Nosferatu: A symphony of gothic romance?
Written by: Rachel Becker
Nosferatu is unlike any horror film I have ever seen. Robert Eggers, known for The Lighthouse and The Witch, finally directs the film he has been working on for over a decade. This version of a classic tale is inspired by the 1922 original silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror directed by F.W. Murnau, which was inspired by Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.
The opening scene is the first of many beautifully contrasted monochromatic moonlight shots of Ellen Hutter, played by Lily-Rose Depp, calling out for any creature of comfort.
She awakens Nosferatu who, from childhood, controls her dreams. As she wanders out into the greens of her father’s property, suddenly she is on the ground and her ethereal trance becomes intense convulsions. Upon my first watch, I thought it came off as erotic and on my second, I knew it was. While this was a bold choice to open with, I must give credit to Depp who performed all of her demonic movements without the aid of CGI.
Cut to 1838 Germany (even though no one speaks German in this film.) Production designer Craig Lathrop built essentially every set except the hospital interiors and exterior of Count Orlock’s castle. The massive and realistic town streets were built at Barrandov Studios in Prague and, once the CGI was complete, the end result was heavily based on Lübeck, Germany. While the set design is impeccable, it is truly brought to life by the incredible lighting and coloring. I may be a bit of a nerd for good lighting in film, but Eggers and Cinematographer, Jarin Blaschke, are true masters of moonlight technique and capturing a realistic historic look.
Ellen is now married to Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) who is looking for a good job to provide for his new wife. He goes to see Herr Knock (Simon McBurney) who offers him the challenge of going to Transylvania to hand-deliver paperwork to the very old Count Orlock. As he runs through the town, it is impossible not to be impressed by the extremely detailed set and perfectly curated mood of a rainy day in old Europe. As Thomas will be gone for a bit of time, Ellen goes to stay with their friends Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Anna Harding (Emma Corrin) and their two daughters.
The first shot of the Harding home is so much warmer than the drab town and especially cold Hutter bedroom. There is more color in the rooms and clothes while also having very warm lighting. This style is a direct correlation to who they are as people. Anna is portrayed much happier and content with her life than Ellen, who has this dark history of depression and nightmares (or as an 18th century Doctor would say, melancholy, and as an Alchemist would say, a soul-tie to the demon Nosferatu.) It makes sense their house visually is approached with the same love and joy as they have for each other, their children, and their friends.
As Thomas rides off on just a horse, I am left to question my own navigating ability since I never see him so much as pull out a map. After a long journey complete with multiple gorgeous wide shots, Thomas arrives at a remote village where he is greeted with a cheerful community dance then a mysterious unanimous town laugh. Despite the uneasy feeling this place gives and the warning from an old woman not to go to that castle, he stays the night and (spoiler alert) later goes to the castle.
Here the film begins to encourage us viewers to question if we are simply dreaming. Thomas wakes up to see the whole town headed to exhume a corpse from its grave and lead a nude virgin on a horse (maybe his horse?) to be sacrificed. Next to the freshly unearthed casket and to his surprise they drive a stake through the heart of this body which they believe is a vampire. Suddenly, Thomas wakes up in his bed to find the whole town has disappeared, including his horse, and our only clue that it was even real is the mud on his boots.
Yes, this part is a bit shocking and scary, but as a Slavic vampire enthusiast, this is where I started to get really excited. It is clear Eggers did his research on the history and superstitions surrounding Romanian and other Slavic regions’ vampiric lore, but more on that later.
Thomas journeys into the night on foot. While standing in the middle of a quiet, snowy path that appears to be subtly shaped like an upside down cross, a carriage with no coach appears out of the fog. Adding to the eerie, dreamlike scene, the door opens on its own and Thomas drifts just as quickly into the seat as he is already out and standing at the gates of Count Orlock’s castle. They open to reveal our antagonist in the (decaying) flesh for the first time as he leads Thomas in without a word.
This shot alone deserves so much praise. Eggers used practical effects to shoot continuously while pulling apart the carriage so he could swiftly move from “sitting” to walking up to the gates. Not only does the movement and sounds (or lack thereof) add to the mystery of this creature, but plays to the notion you are stuck in a dream under his control. Thomas follows the silent figure past the gates and up stairs. Orlock does not seem to follow the laws of physics and can be anywhere in the room without any effort at all. As Thomas looks around this firelit dining room, lit by real flames, his fear grows almost palpable through the screen
Hoult’s ability to portray both fear, confusion, and unwavering devotion to his wife is wildly impressive. The tension in this scene, between wanting to feel relief for his arrival and completing the paperwork, with the notion he is being tricked and trapped is intense. I was on the edge of my seat. Orlock offers Thomas bread and he is shaking so much he cuts his finger, which leads to an aggressive cut to a close up of Orlock’s eyes dying to drink. This shot is so unlike the others and almost comical. It reminds me of other, more goofy, portrayals of Nosferatu, but ultimately I understand the choice as the smell of blood probably would widen a vampire’s eyes with delight.
