Robert Eggers is one of the most distinctive filmmakers working today and his highly anticipated reimagining of “Nosferatu,” a fever dream of a movie, will not disappoint admirers of his previous films, “The Northman,” “The Lighthouse” and “The Witch.”
Strikingly filmed with eerie shadows and atmospheric lighting, this variation on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” has Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) tasked with a trip to Transylvania to meet with Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) about a property he wants to buy in Germany. Thomas’ wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is upset that her new husband will be gone for several weeks, and while staying with Friedrich and Anna Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin), she starts having episodes where she becomes spellbound and soon requires the care of Dr. Sievers (Ralph Ineson).
Meanwhile, Thomas is having episodes of his own after encountering Orlok. From bite marks on his chest to strange dreams, Thomas has to undergo an exorcism of sorts to save himself from Orlok’s grip. And with the help of Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe), Thomas hopes to rescue his wife from Orlok’s sinister clutches.
Eggers maximizes the terror with jump scares, scene of animalistic behavior, copious bloodletting, rats and vivid images such as Orlok killing a pair of children. The filmmaker spoke with Salon about his vision of “Nosferatu.”
What prompted you to take on “Nosferatu” and what did you imagine in your take on the story?
How far back do you want me to go, Gary? Once upon a time, when I was 9 years old, I watched [F.W.] Murnau’s “Nosferatu.” I had been into vampires, and it was unlike any vampire movie I’d ever seen. Max Schrek’s portrayal of the vampire seemed real, and the atmosphere was very haunting. The VHS tapes that were around back in the day were made from 16mm prints, so the grainy, degraded quality of the image added to the realism and authenticity. It seemed unearthed from the past.
“I went to the folklore which was written about and by people who actually believed vampires existed.”
Then, when I was in high school, I was still enamored of “Nosferatu,” and I did a school play adaptation of “Nosferatu.” This was seen by an artistic director of a local theater company, who invited me and my friends to do a more professional version at his theater. That experience changed my life and cemented the fact that I wanted to be a director. It made “Nosferatu” an important part of my identity as someone who endeavors to make creative work.
About 10 years ago, because of my obsession and passion for this story, I wanted to make a film of it. The way in — the reason for bothering to do this again — was that I took the cue from Murnau and his collaborators who made the female protagonist the heroine in the final act. I thought, if the female protagonist can be the central character from the beginning, and we see the film through her eyes, there is the opportunity for more emotional and psychological depth in this adaptation.
Count Orlok signs his contract in “Nosferatu” (Focus Features)You are very deliberate with your lighting and shadows, and I love all the scenes of Orlok’s hands or his figure in silhouette. Can you talk about crafting the visuals in the film? Scenes plays out like a fever dream — so the characters and viewers don’t always know what is real. What was your intention with (re)telling the story in this way?
The long unbroken takes framed on the z-axis, where things tend to be centrally framed, are meant to draw the viewer into the world and into the story. There are many passages in the film that are intended to have a kind of dream logic, particularly when Thomas is in the castle and under the spell of Orlok. But even in the scenes that aren’t intended to have dream logic, the way we frame things and move the camera is intended to help with the atmospheric quality you are describing.
Orlok is an imposing figure, and his voice is very distinctive. “His shadow covers you in a nightmare.” Can you talk about how you presented him?
The cinematic vampire has evolved and climaxed with Edward Cullen [from “Twilight”] as a sparkling, heroic and non-threatening vampire. In order to make this scary again, I went to the folklore which was written about and by people who actually believed vampires existed. Those early vampires from the Baltic and Slavic sources were putrefying, maggot-covered corpses, more like a cinematic zombie, which was exciting and new. So, then the obvious question was: What does a dead Transylvanian nobleman look like?
Do you believe in vampires, or the uncanny?
Probably not, but I think that astral vampires are more likely to exist than corporeal vampires, that’s for sure.
What observations do you have about the connection between sex and death in the story? I found the climactic scene to be both agony and ecstasy.
