No to the new nosferatu
now, this comes to close to home as we had the Bluesferatu project already in the third year now !
so I was expecting more, not more length (an overlong bloated 2h12), the original Nosferatu is 95 min, out of which intertitles and Eggers' is more Dracula than S-feratu. Says on the end credits, the film is based both on Henrik Galeen's 1922 script and on Bram Stoker's novel (1897).
Note on Jan. 23d, Nosferatu is nominated for 4 Oscars, Costume design, make up and hair stilling, cinematography and production design.
"years later" and generous budgets spent, here we go...Germany 1838.
Lilly Rose Depp is nympho Ellen (a somnambul), Nicholas Hoult is the victimised Thomas Hutter, Bill Skarsgård (or should I say his shadow?) is Count Orlok, Willem Dafoe is the mad professor alchemist, Simon Mc Burney is Knock (this tale's Renfield), Ralph Iverson is the other doctor, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, are useless new characters, also from Stoker's Dracula and Coppola's film (plus two wasted girls that should've bite in the end).
All Romania settings , the gypsy's, the monastery, The Hundedoara Castle (looks like the one from Van Helsing, why shoot exteriors there?), the language, I couldn't care less. Shot in Czech Rep. , the interior castle is exactly the one from the original Nosferatu), on a lavish budget (50 mill. $) , with beautiful costumes, shadows, exquisite snow and desaturated colors.
The cinematography, by attired Eggers collaborator on all his films, Jarin Blaschke, is the major plus of the film.
I didn't like the Nosferatu look at all, a Hungarian Husssar, a Moustache (yes, Vlad the Impaler had it..), the whole decrepit, pandemic look, reminded me of Pampon (Victor Rebengiuc) in the Caragiale adpatation, De ce trag clopotele, Mitica?/Carnival scenes (1981). And the whole schock extreme close-ups, cuts, sound effects, double tracks, way overdone. And let's not even start arguing about that prosthetic penis, It got me in a real whirlwind argument about if vampires can have sex the regular way...imo NO !
Eggers says he's inspired by Zualwski's Devil, Bergman's Cries and Whispers, Paradjanov and other rusky obsurish cults, but I see more a rehash of Herzog's Nosferatu and Coppola's Dracula. And Rose a far cry from her imatotaion of Adjani in Posession.
Also, I did not like the music (by Robin Carolan, his second film for Eggers after The Northman), reminiscent of Wojchiek Kilar's Dracula, but without that panache.
XXX
and an interview on videoclub konbini with Roger Eggers here, about his influences and favorite films.
you can see & read the Nosferatu script here.
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