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NOSFERATU 1922. Germany (Prana) Actors: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wagenheim, Greta Schroeder. Director: F.W. Murnau
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Behind a title hardly known, the first adaptation for the screen of Bram Stoker�s "Dracula" was Nosferatu, The Vampire. Directed in 1922 by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, so not to pay author rights the names of the characters were disguised and in this way, The Count, starring for Max Schreck, was called Orlok.
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But, in spite of the changes, it is a pretty faithful version of the novel; so well done that Stoker�s widow sued Prana; with the help of Author British Society, the german court gave the right to Mrs. Stoker and it was ordered the destruction of the original negative as well as all the copies. But the producers had already started to distribute the film all over the world and had sold copies to U.S.: During ten years, Stoker�s widow chased obsesively the copies of the film and its negatives, stubborn in its complete destruction. Luckily, the film remained safe and it started to be seen in all Europe. |
In the middle of the efervesence of the expresionist period, Murnau gave the film an aesthetic related to that movement. He gave it stranges angulations and made a soberb use of the light (the shadow of the Count crawling the corridors of the castle, the shadow of his hand catching his victim�s heart....). But also incurred in several mistakes }; in this way, stylistically, he made use of the fast camera to confer a supernatural atmosphere to the character, when later it was demonstrated that the fast camera provokes a comic effect.
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The first film adaptation of Bram Stoker{s "Dracula" remains one of the creepiest and most atmospheric versions. Murnau knew how to add just the right touches to make this one of the best vampire films ever made. Filmed in Bavaria. Silent with music and English titles. Remade by Werner Herzog in 1979.