Robert Eggers is a writer/director with quite the singular vision. From The Witch to The Lighthouse to The Northman, Eggers’ features are all exceptionally confident in terms of purpose. They are focused, dark and unflinching when it comes to violence and terror. He attracts collaborators who are able to assist him in bringing his disturbing, single-minded, ideas to the screen in a stark, original, way. Everything he has made is set in the far past, with a timeless quality that tilts even his non-horror movies in that direction.
His latest, a retelling of Dracula via a remake of the 1922 F.W. Murnau classic Nosferatu, is without a doubt his most impressive from a visual perspective. Every frame is haunted by inescapable nightmare. There is no beauty, no hope. This world is death and despair. From a production and filmmaking standpoint, this may very well be the best movie of the year. Dramatically, it is definitely not as captivating. That trademark single-mindedness fails this time, in part because of how oft-told this story is. The narrative contains no spins or surprises.
It is a good story, though Eggers’ heart doesn’t seem to be in telling it. The movie drags when it has to deal with plot. The original was, of course, a silent film. This version is at its most effective when it channels that spirit, eschewing dialogue and plot development in favor of letting its audience stare directly into its vision of hell.
It is 1830s Germany. Thomas Hutter is recently married to the lovely Ellen. When his boss, the creepy Knock, promises him more money if he travels to an isolated castle in a far-off country to finalize the sale of a house to a reclusive count, Thomas says yes. Despite Ellen’s strong objections, Thomas makes the trip, putting himself and everyone around him in terrible danger.
Nosferatu (125 minutes, without the end credits) does everything with character and story that you would expect, having seen/heard aspects of this tale our entire lives (especially if you have ever watched the Murnau film). All of the human characters are victims of one kind or another, whose personalities mean very little. Count Orlok is pure evil. It is what Eggers does with his presence that keeps this engaging.
Orlok is seen clearly rarely through the course of this. At first, we just see shadows. He is the fear looming over everything, preparing to take what it wants. Then, when Thomas arrives at his castle, Orlok is seen out-of-focus, at the edge of the frame. Even Thomas appears afraid to look his way. Orlok’s voice, which utters a series of gravelly demands, is terrifying when coupled with the camera’s refusal to look at him. It is not the words that matter; it is the sound. His every movement is with the intention of consuming his victims; not merely their blood, but their soul. This Nosferatu is disturbing less due to what the audience sees and more due to what the audience feels.
It is masterful filmmaking, really. I don’t want to say much more because this should be experienced firsthand, preferably on a massive screen in a darkened theater. The cast’s main job is to be filled with dread. This is about physicality, instead of emoting. The best performance belongs to Willem Dafoe as a sort of vampire hunter, adding some weirdness to something that is otherwise extremely serious. Bill Skarsgård is good at bringing the threat of Orlok to life, yet he and Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp, as Thomas and Ellen, are just pieces of Eggers’ mise-en-scène. There isn’t much to them outside of how they fit into the frame at any given time.
Robert Eggers’ control of mood and tone is the real draw here. It is incredible to see, even if the other elements can’t match it.
3¾ out of 5
Cast:
Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter
Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter
Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding
Willem Dafoe as Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz
Emma Corrin as Anna Harding
Ralph Ineson as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers
Simon McBurney as Knock
Written/Directed by Robert Eggers
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