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AKA: Nosferatu Review based on Republic Pictures Home Video (1991), Kino on Video (2002) and Alpha Video (2001) versions. In some ways doing a review of “Nosferatu, eine Symphonie de Grauens/Nosferatu” is a pointless exercise. Anyone who is truly interested in vampire movies will have already watched it. Reviewing “Nosferatu” is like reviewing “Birth of a Nation” for silent film fans or “The Wizard of Oz” for the general public. The most direct way of writing about these films is to say, “If you haven’t watched the film yet, go watch it, not only because it is a great film, but because of its immense historical importance.” For this reason I have given a primary place to the history of “Nosferatu” and a secondary place to the normal elements of a movie review. “Nosferatu” is often incorrectly considered the first film to be based on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Actually “Nosferatu” was beaten to this honor by an obscure Hungarian film, “Drakula/Drakula halála” (Lafthay, 1920). “Drakula” appeared 23 years after Bram Stoker’s novel was published. Dating on Drakula varies from 1920[i] & [ii], 1921[iii], and 1923[iv]. If the last date is valid then “Nosferatu” would have preceded “Drakula.” Scholarly history however generally credits “Drukula” with having appeared first. “Drakula” is a Hungarian film in which Mary Land (Margit Lux) has visions of visiting a sanitarium where she meets a man claiming to be Drakula (Paul Askons). She is unsure if her visions are real or nightmares. The communist regime of the time had banned horror films so it is presumed the film was destroyed soon after production. Whether “Drakula” or “Nosferatu” came first it was twenty three years after the publication of Dracula that a wide audience got to see Dracula on the screen. The version that earned this distinction was Murnau's “Nosferatu, eine Symphonie de Grauens.” Twenty three years is a long time for a popular and important book, like Dracula, to appear on celluloid. Part of the delay in the arrival of a celluloid version can be traced to the fact that Bram Stoker believed that films were a vulgar form of entertainment and he would only grant licenses for versions of the Dracula. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau in 1922 was to break this barrier in a major way, but not without a price. Murnau was one of three great Weimar expressionist film directors along with Fritz Lang, and G.W. Pabst. Prior to making “Nosferatu” Murnau approached Bram Stoker for film rights to Dracula and was spurned. It was not till Browning’s 1931 “Dracula” featuring Bela Lugosi that film rights to the book were granted. To circumvent copyright issues Murnau changed various elements of the film. The elements he changed included the names of the characters and location. He also changed the ending, the manner of the Count’s death, he made vampires vulnerable to sunlight, demoted Nina to a more traditional female role, merged Renfield and the solicitor, eliminated numerous characters, introduced a vampire book and removed the adventure story aspects. All these changes foreshadowed elements in later films. And so in 1922 “Nosferatu, eine Symphonie de Grauens” was released with a seriously altered plot and characterization. Count Dracula had become Graf (Count) Orlok played by Max Schreck, a stage a film actor known for taking unusual parts. Jonathan Harker had become Hutter played by Gustav von Wangenhein, a now forgotten actor. Mina had become Ellen Hutter played by Greta Schröder, an actress chiefly known for her portrayal in Merhige’s “Shadow of the Vampire” (2000). Renfield become the mad solicitor Knock played by Alexander Granach, a leading German actor who had to flee Germany with the rise of Hitler. Van Helsing is a relatively minor character, not Stoker’s wise dynamic character. Van Helsing is called Professor Bulwer and is played by John Gottowt. London became Wisborg/Bremen in Northern Germany. The date is not Stoker’s Europe but the plague ridden Europe of the 1838[v]. The Count is not hunted down by European adventures in the Carpathian Mountains but meets its destiny in Wisborg, a victim of love and loneliness. The Count Orlok is a far cry from the romantic vampire played by Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee. Count Orlok is a pale thin figure with bat like ears, rat like teeth and long claw like nails. While Count Dracula was chiefly associated with wolves, Orlok is associated with rats. Orlok is a plague carrier and there are no doubts about Orlok’s demonic nature. Like Dracula, Orlok decides to emigrate to fresher hunting grounds. Orlok selects Wisborg and having obtained a house, through the services of Knock and Hutter, emigrates. He brings with him the plague in rat filled boxes of defiled earth. Like in the novel Dracula, Nina/Ellen Hutter helps to defeat the Count. This is one of the last times Nina will appear as a true heroine. Unlike in the novel she is portrayed not as a modern resourceful woman, but as a “traditional” woman whose chief weapons are love and self-sacrifice. Despite the many changes Murnau made, Bram Stoker’s widow, Florance Stoker, with the aid of the British Incorporated Society of Authors, sued Murnau for copyright infringement. As a result of the suit, virtually all copies of the film were destroyed. Fortunately, Florance was not able to destroy every copy so many years later the film resurfaced. The validity of Florance’s suit can not be denied, despite the changes to the names, places and plot there is an unmistakable resemblance to the novel. Still it is fortunate for posterity that this great film was not lost. “Nosferatu” is often credited as being one of the most horrific portrayals of Dracula. Horrific not in the gore laden or scream filled sense that modern horror films are judged but in its portrayal of true evil, haunting atmosphere, and the stark desolation of endless longing and hunger. Horrific as is the life of a heroin addict forever hungering for the next fix, not horrific as a villain in a hockey mask or wielding a chainsaw. The filming is haunting in a way that only Carl Theodor Dreyer’s film “Vampyr” (1934) comes close too. “Nosferatu” is filled with stark contrasts of light and dark, shadows, and Hutter’s happy go-lucky manner with the desolation left in Orlok’s wake. Again to repeat my short review, ““If you haven’t watched the film yet, go watch it, not only because it is a great film, but because of its immense historical importance to the genre.” Versions Reviewed
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