Nosferatu Research Papers

1090 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Bram Stoker's Dracula Dracula — The Beginning

Nosferatu

Nosferatu is a German silent film made in the early 1920’s. It was directed by F.W. Murnau. It was produced by Albin Grau and screenplay by Henrik Galeen. The story behind Nosferatu was ripped off by Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. This film was released in Germany on March 4th 1922, and June 3rd 1929 in the United States.
In Germany this film was an instant hit. During this time in Germany, the country was deeply suffering due to the fact that they had just lost World War I in 1918. Post WWI Germany was in a state of shock. There was a dark presence in Germany. There were emotions of fear and distrust, which Murnau expresses in his film. Cinema during this time was very popular, probably because this was a form of entertainment that allowed the people of Germany to escape the horrors of their daily lives and “lose themselves in the film”. …show more content…

A German real estate agent, Hutter, portrayed by Gustav von Wangenheim, travels to Count Orlok's castle, portrayed by Max Schreck. His castle is located in Transylvania. Count Orlok is looking to purchase an isolated home in Wisbourg, so Hutter is sent there in order to sell it to him. On his way there, Hutter encounters many people who tell him not to go because Orlock is “creepy” and strange events happen there. Hutter makes it to the Count’s home and notices some strange things, such as Orlock only sleeping during the daytime, and he sleeps in a coffin in the crypt. During his time there he also feels a sense of uneasiness, like someone or something is always hanging over him. Based on a novel Hutter previously read, he starts to believe that Orlock is a vampire or Nosferatu. Hutter then becomes trapped in the castle and Orlock travels back to Hutters house in order to find his wife Ellen and kill her. In the end, Ellen’s life is spared and Orlock ends up burning and vanishing into a puff of smoke because he stepped out into the

Show More
Related

  • Confronting Reality: How Nosferatu Exemplifies Film Horror Tactics

    2551 Words  | 6 Pages

    Kracauer, Siegfried. From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film. Princeton University Press: Princeton and Oxford, 2004.

    Read More

  • The Other in Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Early years of film one can easily say that Germany lead the way in experimentation, with such striking examples as Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler. How when looking at two of these film, Nosferatu and Dr Mabuse the Gambler one can find a similar theme that run throughout. This theme is that of Weimar’s insecurity about outsiders and otherness different cultures. While both films have different stories at their very simplest both films see someone come into the idyllic lives of the protagonist not only wrecking their lives but the lives of ordinary people as well. It’s worth noting that borth Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler were filmed in the turbulent early 20’s of the Weimar period where Germany was still dealing with the aftermath of the war and outside powers such as France encroaching on German territory and at the same time political unrest had reached its high. With all these changes going on it easy to see why Germany might have felt that outsider were at work trying to remold modern Germany. This is why in these turbulent early years befor the Weimar Golden age we see such strong use of the other/outsider as a stand in for events taken place in Germany

    Read More

  • Intriguing Camera Work in Zeffirelli’s Film, Hamlet

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the opening scene, Elsinore Castle looms over the soldiers and people standing outside. The camera angle forces one to look up at the dark castle; then the camera surveys the people, revealing that the evil from witnhin the castle is not self-contained but looms over and affects everyone in Denmark.

    Read More

  • Dracula And Sunrise Comparison

    2009 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nosferatu a Symphony of Horror and Sunrise: A song of two humans, are silent films directed by F.W. Murnau made in the 1920's. Sunrise tells the story of two young lovers that rekindle their romance, and Nosferatu is a horror adaptation of Bram Stoker’s, Dracula. While they differ in genre, both are similar in that they consist of a young couple that encounter a threatening situation. The element of space becomes an interesting aspect relevant to both films as it is used to foresee the events of what is to come in the plot. In Noseferatu, enclosed spaces evoke the feelings of uneasiness and no escape.

