85% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 262 reviews)
Runtime: 132 minutes
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Starring: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bill Skarsgard, Emma Corrin
From: Focus Features
My apologies to Lily-Rose Depp; I obviously did not know your game.
The expectations were high for Nosferatu. Besides the very good and great ratings given to both the silent & Herzog's version from '79, The Witch and The Northman are modern movies I don't actually think are overrated. A relief then that those expectations were met.
Due to the previous adaptations, few surprises were in store for the plot. Thomas Hutter was sent to Count Orlok's castle to complete arrangements for his move to a town in what later would become Germany, Hutter's wife Ellen has a connection to Orlok, the Count brings a plague to the town, etc. In this case, familiarity did NOT breed contempt; rather, the Europe of 1838 was brought to life quite well and it was a joy seeing the talented cast breathe life into those roles.
Naturally I'd expect quality performances from the likes of Willem Dafoe & Nicholas Hoult. However, I had never seen Lily-Rose Depp in any film. Hearsay on Twitter told me that she was the best aspect of several lousy (or worse) films. Well, she knocked it out of the park in portraying a difficult role as Ellen, haunted by a terrifying creature, acting hysterical, often emotional to the point of tears. Impressed, I was; her presence in future films is something for me to keep an eye on. Even those who don't like her dad anymore-let's not dwell on why!-begrudgingly had to give her praise for her performance.
The film is the most overtly sexual version of Nosferatu; some will enjoy this but I won't kink-shame! Unlike Letterboxd, Film Twitter and especially the modern movie-going audience is divided on Robert Eggers. More than a few will think the movie is “too weird” and especially “too horny.” Me, the film looked & sounded great, featured interesting characters and while the claim that the first third is the most interesting can't be argued by me, this new take on Nosferatu does deliver.
Thank heavens that this avoids the tropes I most dislike when it comes to modern cinema. Max Schreck will forever be the most disturbing iteration of Nosferatu, appearances on SpongeBob notwithstanding. Then again, I (a 43-year old man) don't understand why that character appeared on SpongeBob... or the popularity of SpongeBob to begin with! Wait, where was I? Oh, yes: this version of the title character is different yet menacing at the same time. Nosferatu the new movie did not let me down.
No comments:
Post a Comment