By definition, the undead will never stay dead. Cursed to be eternally exhumed by authors and filmmakers, the vampire tempts bloodthirsty audiences ready to slurp up Gothic fiction of unspeakable desire. It’s been over 100 years since F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, an unofficial Dracula adaptation, hit theaters. And we’re still insatiable for the 19th-century tale. That includes director Robert Eggers, whose take on the fabled fanged villain is fueled with his signature penchant for darkness, the occult, and painstaking period accuracy.
In the press notes from Focus Features, Eggers has called Nosferatu his “most personal film…embedded with many of my own memories and personal experiences amplified and transposed to 1830s Baltic Germany.” A full-throttle Eggers project, the writer-director reunites his key collaborators from The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman; director of photography Jarin Blaschke, editor Louise Ford, production designer Craig Lathrop, costume designer Linda Muir, and acclaimed actor Willem Dafoe. In doing so, Eggers infuses Nosferatu with the unsettling chiaroscuro of these films, while sticking close to the literature — though Eggers doesn’t have Count Orlok carry his own coffin through town like a surfboard as Murnau does.
Willem Dafoe and Robert Eggers reveal their inspirations for ‘Nosferatu’. It goes deeper than you may think.
However, remakes come with their fair share of baggage and expectations. So how does this distinctive director approach such a task? With extreme reverence for the source material, meticulous production design, and an unrelenting parade of close-up shots of Lily-Rose Depp in moments of ecstasy and agony. Whether that floats your Empusa is up to you.
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