![]() Nosferatu (1922) is actually an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula, and the film offers the most physically striking and most complex vampire ever produced on film. Count Orlock (instead of being called Count Dracula) offers a German approach to the mythical vampire lore and one that Hollywood had not yet got their hands on and tainted.
For some, the imagery of the movie and the Count Orlock character is haunting, barren, disturbing, and yet for me I see something that is not human in looking at Nosferatu. I see a house pet, an alcoholic, a cheetah running across the Savanna plains after prey. The character Count Orlock can’t help what he does and is burdened with a curse that saddens him, and torments his every being century after century. Which is so out of line when compared with the iconoclastic portrayal of Dracula by Hollywood as this sexy clean cut playboy. American filmmakers saw the power and intensity of Nosferatu and thought what they could do if they traded all that for sexiness to win the hearts of Americans everywhere. The introspective and depressing nature of a vampire that Murnau shows is still missing from our silver screens, as it doesn’t sell. There will never be another one as long as there are young schoolgirls (at heart) to hang on to the notion that everything is glamourous. The nature and occult mystic of the vampire was still so strong at the time of Nosferatu’s showing in 1922 that supposedly (as rumor goes) at the time of Murnau’s death in 1931, sailors refused to tend and transport Murnau’s casket in their ship because they had seen his film, believing him to be cursed as well and being better off not to risk it. That’s power money or Hollywood can’t possibly imagine having if the story is true. Everything about the film, exudes mystery, a sense of immortality, and awe. Stoker’s widow sued the then freshly established Prauna Film studio into bankruptcy. It was their first ever film produced. And since Stoker’s widow could not attain rights to the film, and turn it into a “Dracula” showpiece, she ordered every negative produced of the film destroyed before it could hit theaters. And guess what, it miraculously survived against all odds. It still survives today, even though it actually completed! What we have of the film is essentially the leftovers, with several lost reels still unfound. So readers, go dim the lights and view the spectacle yourself free at YouTube: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrcyzubFvBsA&ei=QWWKVIa0GYKfNpHNg6AJ&usg=AFQjCNGfHEoGW5eO9qFha1NzLACCxG61xg
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![]() Not really in the spirit of Christmas, gingerbread houses and eggnog, I take a moment to reflect on the year’s best day for myself (Halloween). I replace the imagery of mistletoe with cobwebs, reds and greens with blood and the color black and voila-my favorite holiday for good reason. If people are beautiful on the outside, why can’t skeletons and vital organs on the inside be also? After all that is our actual selves. That is the same way I viewed horror films altogether for years-there’s nothing cute about organs and there’s not much special bout’ horror films storylines and visuals. And boy could I never had been more wrong. Ever since I discovered the silent German Expressionist film Nosferatu (1922) two years ago my life has never been the same. Never have I appreciated visuals, story, and the amount of emotion an actor can convey without having to speak a word.
The sense of emotion F.W. Murnau paints with actor Max Schreck should be what every director aspires to bring out in their leading actor onscreen. It is so engrossing, and overwhelming all that one can do is live the moment and revel in every historical moment of it. I say paint because Murnau recognizes that film is the perfect opportunity to include symbolism at its highest form. Hell the renowned occultist production designer for Nosferatu, Albin Grau, poured countless hours in a document that common viewers would not even recognize the unrelated hieroglyphics and ancient magical symbols. Yet Grau did so in order to provide a deeper mythical feel to the imagery of the film; since the plot and setting require a more Victorian age mentality, it fit perfect for the not really secret Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel foundation. And the thing about perfection is things like the human body-you cough when sick to expel a virus, and beauty is not only skin deep. Watching this film has taught me that it can be in your soul, our bones, and your blood as: “the blood is life!” is used to great meaningfulness in the film. Nothing that I thought that was ugly before, is still ugly. That’s precisely why I still watch this relevant movie despite the sounds of Christmas carolers and all of the religious celebrations. Art and beauty for me is the dark side, partly because it is not as appreciated as much and part of it is my own solace. I feel at home. ![]() Call me old fashioned or something, but Interstellar’s cinematic actors is what drew me to the film. I’ve seen Gravity advertise and a couple trailers of it with George Clooney floating around in space, and that wasn’t enough for me to buy a ticket. Not at all. I wanted to see a sophisticated sci-fi big budget flick that had a story, and wasn’t all visuals. As I had high expectations for Interstellar after seeing Nolan’s gripping trailers, I could get a sense of the movies appeal to an audience long overdue for such a film. The sci-fi genre hasn’t had a loss of awe inspiring flicks to come out as of late, yet many failed to deliver on acting prowess.
With Christopher Nolan’s utilizing some of the ‘live set’ methods that he learned on his Batman trilogy in shooting, Nolan realizes the critical importance of physically real settings for his actors to really distance themselves from reality and escape into the role of their character due to the sense of a foreboding setting. Nolan’s less modern approach in filming has made quite the statement in Hollywood due to his no-expenses spared macho man gait in producing any film of his, simply because he will not use a green screen like his competitors. He has become the next Howard Hughes of filmmaking. Not so as Ben Sachs says from the Chicago Reader: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/interstellar-christopher-nolan-jonathan-nolan-matthew-mcconaughey-anne-hathaway/Content?oid=15546954 Sony practically gave the man all the needed materials and resources from their departments and said show us how to make a sci-fi blockbuster; Nolan delivered and some more. That is a rare occurrence for today’s movie making standards; by Sony transferring their complete power of control to Nolan with all of the expenses and production elements, their entire faith rests in gambling Nolan to the public. This gamble should illustrate Nolan’s power as a filmmaker, and with the film falling below budget-Nolan should be given an Academy Award. ![]() Does anyone else miss the cinema theatres of yore? The bygone era where everybody dressed in their best of Sunday attire and went out to the movies? I sure do, and it presents the matter as more of an “event”. An artistic showing, instead of a gathering place for greasers, high school cheerleaders and burnouts. A sense of respectability was associated when entering the first theatres of time, as “cinema” and moving silent “pictures” were new forms of entertainment. Often folks preferred to go to the opera house or the acting theatre over some place showing “pictures” they were called. The act of attending for many was ludicrous. Now look at the way cinema has such an influential part of American pop culture.
Cinema is needed just as much for us to live as the industry needs us for its own monetary survival. And that is exactly the purpose and aim for this blog, to help cinema aim for the twenty second century in recognizing what makes movies great. I am inspired by the past, only to add inspiration for those future filmmakers out there who are listening. As we cannot live in the past, we must learn those techniques that our forefathers used to learn from their mistakes. To pay money to see pictures, and not live fresh and blood actors on a stage? No way! That was an idea to “far out” for those living in the 20’s before “talkies” were popular. Many of the top script writers and actors of the times called foul play and claimed that the cinema houses were new and degenerate attempts at art, and scoffed at people’s interest in the new technology. Needless to say did those critical folks ever think that the biggest thing on Broadway today would be reoccurring time dwindlers like Cats and Wicked, still attracting theater buffs to pour in year after year, and century after century for the dying light that is live acting theater. The once glamorous ‘event’ of attending a movie, unless it is a premiere, is so mainstream and Fordism-esque that it is the equivalent of grabbing a burger nowadays. People got to eat and watch something at the same time, and fantastically, are bored at the thought of going to the movies once again, it is a hassle almost when one also starts considering popcorn and drink prices. Thus renting a movie at redbox and seeing ole man Orville for your popcorn needs is becoming so increasingly commonplace-no one can afford it anymore. |