Dracula-Nosferatu Comparison

646 Words2 Pages

Dracula-Nosferatu Comparison

I have recently watched clips from the beginnings of two vampire

movies. The two films were, of course, very different things. One was

'Nosferatu' a product of the 1920's. I am lucky to have seen it

considering how it was banned by a judge of the time and all copies

ordered destroyed. Of course as attitudes change in cinema and with

the introduction of the BBFC 'censorship' system it was released

again.

The other movie though was a completely different kettle of marine

life; it was 'Bram Stokers Dracula' and bore about as much resemblance

to Bram Stokers story as myself to a chimp. If it was named 'Parody Of

Bram Stokers Dracula', 'Allegorical Tale Featuring Characters Based On

Bram Stokers Dracula', I would understand. Maybe even 'Shameless Cash

In On The Name Of Bram Stoker' would be more appropriate.

The reason for the differences? It seems to me that movie has changed

due to social reasons as well as technological reasons (I will return

to this subject later). Monsters are out - antiheros are the new

black. So what surprise is it to us that by the beginnings of the

nineties Dracula was less a monster and more a tortured soul? Why are

the Jewish style garb and appearance of 'Orlock' (the Dracula

equivalent from Nosferatu) gone only to be replaced with a Dracula who

answers the door looking strangely like one of the good Chairman Mao's

henchmen? This is particularly interesting considering that at the

time of Nosferatu's filming anti-Semitism was rife and the people were

battling a 'International Zionist Conspiracy'.

It seems strange too me that while Nosferatu was truer to the tale

that bo...

... middle of paper ...

...e soundtrack sounds like it has been create by the

Royal Philharmonic though it has probably never been played on an

instrument. The biggest change is perhaps in that the sound is not

being played in an orchestra pit at the cinema but is part of the

movie. This allows speech and subtitles in a way which allows the

actors a means of expression which was only partially available to the

thespians of the 1920's. They can change the sound and texture of

their voices and emphasise in their speech.

In conclusion I can state that the movies are both the same movie but

with radically different technologies and social constraints limiting

them. The only obvious difference is that 'Bram Stokers Dracula' and

authorisation from Bram Stokers Estate while Nosferatu did not.

Strangely 'Nosferatu' remained truer to the original tale.

Open Document