Tonight's Film: "Nosferatu"

Ok. Gear up. Tonight, I started off this mission with a bang. I decided to go for something classic and iconic (oh, and did I mention foreign) for my first film.


Eerie music. Check. Gaunt faces and plenty of eye makeup. Check. A movie that saves the good stuff for the very end. Check. A silent movie isn't worth watching unless it's full of symbolism, generalizations, and simplicity. Nosferatu was indeed chocked full of all of these things.


The classic film "Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens"aka "The Terror of Dracula" was filmed in the silent film era in 1922. Being that I am the curious type, I decided to do a little research on this film. While researching, I tried to find other Dracula films that had been created before "Nosferatu". The shocker: I couldn't find any! This really is one of the first vampyric movies to hit the silver screen. The irony is that the ever-so-slightly cartoonish image of "Dracula" we know and cherish is completely morphed into something truly terrifying and frightening.

All right. So the actors do not speak. The music is a little cheesy, and everything is a little overly dramatic. The simplicity of the film made me tired, but it also gave me a sense of peace. It almost brings you back to the days when we didn't need four vacuum cleaners for our house (one for each room, of course), and we could get by for an hour without a Big Gulp from the Seven Eleven.

The plot was the typical. It followed the standard Dracula format, or rather every Dracula film was derived from this very movie. In fact, there is a scene in which "Count" Orlock (aka Nosferatu) actually tries to attack the main character. The main character naturally has a freak out moment, but in typical movie fashion, the main character brushes it off and everything is oky-doky. The main character, or Hutter as he is called, reminded me very much of Keanu Reeves' character in Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The sequencing is almost identical, even up to the part where the "Count" notices the Hutter's wife. While the plot was pretty standard, the theme is what I pondered about throughout the duration of the film.

I think there is honestly a true theme that is captured within this movie, but may be lost in similar "fancier" movies with special effects . Within all of the horrible things going on in life, it seems like we always need a scapegoat. Someone to blame the world's problems on. It seems that the cause of the problems cannot be human, even though it is only human to err. The plague, which is not only referenced in this movie but also and probably the basis of this movie considering the time and setting, was of course not caused by an act of God. It was, however, an act of Nosferatu. It's funny to think that whether it's film or literature, we always like to find a cause, or a reason for the things that go on in our life. Our curious nature seems to make way for discovery and the gap for faith grows smaller and smaller until faith is almost nonexistent.

Alright. Enough deep reflection. I feel like I just wrote a Jack Handy quote. I give this movie a tolerable rating. I say if you really want to watch it, wait until Halloween, or late at night for full effect.


Watch it and let me know what you think!


Tomorrow's film: Penelope



(I'm going way out of my comfort zone with this one folks!)