Nosferatu - Movie Review

Nosferatu is a film made after World War 1. According to "film history" Germany had lost World war 1 and suffered severe economic and political problems. However, Germany's film industry was able to expand because the government put a ban on forein films. Nosferatu was a popular film to come out of these hard times. Nosferatu is apart of the Weimar era. It's a very expressionist film that uses music to reflects the fear of the people at the time, and it's very similar to Dracula.

The Weimar Republic governed Germany from 1919 to 1933. A lot of new ideas and arts were being generated by artists (painters, poets, film makers, architects,etc.) An example from Nosferatu that reflects the Weimar era is Nosferatu's house. The film made sure the audience noticed the design and architecture of the castle. There's a scene in the film after Hutter returns home and his Wife shows him the Nosferatu's house. The exterior shot of the house was held for longer time so that the audience can take in the architectural design and vastness of the house. "Film History" on page 94, also points out the architectural use of the archways in which "Count Orlok and his guest are placed..." The Weimar Republic was also a time where people started going to the movies more and since Germany banned foreign films, this caused Germany's film industry to rise and it brought about the Expressionist movement.

Expressionism is "a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany." It brought a new style to film making into existence. As we talked about in class, the goal of expressionism is to "express feelings directly and in a very extreme way." In Nosferatu, there's a scene that's also depicted in "Film History" of Count Orlok's shadow creeping up the stairs with his hand out like he's ready to get someone. This reflects the fear going on in Germany. Since Germany just lost the war, there is a lot of fear and uncertainty of what's going to happen next and definetly there's fear because of the war that just passed. A lot of critics also relate Count Orlok to being the Nazi trying to take over, which eventually happened. Music also helped drive the film and reveal more expressionist movements.

There's a scene when Hutter cuts himself and Count Orlok starts to make his way toward him. The music helped to add to the fear that Hutter was in a dangerous situation because it had a "gorey" tone to it that let the audience know something was wrong. The mise-en-scene of the same scene also helped to create a fearful environment because you get a wider shot of the Count Orlok's castle to show that Hutter is in this situation alone and there isn't anyone around to help him. This scene could be forshadowing how no one will be around to help when Hitler comes to power.

At