Silent movies don’t always stay well with me. Sure, there was lots of admirable stuff in Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927), but at the end I didn’t feel as satisfied as I thought I would. While I love the old silent films of Charlie Chaplin, the only other silent film I really loved was Körkarlen (Victor, Sjöström, 1921), which was quite fantastic. Then again, I haven’t seen that many silent films, so I am probably still missing out on a lot. I wanted to see this long ago, and bought it, but it turned out to be Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Werner Herzog, 1979), which I thought was quite good.
Nosferatu reminded me a bit about Körkarlen, in that it dealt with a similar fantastical force and used atmospheric techniques. And in this Nosferatu really shines. The shadows on the walls, dark and sinister cinematography, wretched architecture and the vampire itself all add to the creepiness. The film is careful with using its techniques, but uses them always when appropriately. This is not a shocker; this is a film that builds its tension up slowly with mood, pacing and atmosphere. F.W. Murnau really shows off his talents as a visual storyteller here, he uses very interesting camera-angles and play with the landscapes to create tension. There is also a scene where a “werewolf” scares off a flock of horses, a scene that quite elegantly captures the fear of the people in the inn. There is also a scene on a dock when a couple of sailors open a box and a swarm of rats come pouring out. These scenes don’t always necessarily serve plot purposes or to further the narrative, but builds up the wonderful tension and creepiness. The different tints of colour that change with the scenes also add a lot to the atmosphere, and are used to great effect in each scene. Some of the best scenes are of people being carried away in coffins in the city, due to the “plague”. It shows just how menacing the vampire is and how much damage he causes.
Speaking about the vampire, he is probably the most effective element of the whole film. Max Schreck has the perfect face for a vampire, but a lot of the credit should be given to the make-up, which still even then managed to make the vampire look convincing. The ears, the teeth, the long fingers all gives the vampire a mystical and frightening look, which again is strengthened with the eerie aura of the film. Particularly a scene where the vampire enters the protagonist’s room is quite unnerving, building up the tension slowly. Most horror films of today tend to lean on shock effects, but don’t leave any particular lasting effect. There is a good reason why people still cite Nosferatu as one of the great examples of a horror. It uses mood and pacing to create the horror and psychological fear. Most old silent films often tend to have poor quality, which is to be expected to some degree. I bought the excellent Masters of Cinema release of Nosferatu, and they really did a great job with it. While some scene still remains a bit dodgy, most of the print is clear and sharp, which I feel is so important to such visual films. I would always recommend the Masters of Cinema films; they always do a great job and are the Region 2 equivalent of Criterion. The extras are also great, containing a booklet and a second disk with material.
I’m usually slightly ambivalent when watching silent films, but I though this was a great film. It leans on the wonderful mood and tension created through the visuals, dwells on images, and the vampire is truly frightening. Still, I know a lot of the modern audiences will not appreciate this, and you can tell the film was made for its time, and is not in any way compatible with contemporary cinema. Still, a great German classic by a director I really need to experience more of.
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