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Nosferatu (2024) -
Robert Eggers may be the director who excites me the most when I learn they have a new project in the works. This one maintains, but does not particularly increase my level of excitement. This of course does not mean there is nothing to complement. If it maintains anything from his other work, it's their visual splendor. From the vast to his vision of 19th century Germany to the intimate - even a simple shot of the vampire face to face with Ellen (Depp) is one I wish lasted longer - it approaches a Mario Bava level of every frame seeming like it deserves to be in a frame. Eggers' talent for directing performers has also not dulled, with Depp, Skarsgard and McBurney's fearless work as the, umm...touched Knock standing out. The MVP, though, is Dafoe, who has genuine "okay, everyone, I got this" energy as occult expert Professor Albin, thus making theirs one of my new favorite director/actor pairings. Also, like Eggers does in his other big budget project, The Northman, he manages to keep the atmosphere fantastical without leaving out an organic and tactile vibe. The decision to use real rats - and boy, are there a lot of them - exemplifies this, and is possibly the best instance of rat-wrangling since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The attempt at mimicking Stoker's flowery dialogue also succeeds, and...oh, is it scary? Yes, definitely, and bloodiy so. No need to worry about that.
Despite its exemplary craft, having what I like about Eggers' other movies, etc. I would rank this third behind Herzog's and Murnau's takes on this story. What holds it back is that it ends up resembling a cover version of a classic song, or better yet, a dish that follows its recipe to a T, but without the secret sauce. Both the 1922 and 1979 versions have one, the former being a combination of its simplicity, elegance and Max Schrek's legendary work. Herzog's, on the other hand, besides Kinski, is his audacity to not follow the script if you know what I mean. Speaking of the elegance of Murnau's take, this one could use more of it, especially in the runtime department, which I blame on the exposition. As poetic as it sounds, there are times when I wondered about Eggers' and company's confidence in their viewers' attention spans. I still enjoyed the movie enough to want to see it again, believe it is a great movie as well as in Eggers' decision to continue his career by giving his take on a classic. I just wish it seemed more like a leap forward rather than marking time.
Robert Eggers may be the director who excites me the most when I learn they have a new project in the works. This one maintains, but does not particularly increase my level of excitement. This of course does not mean there is nothing to complement. If it maintains anything from his other work, it's their visual splendor. From the vast to his vision of 19th century Germany to the intimate - even a simple shot of the vampire face to face with Ellen (Depp) is one I wish lasted longer - it approaches a Mario Bava level of every frame seeming like it deserves to be in a frame. Eggers' talent for directing performers has also not dulled, with Depp, Skarsgard and McBurney's fearless work as the, umm...touched Knock standing out. The MVP, though, is Dafoe, who has genuine "okay, everyone, I got this" energy as occult expert Professor Albin, thus making theirs one of my new favorite director/actor pairings. Also, like Eggers does in his other big budget project, The Northman, he manages to keep the atmosphere fantastical without leaving out an organic and tactile vibe. The decision to use real rats - and boy, are there a lot of them - exemplifies this, and is possibly the best instance of rat-wrangling since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The attempt at mimicking Stoker's flowery dialogue also succeeds, and...oh, is it scary? Yes, definitely, and bloodiy so. No need to worry about that.
Despite its exemplary craft, having what I like about Eggers' other movies, etc. I would rank this third behind Herzog's and Murnau's takes on this story. What holds it back is that it ends up resembling a cover version of a classic song, or better yet, a dish that follows its recipe to a T, but without the secret sauce. Both the 1922 and 1979 versions have one, the former being a combination of its simplicity, elegance and Max Schrek's legendary work. Herzog's, on the other hand, besides Kinski, is his audacity to not follow the script if you know what I mean. Speaking of the elegance of Murnau's take, this one could use more of it, especially in the runtime department, which I blame on the exposition. As poetic as it sounds, there are times when I wondered about Eggers' and company's confidence in their viewers' attention spans. I still enjoyed the movie enough to want to see it again, believe it is a great movie as well as in Eggers' decision to continue his career by giving his take on a classic. I just wish it seemed more like a leap forward rather than marking time.