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Nosferat-who? (blog post #4)


German expressionism is such a unique way of portraying an idea or a mood just by how the art piece, music, or film is presented. It is presented in a way that is distorted and unique, designed to show the emotional meaning behind it for the artist, or creator.
I became particularly interested in the German expressionist film, Nosferatu. The story begins as an estate agent by the name of Knock, is asked to find a place for Count Orlok to move to. Knocks' young assistant Hutter is sent to Orlok's castle in Transylvania to assist him in purchasing the house across from Hutter and his wife Ellen, who are newlyweds. Hutter's journey there was filled with people telling him to return from where he came and not to make the trek to Count Orloks castle, because they believe he is evil. Once Hutter makes it there, he experiences some weird occurrences, such as Orlok reacting strangely when he sees Hutter's blood, and Hutter even wakes up with two marks on him that appear to be similar to a vampire bite, but he attributes to mosquitoes. Whilst there Ellen is back home, and begins falling ill to the Counts ways. He caught a glimpse of her in a picture that Hutter carries and remarked about her "beautiful neck." Hutter notices that Orlok sleeps in a coffin, and the day after the deal closes, Orlok gets on a ship with many other coffins and sets sail to his new home, right across the way from Hutter's beloved wife. Many people die on the journey to Wiesborb, which the people attribute to the plague. Once in the city more people begin dying. Luckily, Hutter arrives back the same time Orlok does and he embraces his wife and she is feeling freed from the grips of Orlok.
Knock is then locked up on insanity charges, and the death toll of the town keeps rising as each day passes. When Ellen complains of being sick, Hutter goes to bring a doctor back for her, but while he is gone, Orlok comes into their house and creeps up on Ellen, wanting to suck her blood, and right as it's about to happen, the sun comes up and the rays make him disappear, killing him forever.

Now, this was definitely a lot to take in, to be honest I have not watched the whole thing but I have watched a few clips. I do however highly recommend it because I think it is a great example of German expressionism. The style of the film is something I can really appreciate, even not as a true film junkie. I really enjoyed the use of shadows, and the light as means for expression. I plan on finishing the film, and maybe even watching it again all the way through. But all in all I think that Nosferatu is a perfect example of this type of style.



https://www.google.com/search?q=nosferatu&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNiaOklbHZAhVLbK0KHXS6A00Q_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=726#imgrc=6uFRY24ZaZC9CM:

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