Elijah Farah B. Paraiso
Art Studies 142
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922)
Compared to what I've seen in Melles’ Trip to the Moon, Nosferatu is miles further by technology
and visual cinematography. I'm surprised that at this early cinema, the video perspective is a lot
and some are moving. I like the shots of the moving sea and the polyp under the microscope,
because it seems very modern at that time to take shots of non-living, or non-human things,
which I interpret that film was one way to diverge people's minds from humanistic traditions to a
worldview.
I think the supernatural abilities of Nosferatu or the vampire, especially the scene when he rises
from the coffin below the ship deck was very advanced for that time. Maybe watchers gasped at
that scene, I don't really know, but every time I see old films or technology I wonder how people
of that time reacted to it.
The use of shadow to add suspense in the end was remarkable too. It's genius how the
filmmakers expanded what film can catch: it could catch limited light, not even color, but they've
thought to use shadows.
I noticed the camera angles are always upright, or moves from right to left. I compared it to how
the Joan of Arc movie I saw, also an old one, angled its shots. In Joan of Arc, some shots are
angled, which is I don't see the significance, but maybe they've just developed more advanced
technology.
As for the actors, I really like their acting: they are all very good. I can see their expressions
clearly. I think most of the movement is directed, compared to Trip to the Moon where most
seems adlibbed. I remember how Ma'am Sofia said that actors have to fit, and I saw that when
Hutter rode his horse amid a rocky stream- splendid. I also like how he looks. He actually looks
stupid and I don't understand why he didn't run at once when he saw Nosferatu standing,
looking at his room's direction. That's creepy, like, dude run, but he didn't. But he looks very
handsome with his wife because he loves her very much. Haha. I like the film because of their
romance. It's funny every time they kiss though because they look stupid.
The music was only mainly for background, I did not notice sound effects. It was continuous.
Some I find inappropriate for a scene. I find it the same as how Star Cinema lays a music score
over their LizQuen, KathNiel, and JoshLia movies. I guarantee every film of these acting
couples feature a central theme song, and throughout the movie you'd hear it vamped. For a
modern movie such music editing is very below my not-so-significant standards. But don't get
me wrong those movies make me smile.
I like how the characters in Nosferatu features couples, old women in gossip, and coated men in
meeting: these are Western people shown not individually, but as a community. Oftentimes we
generalize Western people as selfish or independent, well in this movie, they're just the same as
collective Asians.
Also, I noted that they still have a fear of plague, even though the bubonic plague has happened
centuries ago. It must have been terrible for them.
All in all Nosferatu was a good movie experience for me who has really little experience in
cinema arts and history. I now understand that certain episode in SpongeBob, “Graveyard
Shift”, where they literally see Nosferatu. Although I think they call him a different name.