Mucking with Movies: ‘Nosferatu’
Do Not Fear The Robert Eggers’ Future

Jack Simon/Courtesy photo
If you are like me, you have been watching William Dafoe whisper “Nosferatu” heavily between baited breaths during trailers for months, getting increasingly stoked every time you hear that four-syllable name. And you know what? “Nosferatu” mostly pulls through! Sure, it runs out of steam about two-thirds of the way through but, overall, an almost inarguably sublime film.
It is odd and noteworthy that the same reason that “Nosferatu” runs out of steam is also one of its greatest assets. Almost every film, from every genre — gory action, prestige drama, exploitative smut — demands levity. A moment of comedic relief that reinvigorates the audience when things are starting to get stale. A moment like this is attempted only once in “Nosferatu” and comes out successfully because William Dafoe can do no wrong. Director Robert Eggers cares not for his audience’s cravings, and that’s to his credit. Go watch “The Lighthouse,” and I promise you won’t find a single moment where he cares even a little to cater to you. You come to meet him on his terms or go see another flick.
Once evil arrives in their little German city of Winsberg, the film begins treading water. It falls to the curse of page 72, the second half of the second act, where creativity goes to die. By then, Eggers is out of things to say, and it becomes about winding down to the narrative’s logical, albeit bat crazy, ending. Being so headstrong is an asset, but a warning to all these hardheaded artists: Make sure it doesn’t become one note.
But, it is this dedication to self that makes “Nosferatu’s” first two acts so enthralling. Best described as a high-art possession flick, this is the closest we’ve gotten to that wonderful nirvana since the substrain’s breakthrough “The Exorcist.” Eggers’ craft is undeniable, and it is refreshing to see a flick directed by a filmmaker who comes from the production design side. Another odd film comparison from Jack this week, but it reminds me most of last year’s “Saltburn” in that the entire movie oozes from its mise en scene. If not for the impeccable artistic direction, set design, and costuming, the movie would crumble. It would have become a melodramatic gothic slog tiptoeing the thin line between taking yourself too seriously and actually being a serious film. It is Eggers’ greatest asset — creating an atmosphere that sucks you in like a vortex. It makes you forget that you’re in a theater, that you’re watching something, that you’re alive.
Eggers shows no weakness with his camera and lighting work either, though. Two lighting and a framing motif arise within the film’s first ten minutes and then are repeated throughout to reinforce the immersive claustrophobic, congestive spaces that lynchpin the film. First, for the nighttime scenes, he elects to go with a top-down moonlighting that makes it clear we are surrounded by darkness but allows enough light to leak in that we can see the detail on everybody’s faces. Second, on the lighting front, the interiors are shot with frequently incredible backlighting that creates these gorgeous silhouettes. This allows darkness even during daytime scenes, so it never feels jarring enough that you feel removed from the moment while still enabling that mysterious aura everybody carries.
But framing is everything, and here there’s just so much of it. Eggers constantly is shooting with a frame inside a frame and sometimes even with a frame inside a frame inside a frame. From this multitude of frames, he’ll even fold in tendrils that reach inwards towards the subjects. Or use the subject to create another frame by positioning their faces towards one another on the camera’s side borders. To do all of these things, keeping them in mind and, more importantly, committing yourself to do them throughout a months-long shoot is an extraordinarily difficult endeavor.
Eggers has now cemented himself as one of the best directors in mainstream Hollywood. Somebody capable of taking care of a large budget and delivering a film that maintains its roots while bridging uncharted territory. He can control every facet of production and direct his actors to live inside that singular world experience he can create. I am not asking that he quits the parts that make him so unique, as it is this uniqueness that makes him so valuable, but he learns that a film needs waves for the audience to keep surfing.
Critic Score: 7.7/10
Jack Simon is a mogul coach and writer/director who enjoys eating food he can’t afford, traveling to places out of his budget, and creating art about skiing, eating, and traveling while broke. Check out his website jacksimonmakes.com to see his Jack’s Jitney travelogue series. You can email him at jackdocsimon@gmail.com for inquiries of any type.
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