Nosferatu ( Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens)1922 **

Suave, sophisticated, and outright sexy is what you think of Max Schreck's Nosferatu, right? Don't be ashamed to admit it... What? You don't like pasty skin, pointed ears, sickening-long and pointed nails, and the gait of a floating corpse? Aren't you a fan of German Expressionism?

This 1922 silent by F.W. Murnau is a classic retelling of the Dracula myth that has often been imitated, but never surpassed. For those not in the know, Murnau had some problems with Bram Stoker's people, so he changed the setting and the names of the characters from the original novel. Instead of Count Dracula wreaking havoc in London we have Count Orlock, played by Shreck, decimating Bremen, Germany. However, the core plot is the same as the book. I'm sure you know the crux of the story, so I'll move on to what is great about this picture.


The interplay between shadow and light in some scenes is just fantastic. Photographers Gunther Krampf and Fritz Wagner do an amazing job of capturing just the right amount of light to capture the creepiness that is Orlock's shadow.

Max Schreck is unforgettable as Count Orlock. To allow yourself to become so embedded in the skin of your character takes talent. Hand movements, facial expressions, the tautness of his frame--all of these were perfectly orchestrated in such a way as to make Count Orlock a timeless movie monster. Those of you who have seen Willem Dafoe's portrayal of Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire might have a deeper appreciation of Schreck's work.

My favorite scene is when Count Orlock arrives by boat in Bremen and eerily glides off the boat and through the darkened and deserted streets. This scene gave me nightmares when I first saw it as a child. Do you have a favorite scene?

This film is a classic and should be watched--even if you don't think Max Schreck is the Sexiest Man Alive

 

 

 

Nanook of the North (1922) **

Members of PETA beware--this is not the film for you.

Is it a true documentary or not? That is the question that has plagued many over the years. If you're like me, you first saw this 1922 Robert Flaherty silent in a film history class. An endless debate was held in my class as to whether the filming looked "too staged" to be a true representation of the life of an Inuit family. Perhaps it was staged at times, but I still think Flaherty does a nice job of showing what daily survival was like for Nanook and his family. I still get the shivers when I think of all that ice and snow!

I'm mostly impressed with Flaherty's camerawork in harsh weather conditions. He was not working with state of the art equipment and he was pretty much the film crew. The walrus hunt and igloo building scenes are interesting to watch. Of course, what most people remember about this film is the closing shot where Nanook's family is looking for shelter against a snowstorm. In an odd twist of fate, they died soon after filming was completed doing just this.

Not exactly an exciting film, but still an interesting one to watch.

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) 1922 **

Germany, 1922: inflation is running wild (people took wheelbarrows with them to collect their wages and buy bread), a little known man is just a year away from his first attempt at a fascist revolution in a beer hall, and Germans are flocking to see Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler (The Gambler).

The film follows the hijinks of a master criminal, Dr. Mabuse, who is also a master of disguises: gambler, innkeeper, businessman, stage performer, psychiatrist, etc. He is no run of the mill criminal, though. His crimes range from, just to name a few, theft, collusion, kidnapping, false impersonation, and murder. Broken into two parts, the first part of the film introduces the audience to this unrepentant rogue and his criminal counterparts. The second part of the film exhibits the depravity of Dr. Mabuse and his decline into full-force madness. The end of the film is extra creepy, as machines and statues come to life in Mabuse's mind--the special effects are advanced for the time.

German audiences loved this film. Why not? The film is just as dark and bleak as most of their lives were. Just like Mervyn LeRoy's I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a great American representation of the Depression, Lang's Dr. Mabuse is a great example of the German mindset in the early 1920s. Hitler didn't just pop out of nowhere in 1933--he'd been plotting since the end of WWI in 1918.

A classic silent that is a good illustration of the time period in which it was made. In addition, there's a bit of nudity thrown in for shock value.

The Smiling Madame Beudet (La souriante Madame Beudet) 1922 **

Lisez-vous français? Translation: Do you read French? If not, this 1922 avant-garde silent is probably not for you, as it is VERY difficult to find with English title cards. It's less than an hour long, so I guess you could struggle along, but this is an experimental film--and we all know how difficult some of these can be to understand when there's an English translation...

The first female director in our 1001 collection, Germaine Dulac is often studied in feminist film classes. This film follows the life of the title character, Madame Beudet; a very bored French housewife whose daydreams (the only things that make her smile) are often interrupted by her clueless husband. This leads to a daydream about killing him. The end of the film is quite comical, as the wife fails in her murder attempt and the husband remains oblivious as ever to what she had tried to do.

Like any good feminist film, this one explores the unpleasantness of patriarchy through the eyes of a female. The dream sequences and special effects are pretty nifty for the time. Not a favorite of mine, but it is watchable.