Posted 10:48 am Friday, December 30, 2011
Werner Herzog's ‘Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht': Remake Of Silent Film Classic Stylish, Haunting
Werner Herzog has built his career around characters who are obsessed, driven by madness and their own personal demons or are just flat-out bizarre. But with "Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht" he treads some slightly new ground by dabbling in the macabre.
This film, released in 1979, is a remake of the classic 1922 silent film, "Nosferatu," directed by F.W. Murnau. In addition to being the first vampire film ever made (as well as an unsanctioned adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" novel), the original "Nosferatu" is widely considered to be one of the greatest horror films of all time, a silent yet haunting bit of cinema that is every bit as effective now as it was when it was first released. I consider it one of my personal favorite horror films, so I was quite curious to see what Herzog would bring to the film.
What we get is a mostly faithful remake with one significant alteration to the plot which in turn makes this version wholly Herzog.
Because the original was an unsanctioned adaptation of Stoker's novel, Murnau had to change all of the names: Hutter instead of Harker, Ellen instead of Lucy, and Count Orlok instead of Count Dracula. However, since the copyright claim to the material had long since expired in 1979, Herzog made the decision to revert back to the original names from the book. However, the plot is largely identical. Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) is commissioned to travel to Transylvania and visit Dracula (Klaus Kinski), a reclusive count who lives near the Carpathian Mountains. The count is interested in purchasing a house in the town of Wismar, within close proximity of the home Jonathan shares with his beautiful wife, Lucy (Isabelle Adjani).
Upon his arrival at the castle in Transylvania, Harker is greeted by Dracula himself, a grotesque man with pointy ears, snow-white complexion and claw-like fingernails. Despite the count's unsettling visage, Harker seems to have little problem with spending the night at the count's massive, empty, haunting castle. With the real estate deal closed, Dracula wastes no time in securing his many coffins filled with dirt (a vampire must place his sarcophagus in cursed earth if he is to achieve any rest) and heads off on a ship for Wismar. Harker, meanwhile, learns that the harmless bite marks he discovered on his neck will soon render grave consequences.
In many respects, Herzog's version is every bit as good as Murnau's original. It drips with a sort of wet, foreboding atmosphere. The original was (and still is) lauded for its amazing use of shadow and impressionistic design, something that Herzog pays homage to in parts, but mostly makes amazing use of color photography. There are numerous shots in the film where Herzog frames and lights the scene as though it were a Victorian-era painting. However, there are a few shots from Murnau's original I was surprised were absent from Herzog's version, most notably the iconic sight of Dracula/Orlok rising from his coffin during the boat ride to the city. Still, what we get is a film that manages to retain all of the mood and atmosphere of the original, but in a manner that still feels wholly unique to Herzog.
The real treat of this remake, however, is in watching Kinski take on the role made (in)famous by Max Schreck. Legends and tall tales have arisen surrounding Schreck's involvement in Murnau's film, particularly that Murnau hired Schreck because of his real-life practice of vampirism (which was explored to an entertaining degree in the film "Shadow of the Vampire"), but most of them have proven false. What is true, however, is that Schreck plunged himself headfirst into the role, rarely breaking character, even when the camera's stopped rolling. Such dedication, then, could only ever possibly be matched by someone such as Kinski, and he does a remarkable job at making the role his own.
The script had been changed to make Dracula more of a lonely, forlorn character who laments his loss of love as well as his inability to die. Such a tragic nature was never explored in the original and it thusly lends this version a nice level of depth. It puts this Dracula on the same path as the classic Frankenstein and Wolf Man characters, men who are cursed with their monstrous afflictions. Kinski manages to find the heart of this monster, if only for a fleeting few moments and does so in a fashion that is notably restrained from some of his other, more wild-eyed roles in other Herzog films.
It is rare that a remake can take on qualities that are as good (or in a few instances here, better than) the original, but that's hardly surprising given Herzog's capabilities as a filmmaker. If there is one thing I have taken away from even such a small sampling of the man's work, it is that there has never been and likely never will be another filmmaker with the sort of raw, elemental fire inside that Herzog displays with every project he undertakes. He invests not just his ideas but also his soul into his work.
Next week I'll begin my series on French New Wave director Jean-Luc Goddard with a review of "Breathless," followed by "Vivre Se Vie," "Band of Outsiders," "Alphaville" and "Pierrot le Fou."
Stewart Smith is the Entertainment Editor for the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Contact him at 903-596-6301 or by email at ssmith@tylerpaper.com.
Updated Friday, December 30, 2011 at 10:48 a.m. CST
Updated Friday, December 30, 2011 at 10:48 a.m. CST
