nosferatu's dark excellence - movie review

Watching Nosferatu was like stepping into the gothic novels of time past. It is almost hard for your mind not to immediately think of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Del Toro’s version of which I am impatiently waiting for. In the meantime, Nosferatu provided solace for such an appetite and it was precisely what I imagined a gothic novel actualized into film would be.

As I do when something captivates me this much, I watched endless interviews in hopes of knowing everything I could regarding the pristine excellence Robert Eggers and Jarin Blaschke crafted in the film. Yet in each, Blaschke seems cautious to acknowledge his masterful work. But there is no need to be humble here, Nosferatu’s cinematography was a haunting perfection. Particularly when it comes to embodying the dark beauty of such a tale, no other film comes close and it is clear Blaschke and Eggers put in the work the style required to achieve it.

I am not going to analyze the wardrobe accuracy, but even that was yet another perfect piece in this intricately delicate puzzle. And while the film was carried by a group of faces prominent in current pop culture, the film was so meticulously crafted as to forget about its modern creators. They are instead real inhibitors of the time, style, and fear of this world, leaving nothing in the way of enveloping you into this nineteenth century marvel.

What’s more was that I was actually scared. Something I had not only not expected but have yet to feel from a recent film. The place, the characters and their lives felt truly haunted and each moment spent with them allowed you to understand their chaotic concern to profundity. Films that have made me feel similar to Nosferatu seem few and far between. Probably because it accomplished something so complex, that was, the ability to spend equal time haunting and story building without making obvious how either was done.

I know it has been discussed at length, but I must acknowledge the triumph that was arriving to count Orlock's castle. The way in which Thomas is within the carriage before he can understand what it is and up the stairs after passing the eerily opened gates before he can question how they did, can only be described by one word: hypnotizing. It almost goes without saying that the efficacy of the film is most embodied in this moment. Both seamless and thrilling, the journey feels trancelike. Letting you forget about the technology required to achieve each frame and instead fall into the magic.

Nosferatu was to me, pure perfection. Not a scene was too long or too short (the final one in particular will live in my top 5 favorites), or a character out of place. How it all fell so perfectly into place seemed just like the story, as if dictated by destiny. I will think about Nosferatu forever, and I’m sure, if you have yet to watch it, you will as well.

★★★★★

5/5 Perfection.