Thomas is now trapped in the castle as Orlock feasts on his blood each night, and back home Ellen falls ill with not only melancholy, but violent fits. The Hardings bring in Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Inseson) who struggles to heal her with modern medicine, including wearing her corset all the time, draining her blood (and he’s not the vampire?) and knocking her out with ether.
The Hardings are desperately trying to support Ellen while maintaining their previously happy home and marriage. During an outing for fresh air, we feel the desire Fredrich has to go back to normal as he tries to kiss Anna, who is too embarrassed to do such a thing in public, when they are ironically interrupted by another one of Ellen’s aggressively sexual fits.
With Ellen in a worse state than ever, Sievers is left no choice but to seek counsel. He decides to bring in the ex-doctor, ex-professor, and alchemist Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe)to help with her unique case.
As Ellen continues suffering, Thomas grows weaker. He decides to put pleasantries aside and tries to escape only to find all of the doors and gates are locked. In one of the most terrifying sequences in the movie, he breaks into Orlock’s elaborately carved coffin complete with the same signet we have seen on all of his paperwork (and demonic drawings from Knock) to use his newly learned skill of stabbing a vampire’s corpse right through the heart. Don’t worry, he doesn’t succeed; as Orlock wakes right up and grabs the weapon away as Thomas flees.
After taking a second for the adrenaline to go down, you'll then realize Orlock is completely naked. My only real comment here is I can’t believe a vampire feels the need to get undressed before bed (if you can call it that) and dressed in the morning (night.) Thomas does escape by some miracle when he jumps into a roaring river. A nun finds him washed up and takes him inside. The nuns seem terrified at his cursed presence as he now lives in Nosferatu’s shadow as well. Desperate to return home to his wife, he takes a horse and miraculously makes the journey back. Also desperate to arrive to his new home and Ellen, Nosferatu gets his coffin on a ship to Germany.
Meanwhile, the doctor and his ex-professor are trying to crack Ellen’s case when a terrifying Herr Knock shows up. He is now twice as crazy as the small snippet we saw of him telling Nosferatu he sent Ellen's husband to him. With a taste for blood himself, he brutally bites the head off a pigeon and eats it. I know we are supposed to fear Nosferatu more, but I found this pretty disturbing. As he was crawling around in this mental hospital cell talking about his master, I also couldn't help but notice the extreme similarity in look and behavior to Peter Pettigrew in Harry Potter. At the end we also find out Knock was supposed to be the Prince of Rats and what animal was Pettigrew? A rat.
On the ship to Germany, Count Orlock terrorizes the crew and eventually kills them all which leads to the ship crashing into the town. Orlock brings with him hundreds if not thousands of rats carrying the plague.
First off, the rats in this film were not CGI and on set they had thousands of real rats. This adds so much appreciation to the incredibly fearless and realistic performances (especially those from the rats themselves.) Second, I love the way Eggers story ties in history and superstition once again. Plague ships, where the crew and its cargo were considered likely to be diseased, would often be turned away from ports or be the reason a town got sick. Without modern science and precautions, illness could quickly wipe out a town and this was so tragic that people often personified the fear into a vampire. This town is no exception as it seems everyone is getting sick, the hospital is overrun, and fear is at an all time high even without knowing Nosferatu has arrived.
Ellen grows weaker as is evident from the extremely cool coloring in her room. You can see when people enter her room at the Harding’s the doorway is lit so warmly as is the rest of the house and her room is just as cool toned as her house was, as if she is constantly in a shadow.
She does however seem to make great improvements when Thomas arrives back home (barely) alive. This excitement is short lived when Nosferatu shows up with his awesome threat that is so funny I haven’t stopped saying it since I saw the movie the first time. He actually says “I will leave you three nights! Tonight was the first!” If you haven’t seen the movie and my review hasn’t convinced you yet, let the promise of this scene alone get you to the theater. I WILL LEAVE YOU THREE NIGHTS!
On a more serious note, Nosferatu does keep up this promise and the next night brutally murders pregnant Anna Harding and her two children, leaving Friedrich a grieving mess for the rest of the film. During these haunting nights, we see one of my favorite shots where Nosferatu’s hand with long skinny fingers reaches over the town creating a shadow they are all living in.
Throughout the various visits to Ellen, we see beautiful shots of Nosferatu’s shadow in flowy curtains and on the walls. The blowing curtains allow you to perfectly see not only his shadow, but how clearly he isn’t standing there when the wind blows them in. The imagery aligns so well with the fable it is hard not to love it.
While Thomas and Freirich are ready to kill this beast and put an end to their suffering, Ellen begins to accept she knows she must sacrifice herself. The professor confirms this theory based on the accounts he read and they have an understanding he will lead the men away to burn down the vampire’s home while she gives herself up to save those she loves. In the end of all of these stories it boils down to love.
Fredrich’s love for Anna and his daughters, Knock’s love for his master, the professor’s love for the supernatural, Thomas and Ellen’s love for one another, and of course Nosferatu and Ellen’s strange love for each other.
