Introduction to European culture: Nosferatu, the first version (1922)

Thèmes abordés

Nosferatu the Vampire - Bram Stoker - European culture - Dracula

Résumé du document

Nosferatu the Vampire (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens in the original) is a german silent film by Friedrich W. Murnau (who is a pioneer in this genre of movie) screened for the first time March 5, 1922 in Berlin.

This is the first film adaptation of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, although she was not authorized by the copyright owners. It is also one of the first horror movies and one of the great masterpieces of German Expressionist cinema. First, we will explain the background of Nosferatu and make a technical approach. Then we will analyze the importance and influence of the movie. Finally, there is a comparison between this genre at the beginning of this century and nowadays.

Extraits

[...] It is this partition, completed by the latest discoveries from the musicologist Gillian B. Anderson at the Library of Congress in 19947 and performed by the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken still conducted by Berndt Heller, which was accompanying the restored version of 2005. THE INFLUENCES OF NOSFERATU Many contemporary artists have been strongly influenced by Nosferatu. American filmmaker Abel Ferrara and uses an excerpt of the feature film in The King of New York. An excerpt also passes over a screen Televison in Scream 2. [...]

[...] The headings have been restored after a copy of the Staatliche Filmarchiv the GDR. This version was presented June at the Cinémathèque française. A copy tinted using filters, in the spirit of the original version, is planned for the first time at the Berlin Film Festival February accompanied by the music of Erdmann THE TECHNICAL APPROACH Shooting began in July 1921 and most of the scenes set in the fictional town of Wisborg were shot in the cities of Wismar and Lübeck. [...]

[...] Nowadays, just a few people are looking at this kind of movies. They are too old, the grain on the video is not great. Nevertheless, the film artist” proves that there is still a public for this movie's genre. It is like a renewal, a return of what was thought to be lost. It was a big bet to launch this movie and thought that it could compete three musqueteers” or Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn”. The film had to undergo restoration. [...]

[...] Then Nosferatu comes to Hutter as a werewolf (here represented as a brown hyena), so inspired Dracula's guest, the first chapter and removed from the original novel published as a new a few years later. Finally, sunlight can kill the vampire (while in the novel, Dracula walks in London, during the day). Nevertheless, the narrative is respected. Regarding the work of the color, Friedrich-Wilhelm Murnau did not use color filters for his film, like most silent films of the era. [...]

[...] But nevertheless, I still feel very close to Murnau." THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MOVIE AND OUR CULTURE This film has a political dimension. Indeed, many voices were raised to highlight the political and social dimension of Nosferatu. For some, the feature film, shot just after the First World War, prefigure the Nazi horrors to come. For others, Nosferatu would instead be a work at certain points Semitic. Critical debate caused a storm in the movie. On the other hand, as we think of the film filth that abounds today about vampires, we are delighted to see Murnau's Nosferatu. [...]