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By Sophia Doshi
Just as Twilight was never my favorite, Nosferatu's storyline was not the most enticing. There was minimal plot that I could discern, which made my viewing experience less than optimal. Plot aside, the cinematography of the film was just gorgeous. Robert Eggers always knows what he is doing, but the shot selection, color grading and everything else was just fantastic. I also want to highlight Lily-Rose Depp's acting chops because there's only so much you can get from nepotism, and she did fantastic in this movie. Her accent was quite consistent throughout the film and didn't let up in a jarring way. Her face is also so unique and made for a great 'desperate-vulnerable-but-powerful-heroine' character. And you can imagine my happiness when I first heard Willem Dafoe's voice; I LOVE him and he performs incredibly in every movie that he's in. He has made a mark on cinema.
I wanted to dive deeper into the meanings behind this movie and what I interpreted as different things. My opinion (which is my own, I do not want anybody to think I'm forcing anything on them) is that Depp's character, Ellen, experiences a metaphor for sexual assault at a younger age by Nosferatu, and her 'visions' and 'raveing' are symptoms of her trauma and PTSD that stayed with her. Multiple times during the movie, there are direct and indirect references to her being a conduit of Count Orlock, which I believe symbolizes how a part of his abuse stayed with her all of those years. When she finally sees Orlock again, it is the same thing as when a victim falls prey to their abuser once more. We see this cycle of toxicity routinely in the media and in our daily lives, so being able to see such themes in the film was easier (at least for me).
For a duration of the movie, Ellen struggles to make the people around her understand the gravity of the situation and how dangerous Orlock is. Even her husband, Thomas, doesn't heed her pleas for him to stay. He goes on and associates with Orlock, and predictably, places himself in quite the predicament. This is representative of how a victim of sexual assault would be ignored or not taken seriously when they are trying to make their voice heard. In the end, Ellen courageously faces her abuser and simultaneously extinguishes the evil facing her town, which is what her husband and friends were too ignorant to do.
Image from In Between Media
That is the important stuff I want you to take away from this. Some other elements I touched on before and wanted to build upon were the cinematography and costuming in the film. There are a few scenes that I admired in particular, such as when Ellen was upset about the flowers that Thomas got her because she knew that they were going to die anyways. It hurt my soul that she felt she could not be associated with something living. She has been so affected by Orlock's abuse that she believes she is not worthy of posessing, or being, a living thing.
Additionally, as you've seen in the blog's cover image, my favorite scene in the entire movie was when they were walking on the port's beach past the crosses. The contrast of suffering and darkness from the entire movie that this scene provides was not only a relief, but it was also a symbol. Ellen is most herself with her friend Anna and in a light place, but her trauma hinders her from realizing this. She is vivacious and caring in this scene, demonstrating concern for Thomas as well as voicing her thoughts consciously and rationally. Anna (her friend in the scene) listens to her and hears her for what Ellen is trying to say. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie casts Ellen as insane and irrational, as women who were 'clairvoyant' (or sometimes undiagnosed schizophrenics) were treated in the actual time period. Of course, she did have a seizure on the beach, which I suspect was because she was vulnerable to Orlock's possession.
It should also be of note that past Nosferatu movies all have beach scenes, which further reinforces the scene's relevance. Additionally, the placement of the gravestones serves an aesthetic and symbolic purpose, as water can be considered as a giver of life (aka the 'water of life') but Ellen's presence warrants randomly placed gravestones on a beach near water. The poor girl. She is surrounded by death all the time.
Image from Facebook
Overall I really liked this movie for everything but the plot. I wish I liked the plot more, because it certainly would have been higher on my recently watched.
Cover image from IMDb
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