Nosferatu Essay Questions

Though Nosferatu was based on the novel Dracula, how does the ending of Nosferatu subvert the book and most subsequent film adaptations?

The movies based on Bram Stoker’s original story are all essentially stories about men of different backgrounds and motivations bonding together to help save Mina Harker from becoming the victim of the vampire. The overarching theme of this story thus becomes one of patriarchal defense against sexual liberation as manifested in the sensuality of the vampire’s kiss being a symbolic form of intercourse. In Nosferatu, it is the Mina character who invites the vampire into her lair after reading in the forbidden book that the sacrifice of a beautiful woman is one way to defeat the power of the vampire. The Mina character ultimately becomes the agency by which the vampire, his power and his symbolic meaning is defeated.

How can Count Orlock be interpreted as a symbolic figure of Germany itself?

Made in the aftermath of the Great War (World War I), the film suggests that Orlock is a figure of redemption for the German people; a penitent expression of remorse to be killed off as a sacrifice for redemption. Orlock’s most obvious difference both from the Stoker character upon which he is based and nearly every other incarnation of Count Dracula is his repulsive physical appearance. Orlock is nothing more or less than the human manifestation of bloodlust and the ugliness lying at the dark bottom of the human soul. In essence, Count Orlock can be said to be the personification of the collective guilt of the German nation after the war. The aggression is realized as a monstrous entity whose destruction is required for guilt to be transformed into redemption.

How is horror developed using visual storytelling?

As a silent film, Nosferatu developed a series of visual tropes that would become common in the horror genre. Consider the vampire's looming shadow, or the special effects employed to make him levitate or suddenly vanish into thin air. Likewise, we see much of the horror play out on claustrophobic set pieces. Sound is totally inessential for making us feel trapped in the castle or on the ship with the vampire. In these respects and more (there are plenty if you look for them), Nosferatu demonstrates that what really makes a horror movie are the visual elements, and that you don't need any loud noises or audible screams to instill terror.

How do sexuality and Freudian repression play out in Nosferatu?

Here, you may want to use some feminist film theory to map Freud's philosophy about psychology onto the film. This one is certainly ripe for that type of analysis. Consider the strange fatherly relationship that Hutter has with Ellen, acting more as her caretaker than as her lover. Her repressed sexuality leaves her able to seduce the vampire, with an ample death drive more than making up for her lacking sex drive. You can trace Hutter's own sexual repression too, and how this plays into his delusional, overly-rational ways of seeing the world, ultimately shading his eyes from the existing evil ready to ruin his life.

Compare and contrast F.W. Murnau's visual style in Nosferatu with that of other German expressionist films.

Nosferatu is considered one of the key works of the German expressionist movement, thanks to its innovative use of make-up, expert plays of light and shadow, and savvy use of location filming to set moods with nature and architecture. This is a very different movie from Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which was released the year before and relied on surrealistic set design, and different as well from Fritz Lang's work like M and Metropolis, which revolve around exaggerated acting, hulking set pieces, and suspense-laden editing. Look into Lotte Eisner's criticism, since her work on the subject is often considered definitive.