    Read More

  • Nosferatu directed by F.W. Murnau

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    into strange trances. Jonathon escapes from the castle but is not free of Draculas power,

    Read More

  • Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's The Last Laugh

    1913 Words  | 4 Pages

    Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau is one of the most important filmmakers of the cinema during Weimar Republic period. He is often grouped with Fritz Lang and G.W. Pabst as the "big three" directors of Weimar Germany. He finished his career in Hollywood and was killed at a young age in a car crash. Three of his films appear on the greatest films lists of critics and film groups. Even though there seems to be little written about him.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Bram Stoker's Dracula And Dracula

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    That morning he is to leave, a crowd is awaiting him and muttering strange things. Harker says, "I could hear a lot of words often repeated, queer words" (Stoker 6) to address his confusion about what was going on around him. He Count Dracula, a hermit who lives on a cliff, detached from society, strikes at night to find anyone alone--whom he considers easy prey. A prime example of one of these victims is Lucy Westenra, who ends up outside in the middle of the night after she sleeps walks to the town square. When Mina Murray finds her, she describes the discovery, “There was undoubtedly something, long and black, bending over the half-reclining white figure.”

    Read More

  • Classical and Post-Classical Hollywood Cinema

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...

    Read More

  • The Great Imagination Heist Essay

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak

    Read More

  • The First Chapter Of Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1915 Words  | 4 Pages

    His concern only grows when during further exploration of the castle, he realises that all the doors are locked and he is a

    Read More

  • Comparison of Dracula and Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1456 Words  | 3 Pages

    Comparing the 1931 version of Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, with Frances Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula 1993 version yields some similarities. Both films are of the same genre: Horror. Both films are set around the same time period. Also, both deal with a vampire coming to England and causing disruptions in people's lives. Beyond these few similarities are numerous contrasts.

    Read More

  • Exploring Murnau's Cinematic Storytelling in 'The Last Laugh'

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    Murnau also innovates the use of the camera with the chained camera. In one of the most famous scenes in the film, Murnau achieves the doorman’s drunken point of view by hanging a camera to the ceiling and letting it twist and turn to capture this unique perspective. It creates this dreamlike state that is a main principle in German Expressionism. The film that is the perfect representation if stimmung is Murnau’s Nosferatu. Although Bram Stoker’s wife ordered all the negatives of Nosferatu be destroyed, because of copyright issues; several copies have survived (Short History of Film). Murnau brought his own style to the vampire genre that leaves viewers in awe to this day. One example of Murnau’s artistic expression in this film can be seen with the carriage ride to Orlak’s castle. A film negative is inserted into the sequence. In the same scene, the carriage ride is sped up, there is no way a horse drawn carriage could move as fast as it did in the film. These two instances are examples of crossing from reality over into the supernatural by way of

    Read More

  • Nasferatu Analysis

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1922 film classic Nasferatu was among the first black and white Horror films to capture the imagination of the captivated patrons of a fledgling cinema industry. The plot is loosely based on the 1897 novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, causing copywrite controversy among Stoker’s heirs who sued for compensation leading to the destruction of many original copies of the film. Many attempts have been made to restore the original film in its entirety but none of the original score survived so many of the early performances were left to improvise the musical score, leading to a great deal of variation. Although Nasferatu may have not been a completely original piece of art, its use of cinematography techniques make it a masterpiece of early Film

    Read More

  • Dracula Movie And Movie Comparison Essay

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dracula, the most famous vampire of all time, which readers were first introduced to by Irish author Bram Stoker in 1897 with his novel Dracula, which tells the story of the mysterious person named Count Dracula (Stoker). The book is an outstanding masterpiece of work, which is why it has been a prototype for various movie releases over the decades. Whenever a film director decides to make a movie on behalf of a novel the hope is that the characters concur from the novel to the movie, which leads to the exploration of the resemblances and modifications between the characters in Dracula the novel by Bram Stoker and Bram Stoker’s Dracula 1992 movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

    Read More

  • Social Functionalism In The Film The Lives Of Others

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    The GDR creates an entire institution for monitor norms and German culture in society, the stasi. The organization also used deviant artist as an example of what happens to citizens who do not follow societal norms. This film demonstrates the GDR’s control of citizens through monitoring of arts, censorship, and culture shaping. The Lives of Others follows a stasi informant who watches

    Read More

More about Nosferatu Research Papers

Open Document