Eccentric Director Robert Eggers Devises Unique Imagery and a Peculiar Storyline for His Re-imagining of “Nosferatu”

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 30 January 2025 15:21

Written by Brad Balfour

Film: “Nosferatu”
Director: Robert Eggers
Cast: Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson

As legendary characters go, few offer as much inspiration as does the vampire. The notion of an undead bloodsucker preying on the innocent and ignorant provokes endless variations. Credit has to be given to the late Irish author Bram Stoker who invented a character that has become an indelible institution throughout the creative global landscape.

Stoker infused into the character of Dracula, the ultimate vampire, elements from Irish mythology. Given the gothic nature and pagan background of Irish mythology, it makes sense that an Irishman would draw on the dark myths from a Gaelic tradition. Take the banshee and the selkie — mythic creatures who fit into the conception of a vampire.

Anything in the vampire tradition is okay by me. Filtered through the Germanic imagery of the original silent version — throwing in a bit from Werner Herzog’s reinterpretation — fantastical director Robert Eggers’ takes his Count Orlok one step further. Even the film’s title, “Nosferatu,” is an archaic Romanian word synonymous with “vampire.”

The concept was popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Western fiction particularly in Stoker’s 1897 gothic novel of “Dracula” and in F. W. Murnau’s 1922 masterful silent film “Nosferatu” a masterpiece of German expressionist filmmaking. Eggers‘ fourth film is a bold re-imagining of both the film and the original novel. In Eggers’ version, the image of the master vamp’s decaying flesh, grotesque fingers and absurdly exaggerated mustache leaves an indelible impact.

In the course of rewriting the first unauthorized vampire tale, Eggers took further liberties. He scrambled various details from the city in which the story takes place, as well as the various characters’ names and backstories. Nonetheless, the basics of the original narrative remain. A facilitator arranges for the vampire to leave his home turf and come to the city where he will establish a base. Once Orlok arrives and takes root in a local estate, he wreaks havoc. Eventually, as he pursues the young woman who provoked him in the first place, he takes possession of her — leading to his ultimate downfall.

The malleable actor Bill Skarsgård plays the grotesque Count who forces himself onto gorgeous Ellen Hutter (played by the enticing Lily-Rose Depp). The ever-growing connection between them terrifies and appalls Ms. Hutter’s new husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult.) In addition, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Eggers regulars, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson, round out those who are threatened by the undead master. Eggers’ version really highlights — through the force of his depiction of the vampire — that this tale is a perverse love story.

Generally, vampire films elicit thoughts of sex and erotica. This film addresses those concepts forcefully with the idea that Ellen Hutter is actually the Count’s long-lost bride, forced, years later, to reconnect with her undead paramour. And although the film stumbles at times, this tale of the vampire’s passion makes it worthy of multiple viewings.

It should be noted that “Nosferatu” has been nominated for four Oscars including: Production Design — Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová; Best Makeup/Hair — David White, Traci Loader, and Suzanne Stokes-Munton; Linda Muir for Best Costume Design.

With all that in mind, Film at Lincoln Center has scheduled a unique mini-series showcasing cinematic influences on Eggers which informed the film.

From February 5–9, 2025, “Conjuring Nosferatu: Robert Eggers Presents” offers screenings of the films that inspired this spellbinding take on fiction’s most famous monster. These eclectic, gothic Hollywood deep cuts – rare works of Eastern European folk horror and captivating evocations of 18th-century England – are coupled with a special screening on 35mm of Eggers’ own “Nosferatu.”
 
Across four intensely stylish, powerfully atmospheric and richly detailed features, Eggers has established himself as one of cinema’s most singular auteurs. His films – deeply researched and steeped in worlds that predate the advent of cinema – are also the results of a consummate cinephile as conversant with film history as he is with the history of the occult.

“Nosferatu”
Robert Eggers, 2024, U.S., 35mm, 132m
Wednesday, February 5 at 6pm at the Walter Reade Theater

“Svengali”
Archie Mayo, 1931, U.S., 16mm, 81m
Thursday, February 6 at 6:15pm at the Francesca Beale Theater

“Beauty and the Beast”
Jean Cocteau, 1946, France, 35mm, 96m French with English subtitles
Friday, February 7 at 6pm at the Walter Reade Theater
Saturday, February 8 at 1:30pm at the Walter Reade Theater

“Great Expectations”
David Lean, 1946, U.K., 118m
Saturday, February 8 at 3:45pm at the Walter Reade Theater

“The Queen of Spades”
Thorold Dickinson, 1949, U.K., 95m
Friday, February 7 at 8:15pm at the Walter Reade Theater
Sunday, February 9 at 5:15pm at the Walter Reade Theater

“Andriesh”
Yakov Bazelyan, Sergei Parajanov, 1954, USSR, 63m Russian with English subtitles
Friday, February 7 at 4:30pm at the Walter Reade Theater
Sunday, February 9 at 2:00pm at the Walter Reade Theater

“The Innocents”
Jack Clayton, 1961, U.K., 100m
Saturday, February 8 at 6:15pm at the Walter Reade Theater
Sunday, February 9 at 7:30pm at the Walter Reade Theater

“The Eve of Ivan Kupalo”
Yuri Ilyenko, 1968, USSR, 71m Ukrainian with English subtitles
Thursday, February 6 at 8:15pm at the Francesca Beale Theater
Sunday, February 9 at 3:30pm at the Walter Reade Theater

“The She-Butterfly / Leptirica”
Đordje Kadijević, 1973, Serbia, 63m Serbian with English subtitles
Wednesday, February 5 at 9:15pm at the Walter Reade Theater
Saturday, February 8 at 8:30pm at the Walter Reade Theater

For more info, go to:https://www.filmlinc.org/

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