Tag Archives: Nosferatu

Eavesdropping at the Movies: 463 – Frankenstein (2025)

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Another classic Gothic horror is remade for the modern age: first we saw Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, and now Guillermo del Toro brings us his adaptation of Frankenstein. Like Nosferatu, Frankenstein is astonishing to look at, and, like Nosferatu, also written by its director, it probably would have benefitted from the attention of a professional screenwriter. Still, it’s a pleasure to spend time in the word del Toro envisions, and we talk wide angle lenses, the range of performances – Oscar Isaac’s busy, Jacob Elordi’s brooding, Mia Goth’s underwhelming – the difficulty of understanding dialogue in screen two at the Mockingbird, and what this Frankenstein thematically shares with One Battle After Another.

Listen on the players below, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, or YouTube Music.

With José Arroyo of First Impressions and Michael Glass of Writing About Film.

José Arroyo in Conversation with Paul Cuff on Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU (2024)

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

Such a pleasure to talk to Paul Cuff about Robert Egger’s version of NOSFERATU. He knows so much that the conversation unfurls into a discussion of the various other versions, Murnau’s original (1922), Herzog’s version (1979), David Lee Fisher’s version (2023), and onto the films of Guy Maddin, Pablo Berger’s BLANCA NIEVES (2012), various versions of THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE and even THE ARTIST (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011), which Paul loathes. We were entertained by, enjoyed — with reservations — the rich visual world of Egger’s version, the thick and dense sound, and we praise Nicholas Hoult as the emotional anchor of the film. But Paul articulates his uncertainty about whether the film was a parody of itself or the genre or Nosferatu in its various incarnations. The film seems to be drawing on Murnau, Herzog, Caspar Friedrich’s paintings. But it seems to create a world in which God ostensibly exists but no one seems to believe in the ideology that would sustain this. Paul notes with interest on how Eggers credits the screenplay of the original Nosferatu but not Murnau, the director and we discuss the significance of this while highlighting how Nosferatu was itself a rip-off of Bram Stoker’s work. We also speculate on the significance of the titles of the most prominent version (Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror (Murnau) and the German title of Herzog’s version,Nosferatu, Phantom of the Night.) What all versions have in common is that they’re all about sex and death, all about sex and the maiden; all versions have Nosferatu as a  sexual figure as well as a figure of death and pestilence,.How does Egger’s version sit on the shoulder of previous versions and what does it add to them? We discuss our love of the performances of Max Schrek,Klaus Kinski and much else in the podcast below:

 

The podcast may also be listened to on: Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2zWZ7Egdy6xPCwHPHlOOaT

and on itunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/first-impressions-thinking-aloud-about-film/id1548559546

The podcast from Eavesdropping at The Movies on Nosferatu Paul refers to may be listened to here:

Pal has written on the afterlife of Nosferatu HERE.

José Arroyo

 

Eavesdropping at the Movies: 435 – Nosferatu (2024)

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Writer-director Robert Eggers, whose reputation for aesthetically rich, deeply-researched and idiosyncratic horror precedes him, has long been working on a remake of F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, the 1922 German Expressionist classic whose influence has been felt in the horror genre for a century. It’s a big fish to try to take down, but it’s source material that feels like it exists especially for him – how does he do?

Very well, as it turns out… although, in classic fashion, we manage to talk around what a fantastic time we had by concentrating on our criticisms. Ignore them until you’ve taken yourself to the biggest cinema you can to see it – it’s an experience you should have. Then come back and listen to us discuss the debt Eggers’ Nosferatu owes to the colour tinting processes of the silent era, how the second half gets bogged down in tropes and plot, the delineation between sex and love, the pressure to be accessible, whether horror needs to be scary, and the important lesson we learned from Shrek Forever After.

Listen on the players below, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, or YouTube Music.

Listen to our podcast on F. W. Murnau’s original, silent Nosferatu here.

 

With José Arroyo of First Impressions and Michael Glass of Writing About Film.

Eavesdropping at the Movies: 324 – Nosferatu (1922)

Eavesdropping at the Movies, , , , , , ,

Listen on the players above, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.

In a chilly outdoor screening at the Coffin Works in Birmingham, we indulge in Nosferatu, F. W. Murnau’s 1922 German Expressionist classic. José’s seen it many times, Mike never in its entirety. We discuss how this 100-year-old film holds up today and still entertains a general audience, its differences from and similarities to Dracula, its source material, and more. Including how cold it was. Mike only wore a t-shirt.

With José Arroyo of First Impressions and Michael Glass of Writing About Film.