That’s what vampires are all about: Eros and Thanatos. That’s why they have been interesting from the beginning and why they continue to be compelling. I watched the Tod Browning movie [“Dracula”] with Bela Lugosi last week again — why, who knows? [laughs] Even though that’s a pretty stodgy movie with all these boring drawing room scenes, when Lugosi is leering over his victims, he is erotically charged. He is portraying a living corpse. It’s exciting.
Can you talk about creating the terror in the film, the graphic violence and gory moments?
You are always trying to modulate by instinct what is tasteful and what is distasteful. One of my favorite horror movies is “The Innocents” by Jack Clayton, which does not have anything explicit visually and even the dialogue is incredibly coded, but it makes your imagination go wild with horror. Even though “Nosferatu” is certainly more explicit than that film, I try to keep things like that in mind. There are one and a half jump scares in “The Witch,” but this is the first time I am attempting to do very traditional jump scares. While there were other horror films before it, Murnau kind of invented horror movies. I am obviously in conversation with horror history in making this movie, so I felt obligated to have jump scares that hopefully are moving the story forward and not just the next stop on the haunted house ride at the amusement park.
Willem Dafoe as Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz and Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter in “Nosferatu” (Focus Features)
I’m curious about your thoughts on the Van Helsing character, Prof. von Franz, who becomes the most interesting character. He is looking at science more than the uncanny. Can you talk about him?
He is definitely a man of contemporary science of 1838, the world in which he lives. Yet he is also interested in outdated notions of alchemy, and the occult, and peristalsis and other medieval ideas. He sees the value of all of those things. He sees the beauty in the darkness, not just the light. That makes him a curious person and a compelling character, and also the only character who can see Ellen for who she actually is.
The film addresses issues of power, faith and love. There is a kind of morality throughout in how the characters behave. What are your thoughts about these themes?
Von Franz puts it best when he says, “God is beyond our morals.” I think that Ellen is on a different plane of understanding than most human beings, certainly in — it’s not England, but we’ll call it a Victorian society for short. What is the gray in between good and evil?
Adéla Hesová stars as Clara Harding and Milena Konstantinova as Louise Harding in “Nosferatu” (Focus Features)
It is very easy with Dracula-themed work to tip into camp or go grisly. You find an appropriate tone in making the film earnest and respectful to the material. Can you talk about how you leaned into the source material but also put your own spin on the legend?
“Archetypal stories, fairy tales, myths, fables and legends always work.”
Thank you. My approach was endeavoring to recreate the verisimilitude of the period and how people thought in that era. All the costumes, even if they seem over the top in places, are taken from research and put on the screen. The only “intentionally stylized” aspect is the fairy-tale framing of things. Every object, from a pocket watch to a castle to a petticoat, is drawn from that world. The accumulation of details creates an atmosphere. The accuracy is not so important for the storytelling yet it enables the audience to unconsciously feel that this world is grounded in something real. It is not just invented. I am always trying to find ways to keep it grounded.
The other thing that is stylized is the music which always acts as subtext to a scene. Hopefully, it’s not clearly describing what you are watching. Rather, it is adding something to the image, and certainly, the sound design stylizes things. But even when we go into the gothic and uncanny and horror and weird with the sound design, I still try to have a few naturalistic elements to tether us to reality.
What is the appeal of making films like “Nosferatu” for today’s society?
Not trying to be cagey, but archetypal stories, fairy tales, myths, fables and legends always work. You can always see yourself in them. And these are the stories that get told repeatedly. We tell “Hansel and Gretel” to our children and go to see “Oedipus” and “King Lear” on stage because they always work. You don’t need to bend it and reshape it to talk about now; it becomes now. Obviously, I have added and changed things in “Nosferatu” which haven’t been featured before. I don’t live in a vacuum, so some of the things I have added may speak more directly to the contemporary world, but I am not making work with any kind of specific message. But certainly, Lily-Rose’s character, as a female outsider, and as a victim of 19th century society, seems to be speaking to a lot of contemporary audience members.
“Nosferatu” is currently in theaters nationwide.
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movie interviews by Gary Kramer
