Nosferatu

I watched Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror to get more ideas and inspire me on our own interpretation of Dracula on stage. Nosferatu is a German Expressionist horror film, created in 1922. It was an unauthorized version of the book, with only names changed to seem like it didn't have connection to Bram Stoker's novel. It is a silent film, meaning, that there was no spoken lines, but there is a symphony playing throughout the film. The music starts as quite happy and up-lifting, but soon changes as the vampire appears.


   German Expressionism refers to several movements like expressionistic architecture, painting and film, started in Germany before the First World War, reaching its peak in the 1920's. This style was known for its stark contrasts, rigid movements and fantastic elements. Expressionists didn't seek for physical reality in their art works, but rather focused on expressing emotional meaning and experience. They often dealt with themes such as identity, and problems of modern self-reflexcivity(source 1, 2)


   The plot of the story is pretty much exactly same as it was for the novel and later on the 1931 movie adaptations, so I won't be talking about it in this post. Rather, I would like to talk about the different devices the movie used to create mood and what could we use from the movie in our performance. There were some difference thoug, like the fact that Nosferatu complitely left out Van Helsing character and changed the death of the vampire.

There are some differences between the two films. First of all, both of them are set in different times, the 19321 film being set closer to the time and era it was made in, and Nosferatu occurs at the same time as the original novel is set in



   I really liked the portrayal of Count Orlok in Nosferatu, and maybe even preferred it compared to the 1931 version of Dracula. In the 1931 film version, Dracula was this extremely charming m like expressionistic architecture, painting and film,elegance, where as in Nosferatu, Count Orlak seems like he has been living in isolation for hundreds of years, which is probably true, when you take in consideration that he lives in the middle of a forest, with only a small village not so close by. He is sort of awkward and fidgety, and when Hutter(Harker) first meets Count Orlak, Orlak does not seem to know what exactly to do around him.

My favourite parts in the film were the ones where they used shadows to show count Orlak and his attacks, rather than just showing him going up the stairs or attacking Ellen(Mina). This created tension and could be easily used when creating our play.