Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

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This article describes the 1922 silent film. For the 1979 remake, see Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht. For other uses see Nosferatu (disambiguation).
Nosferatu

A promotional film poster for "Nosferatu."
Directed by F.W. Murnau
Produced by Enrico Dieckmann
Albin Grau
Written by Bram Stoker
Henrik Galeen
Starring Max Schreck
Gustav von Wangenheim
Greta Schröder
Alexander Granach
Georg H. Schnell
Ruth Landshoff
John Gottowt
Cinematography Fritz Arno Wagner
Günther Krampf
Distributed by USA Film Arts Guild
Release date(s) Germany 4 March 1922
USA 3 June 1929
Running time 94 min
Country Germany
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens ("Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror" in German) is a German Expressionist film shot in 1921 by F.W. Murnau, and released in 1922. He had wanted to film a version of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but his studio was unable to obtain the rights to the story. Murnau decided instead to film his own version with only slight changes to the story. For instance, "Dracula" became "Nosferatu" and the names of the characters changed, with Count Dracula changed to Count Orlok. The role of the vampire was played by Max Schreck. Other major actors in the film were Gustav von Wangenheim (as Thomas Hutter/Jonathan Harker), Greta Schröder (as Ellen Hutter/Mina M. Harker), and Alexander Granach (as Knock/R.M. Renfield).

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

[edit] Plot

Stylistically, Nosferatu is similar to Dracula, although the first official film version of the story would not be made until 1931. Nosferatu retains the core characters (John and Mina Harker, the Count, Dr. Seward, etc.) but weeds out many of the secondary players, such as Lucy. All the characters' names were changed as well, although in some versions of this film the Dracula names have been reinserted.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The ending is also substantially different than that of Dracula. Count Orlock (Dracula) is ultimately destroyed when the character "Mina" sacrifices herself to him. In the book (and many later versions of the story) Dracula is destroyed physically. The timeframe of the story is significantly earlier: according to the logbook of the ship captain, it takes place in 1838, while Dracula takes place in the 1890s. A preview for the film can also be found, in which the scene where Ellen sits up and the subtitles say "Hutter!," is changed to the subtitles saying "Jonathon, Jonathon, hear me!" It can be inferred that this scene was cut out after Mrs. Stoker filed a lawsuit against F.W. Murnau.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Influences

This was the first and last Prana-Film GmbH film — the company declared bankruptcy after Bram Stoker's estate — acting for his widow, Florence Stoker — sued for copyright infringement and won. The court ordered all existing prints of Nosferatu destroyed, but copies of the film had already been distributed around the world. These prints were then copied over the years, helping Nosferatu gain its current reputation as one of the greatest movie adaptations of the vampire legend.

Count Orlock
Enlarge
Count Orlock

With the influence of producer and production designer Albin Grau, the film established one of two main depictions of film vampires. The "Nosferatu-type" is a living corpse with rodent features (especially elongated fingernails and incisors), associated with rats and plague, and neither charming nor erotic but rather totally repugnant. The victims usually die and are not turned into vampires themselves. The more common archetype is the "Dracula-type" (established by Bela Lugosi's version of Dracula and perpetuated by Christopher Lee), a charming aristocrat adept at seduction and whose bite turns his victims into new vampires.

Parts of the film depicting Transylvania were in fact filmed in Slovakia. Nosferatu's castle, for instance, is Orava Castle in northern Slovakia, and other locations are in the High Tatras and on the Váh River around Strečno Castle.

The shadow of the vampire is seen climbing stairs in this famous scene from the movie
Enlarge
The shadow of the vampire is seen climbing stairs in this famous scene from the movie

Murnau's Nosferatu is in the public domain, and copies of the movie are widely available on video (usually as poorly transferred, faded, scratched video copies that are often scorned by enthusiasts). However, pristine restored editions of the film have also been made available, and are also readily accessible to the public.

The film was remade in 1979 as Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, which was directed by Werner Herzog.

[edit] Origins of the name

Main article: Nosferatu (word)

The original meaning of the word nosferatu is difficult to determine. There is no doubt that it achieved popular currency through Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, and Stoker identified his source for the term as the 19th-century British author and speaker Emily Gerard. Gerard introduced the word into print in a book chapter ("Transylvanian Superstitions"; published 1885) and in her travelogue The Land Beyond the Forest (1888) (Transylvania's English translation).

The word itself does not mean "the undead" or "vampire", as is popularly thought. Theories regarding its etymology link it either to the Greek nosophoros (νοσοφορος; "plague-carrier"), or the Romanian nesuferitul ("the insufferable one").

