headspace.
I don't disagree with your description of death, but the qualifying factor in both of our definitions is the inescapability of it. In this context, the fact of death underlines the wisdom of accepting that which we don't understand, so as to more freely embrace our purest humanity.
Ah makes sense. I’ve grown saturated and consumed through making and watching, enough that I forget what it’s like to ‘section off’ space for the demands of particular moods, ha. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your commentary on The Witch if you get around to it.
Fair enough! I saw that coming and meant to express my fear of seeming pedantic, or worse ha.
beauuuutiful writing!!! wow
Much love, Sophie!
There’s a combination of complacent literal minded Freudianism and sentimentality that makes Nosferatu—for all its gorgeous ‘production value—Eggers least interesting work. There’s a numbing obviousness to the movie that makes it decidedly not scary . Bring back the sophisticated uncertainties of The Lighthouse. Please! And don’t remake films by mystics when you are a 21st century liberal humanist. Sodobergh and Von Trier made the same error when they sought to enter Tarkovsky/Dreyer country. Eggers is a huge talent but this was a misfire.
Your mention of Freudianism interests me a lot, Larry. If we understand that as compliance with the idea that much of human behaviour can be explained by unconscious and often sexual drives, then yes, that's absolutely present in and relevant to what Nosferatu plays upon here. Though Babygirl has more of an interest in that, I think. I'll probably talk about that in another post; thanks for the idea!
I agree @Larry thought the photography was glorious - but the movie itself completely flat, dull and uninvolving - found it so wrongheaded that I wasn't surprised when I heard people had been laughing in the cinema - I found some of the performances tone deaf and over the top nonsense. I haven't liked anything since the VVitch - and I'm giving up on Eggers now. Saw The Brutalist the next day, and that's a different kettle of fish - a proper horror.
Academic spirituality is the worst of both worlds.