Nosferatu :
Review, Summary, Analysis, and Playlist.
On Christmas Day my bestie and I ventured to our local theatre to see Nosferatu (2024). Being a horror lover and borderline fanatic, I went in with high hopes and bated breath *bites lip*. What I found was no disappointment. For 2 hrs 13 minutes I was submerged into an occult fantasy with beautiful gothic scenery, historical accuracy, and a dark sensuality. All this coupled with the shame of being a misunderstood horny woman in German puritanical culture (which is horror inducing in itself).
Summary and Motifs: (spoilers, skip this section if you would like to avoid.)
Thomas and Ellen are newlyweds. In light of saying their vows Thomas, of what he think is his own accord, Travels to the castle of Count Orlok on a six week business trip to sell him a house in Wisborg, Germany. If all goes well, he will be promoted and able to gain the social mobility he needs as a new husband. The real deception is the Count Orlok summoned Thomas there to separate him from his wife. Ellen, before leaving, warns Thomas of the cruelties to come and her feelings towards it. Her fears of course dismissed as hysteria.
Aidan Monaghan/© 2024 Focus Features LLC
When Thomas finds himself alone in Orlok’s Castle in the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania, he begins to suffer from feverish dreams. He wakes up with two puncture wounds on his chest and finds himself loosing time. He soon learns that he is face to face with the offensive, troubled one, Devil, Nosferatu. Thomas fueled by the love for his wife narrowly escapes from the clutches of death to be found and saved by devout women of God.
Lily-Rose Depp, Nosferatu Aidan Monaghan/© 2024 Focus Features LLC
Meanwhile back home Ellen is suffering from a sickness that can only be described as an otherworldly trance. She is overcome by the darkness within and without her every night until Thomas returns. During this dreamlike state Count Orlok communicates his desires for her and lets it be known that her life and everything she holds near, will violently crumble. That is, unless she vows her love and passion to him once more and forever. He tells her she is not for the living and that she will never be rid of him because she in fact is his affliction. He then gives her an ultimatum, say yes and vow her love to him or her husband will die on the 3rd night.
Aidan Monaghan/© 2024 Focus Features LLC
During the time that Ellen is suffering from her unknown illness, The men and her best friend Anna, are deciding what to do to save her. It is decided to call in an eccoteric Albin Eberhart Von Franz. He concludes that Ellen communicates with another realm and is possessed by demons. A theory that no one wants to accept until Anna also gets the same illness that plagues Ellen. That sickness, of course, is the curse of Nosferatu. Anna and her daughters soon die leaving her husband Friedrich to mourn alone and finally come to accept what Von Franz is saying.
Aidan Monaghan/© 2024 Focus Features LLC
Thomas, Von Franz, Friedrich, and Dr.Sievers make a plan to kill Nosferatu by driving a stake through his heart in his coffin. On the third night, when it is time to execute the plan, Friedrich is missing. Thomas, Franz, and Sievers find Friedrich dead and his diseased body on top of his deceased wife, Anna, as he attempts to make love to her corpse one more time. Von Franz ordered everyone to burn everything down ( despite there not being enough time ) after finding Nosferatu not in its coffin, but a maniacal follower instead. It is then that Thomas realizes that he was tricked into separating from his wife so that she could fulfill what had become her destiny.
Willem Dafoe stars as Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz. Aidan Monaghan/© 2024 Focus Features LLC
In the end, Elle follows her heart and allows herself and Nosfeatu to become one. An entity that she called out to during the lowest time of her life from the bowels of her soul. Who she found comfort in despite him reflecting back everything she tried to hide about herself. Everything sinister and macabre. A physical manifestation of the question “Does evil come from within us?”
Both Ellen and Count Orlok take their last breathes (and moans) together until the sun comes up killing Orlok (who is cursed to be in is tomb by the first cocks crow) and Ellen who has now become physically and spiritually one with this darkness. As she passes away, Thomas and Von Franz enters. Thomas giving one last bit piece of his affection before Ellen’s sacrifice is memorialized surrounded by Lilacs.
Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter. Aidan Monaghan/© 2024 Focus Features LLC
Motifs:
Woman and Hysteria :
One of the biggest plot points was that Ellen was facing an unknown sickness that caused her to become in an otherworldly state every night. Much of this illness was attributed to Thomas’ abscence from Ellen as they are newly wed. She is also deemed to be suffering from hysteria. This is no surprise as in the victorian era, hysteria was attributed to women who had phycological distress, emotional outbursts and discontent. This of course was a reflection of the way mental health was looked at especially women’s. It is easier to imagine this to be true of Ellen than suspension of disbelief. Even Thomas before he takes his trip to Count Orlok is warned by Ellen of what is to come and he dismisses her warning as trivial. This as a symptom of the overwhelming patriarchy of the time mades it easy to write Ellen off as unreliable and unwell. This is again exemplified during Ellen and Friedrich’s argument when Anna is under the Curse of Count Orlok. Ellen tells Friedrich that they are all in danger and he fails to listen but again speaks over her and lets her know her time there is up.
Duality and Darkness:
Ellen is beautiful. Pale and demure, the peak form of femininity during this time, but inside she holds a secret. Ellen is clairvoyant and during her lowest time as a young girl she called out for someone or something to care for her and give her the affection and attention she never had. Not being specific, that entity that answered her call was darkness. The darkness that Ellen was experiencing through her loneliness called to something equally lonely and “dark”. So, the duality in this situation comes from how someone as beautiful as Ellen could summon and relate to an entity that is so dark as to form an eternal bond.
Love:
It is clear throughout the movie that there is a lot of love to be seen. I believe that Thomas is one of the greatest embodiments of love as strength in this movie. He was able to escape the clutches of count Orlok and brave the harsh winter climate and illness to make it back home to Ellen. Secondly is Anna. I believe that Anna embodies love as well. She loves Ellen not because she sleeps with her or is bound to her in sorrow and desire, but loves her as someone who spends time with her. She also is the only other woman in the movie and I am sure that she loves her the way a woman loves another woman in the sense that they can relate to one other the way they cannot relate to their manly counterpart. Ellen also Loves Thomas as she would give herself for him (and the rest of their city). She however, also to some extent and in my opinion, loves Orlok because it is with him that she can be free in her desires and darkness. Not to mention, she was groomed into loving him as a child in her darkest hour.
Sexuality:
Let’s play no games here, this movie was full of sex. Both overt and implied. I think much of what was sexiest about this movie was a lot of the implied nature of sex. From the beginning you see Ellen and Thomas all over each other as to be expected of a newly married young couple. You can also see that with Anna and Friedrich as he admits that he can never her enough of her on multiple occasions. As well as their last encounter as Friedrich tries to make love to Annas corpse once more before he dies. One of the things that sticks out to me is when Von Franz states that entities like Nosferatu love to attach themselves to people who cannot control their “base animal urge.” What is more animalistic than sex? This leads me to think that Ellen is lusty. Which of a woman in this time period and culture is quite frowned upon. Therefore I think it is another one of those things that she and Orlok bond over as he is nothing but appetite and perhaps he is the only man that can satiate hers as she is the only one who can his.
(* Below is marked safe from spoilers)
Review :
As to not make this review too long and drawn out, I am obsessed with this movie. Going in I had already had high hopes due to enjoying what I had seen of the trailer and some of the merch surrounding the movie (the perfume to be specific). I have never been a fan of vampires too greatly, but this movie has made me a believer. I love the gothic imagery that this film has to offer. At every scene I was in awe of how much thought was put into the set design and historical accuracy. Although the movie only had about six main characters, there was never a dull moment. At least, not to me anyways. Even when dialogue halted the horrific atmosphere did the rest of the speaking. Not to mention the actors who delivered their characters with flair and fidelity. During many of the scene the fear portrayed on screen was palpable. From beginning to end I was captured by the story telling. It was even quite sensual. It is one of those movies which only gets better upon re-watch. So much so that I tested my own theory and headed to the big screen again less than 24hrs later . Again, I was filled with anticipation to see what has now become my favorite movie, Nosferatu (2024).
Nosferatu’s Yearning
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