[edit] Cultural references

[edit] In film, television and the media

  • 1975 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the character of Riffraff (butler/handyman) was created with Nosferatu in mind[citation needed].
  • 1979 – Salem's Lot director Tobe Hooper chose a distinctly Nosferatu-like look for the vampire Barlow.
  • 1991 – The vampire Radu from the Subspecies series of films has visual cues from Nosferatu, including the grotesque white face, and over-long fingers and nails.
  • 1992 - The principal villain in Tim Burton's Batman Returns is named "Max Shreck."
  • 1993 – Clips from a Nosferatu parody appear and he jumps off of the screen in an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? called "The Tale of the Midnight Madness" (Season 2, Episode 2).
  • 1994 - In the film, Interview with the Vampire, when Louis, the main character, returns to the New World, he witnesses sunrises by way of film. Two films he sees are both directed by Murnau, and they are Sunrise, A Song of Two Humans and Nosferatu.
  • 1996 - The short-lived T.V. series Kindred: the Embraced, based on the White Wolf role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, featured a clan of vampires known as Nosferatu, which were modeled after Schreck. They are lead by Dædalus, portrayed by Jeff Kober.
  • 1997 – The Master, the villain throughout the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was visually based on Nosferatu, having long nails, large bat-like ears, and a bald white head. In the Angel episode "Why We Fight" there is also a Nosferatu-looking vampire on board a submarine, though it is implied he is actually supposed to be Count Orlok.
  • 1998 - In Dark City, the Strangers are parasitic creatures who use dying human bodies as vessels and bear a physical resemblance to Nosferatu.
  • 2000 – A Hollywood movie called Shadow of the Vampire told a fictional story of the making of Nosferatu, imagining that actor Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe) was himself a genuine vampire, and that director F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) was complicit in hiring the creature for the purposes of realism.
  • 2000 – Several episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command feature the recurring villain NOS-4-A2, a robot that feeds off of the energy of anything mechanical.
  • 2001 - In the vampire anime Hellsing a member of the Iscariot Organization refers to the main character Alucard as "Nosferatu Alucard" in reference to his despicable demeanor and his occult supernatural powers which are far greater than any normal bitten vampire. As well Incognito, the Vampire towards the end of the series, are referred to as a "true Nosferatu".
  • 2002 – The movie Blade II introduces mutant vampires called Reapers that resemble Count Orlok.
  • 2002 - The film Star Trek: Nemesis features the villainous race called the Remans, who were designed based on the appearance of Count Orlok.
  • 2002 - On SpongeBob SquarePants, Orlok makes a cameo appearance at the end of the episode "The Graveyard Shift".
  • 2005– General Grievous, a new Star Wars villain, is based on various aspects of Nosferatu. Rob Coleman (one of the top VFX workers on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) when speaking about movements for the character is quoted as saying, "In fact, we talked about Fagin as well as classic vampire movies, including Nosferatu."
  • 2006– The character Uta Refson (Erica Cerra) [Nosferatu backwards] is introduced in the series The L Word. Uta Refson is shown to have a bony figure, very intense eyes, long sharp fangs and finger-nails, a casual avoidance of being seen in mirrors, exceptional stamina, a preference to only go out at night, an aversion to discussing religion and far greater strength than her body suggests.
  • 2006 - The Opie & Anthony Show on XM Satellite Radio has an intern that is known as Nosferatu because of his resemblence to Count Orlok.

[edit] In music

The film and its variant of the vampire legend has had a significant influence on Gothic rock and death metal music. The following list of references is by no means comprehensive.

  • 1922-1929 - American composer Aaron Copland's first ballet, Grohg, has a plot loosely based on and inspired by Nosferatu, involving a vampiric necromancer who brings his victims back to life. Copland adapted music from the ballet (which was never staged) into his Dance Symphony of 1929.
  • 1977 – The narrative song "Nosferatu" closes the album Spectres by Blue Öyster Cult.
  • 1979 - 'Nosferatu' was the title of an album by The Stranglers' lead-singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell and Captain Beefheart percussionist Robert Williams.
  • 1982 – Clips from the film are included in British rock band Queen's (featuring David Bowie) Under Pressure video.
  • 1988 - UK based Gothic Rock band Nosferatu is formed, heavily influenced by classic horror, vampires, and vampyre subculture.
  • 1991 – "Nosferatu Man" is the name of a song on the album Spiderland by Slint.
  • 1993 – Nosferatu is mentioned in the Type O Negative song Black no. 1.
  • 1996 - The Detroit-based horror rap group House of Krazees release a song called "Nosferatu" about the vampire of the film.
  • 1998 – German experimental krautrock band Faust releases Faust Wakes Nosferatu, an accompaniment or alternative soundtrack to the film. The vinyl and CD editions of the record, however, contain completely different music.
  • 1999 - The Swedish Progressive Metal band Evergrey has a track on their 1999 album Solitude - Dominance - Tragedy titled "Nosferatu."
  • 2001 - The American Groove Metal band "God Forbid" had a song entitled Nosferatu which is thematically based around the character of Count Orlock/Nosferatu.
  • 2002 - The music video to Farin Urlaubs second single, "Sumisu" is shot in the style of the movie and features Urlaub playing a character bearing strong resemblance to Count Orlok.
  • 2002 - Jill Tracy and The Malcontent Orchestra release the CD Into the Land of Phantoms, selections from their acclaimed score to Nosferatu.

[edit] In print media

[edit] In games

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau

Der Knabe in Blau (1919) • Der Januskopf (1920) • Abend - Nacht - Morgen (1920) • Satanas (1920) • Sehnsucht (1920) • Der Gang in die Nacht (1920) • Der Bucklige und die Tänzerin (1920) • Schloß Vogelöd (1921) • Marizza (1922) • Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) • Phantom (1922) • Der brennende Acker (1922) • Die Austreibung (1923) • Der letzte Mann (1924) • Die Finanzen des Großherzogs (1924) • Herr Tartüff (1926) • Faust (1926) • Sunrise (1927) • Four Devils (1928) • City Girl (1930) • Tabu (1931)
Characters of Dracula
Dracula | Jonathan Harker | Mina Harker | Abraham Van Helsing | Lucy Westenra | Renfield
Film Adaptations of Dracula
Nosferatu | Dracula (1931) | House of Dracula | Dracula (1958) | Count Dracula (1969) | Dracula (1979) | Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht | Love At First Bite | Bram Stoker's Dracula | Dracula: Dead and Loving It | Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary
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