Nosferatu

The 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by F.W.Murnau, is a very funny horror picture with modern sensibilities.  Produced in the era of German expressionist cinema Nosferatu certainly feels like a film of the early twentieth century, it is silent, built of stagnant shots dipped in sepia tones, the acting is symbolic and exaggerated, there is however an undercurrent of sophistication that feels entirely modern.  For me this element is the rhythm and pacing of the film.  There is a gentle building of tempo and intrigue that sucked me right in.  

The film begins very slowly and I was sure I was in for a painful history lesson, that at best could end in sleep.  I did however, find myself more and more engaged with the story as the film progressed.  For me the story telling element of the silent film we have studied this past semester has been the biggest disappointment, the story is often incoherent, disjointed or ridiculous.  Not the case with Nosferatu.  Bram Stoker's horror fairy tale Dracula is retold masterfully through the conventions of silent film.  I think this is one of the most impressive aspects of Nosferatu, it is silent.  By this I mean that much of the silent film we have watched has been in opposition to the constraint of silence, requiring intertitles to carry the narrative, constantly breaking up the flow of the film to explain what has, is, or is going to happen.  For me this  has been a major hindrance, interrupting flow, rhythm and coherence.  Nosferatu is not like this, the intertitles are used sparingly, the majority of the narrative is realised through the moving image alone, when the intertitles are incorporated they are in time with the rhythm of the narrative and do not disrupt but enrich.  The film is devoted to serving the narrative and succeeds extremely well in it's aspirations to tell a good story.  This I suppose is why I feel the film has modern sensibilities that distinguish it from other films of the era.