Despite her resistance and desire for a normal life, she is destined to be his. Dressed in her wedding gown, she calls for him on the third night and he immediately comes to her. The once terrifying figure now feels romantic as they kiss and have sex. He latches onto her to drink her blood and the way he physically moves and gulps is so disturbing. This team did a fantastic job thinking of the most realistic vampire form possible.
Ellen bravely insists he keeps drinking until the sun begins to rise and his body burns in the light of day. Thomas realizes Nosferatu must be with his wife and he runs home to find the most gruesome and eerie scene. Nosferatu lays dead on top of Ellen, charred and covered in blood in their bed. She looks at Thomas as she takes her final breath, one of relief. No one has to suffer any longer. The warm sun comes in and once again the world is bright as the professor lays flowers over their bodies. The final shot is one of the most visually shocking images.
A bird’s eye view shows their bloody bodies covered in flowers and drenched in the sunlight. It is so different from any other shot in the film, but leaves such a romantic and horrifying taste in your mouth. Exactly as it should.
Earlier, Nosferatu says he is “nothing but an appetite”, but his actions say something different. To me, it was almost unnecessary to pull Thomas away from her or to let her get married in the first place as he could have threatened everyone’s death long ago, but he waited. He made her even more tied to him by isolating her from her friends and family (as any toxic boyfriend would.) I’m not saying it’s right, but I do think it is their twisted way of loving each other.
Ellen called to him when she needed comfort and, while there would have been more traditionally comforting figures, she already had this darkness in her and she is drawn to that in Nosferatu. She has a dream where she married death and had never felt so happy. She says Thomas could never satisfy her like he does (as any toxic girlfriend would.) She screams at him how much she hates him, yet it is only a reflection of what she hates within herself. It is unfortunate Thomas loved her and that he helped her feel normal because she is not and that is not a mystery to Ellen. Call it fate or a curse, but ultimately what makes this version of Nosferatu so unique is Ellen’s willingness and commitment to him twice. Love isn’t always logical and she is drawn to him as much as he is to her. She is not a victim in this story, but an equal.
I truly believe this movie becomes twice as good when you can directly see the rich backstory as to why vampires were such a realistic fear for people of that time. Allow me to un-enlighten you; Slavic people, as with many other European areas, were very religious, usually under the umbrella of Christianity.
They essentially believed when you are born you would probably become a vampire and haunt your family when you died unless you had the proper rituals performed at birth and death. There were some obvious religious rituals like being baptized, but I find the death rights most interesting.
In the time before you were buried, it was the responsibility of the family to help your soul pass on by covering mirrors in the house so your spirit doesn’t see itself and get confused, or not letting anything pass over your body. Not a hand, not a cat, nothing, or you’re going to come back as a vampire.
Ultimately however, if you were evil in this life, you would be evil in the afterlife. This belief makes Ellen’s question “Does evil come from within us or beyond?” so powerful.
While it wasn’t directly mentioned in this movie, I think it is particularly interesting how scientific the study of vampires was in these regions. There are numerous detailed accounts of a town suffering from something out of the ordinary and digging up a body that was “full of blood.” What they were actually seeing was the decomposition process, but they assumed the swollen bodies were full of extra blood from crawling out of their graves at night to feast. Eggers didn’t choose to have Nosferatu bloated, and in fact he was quite skinny, only adding to his chilling appearance.
Costumer Linda Muir is also largely to thank for Nosferatu’s incredibly realistic appearance. Vampires were not seen as alternate creations, but rather their own confused family and friends that didn’t have the proper rights to pass on. Orlock is dressed how an older nobleman in this region would have looked, although the pieces he wears were especially chosen to help him conceal his deteriorating state. This somewhat normal appearance of an oversized coat and large hat can fool his victims, like Thomas, into entering the castle in the first place making this that much more believable.
She also did an excellent job throughout the film with every character and background actor. Her team handmade most of the pieces to fit the very specific Regency-era German look. From the most elegant and expensive clothes and accessories on the Hardings to the practical, reworn clothes (some with detachable sleeves) of the Hutters, she did not miss one detail. A final note before I put the nail in the costume coffin; the wardrobe not only was historical, but also had to be incredibly practical adding an extra challenge. At some point almost every character’s clothes are covered in blood, soaking wet, or ripped off on top of needing to be fit for horseback riding, running, and convulsing. Needless to say, the research paid off.
Anytime there is a remake of a classic movie it is hard to balance the nostalgic and well-known parts of the original while adding something new and unique. This is a tale as old as time (literally), but I thought the vintage style with modern capabilities brought a new life to Nosferatu. Considering my favorite parts of this movie are the set design, lighting techniques, and realistic look of Nosferatu, it is no surprise they are nominated for four academy awards including cinematography, makeup and hairstyling, production design, and costume design.
This movie is a must watch for vampire lovers, Nosferatu enthusiasts, history buffs, and film nerds. Even though I saw this in the last few days of 2024, it is one of my favorite movies of the year and I’m looking forward to Eggers next project: Warewulf.
