The impending release of a new version of Nosferatu gave me the nudge to try out the original. Looking back over my Letterboxd account, this is by far the oldest film I’ve watched. That leap back in time brings with it a variety of technical and storytelling constraints that I’m trying to keep in mind when I try to arrange my thoughts.
It’s really difficult! I can recognise a nice shot. I know tension. And I can see that some of the things put on camera are technical feats, real accomplishments for the time. I don’t struggle to believe that watching this in the twenties would have completely freaked some people out. There’s some creepy stuff for sure.
Perhaps I’m not sophisticated enough. Some may say it’s wasted on me. But despite not being a long film I did find it hard work. As a piece of historic cinema, I absolutely appreciate it. I’m glad I’ve seen it. But I don’t feel any need to appear somehow more by pretending it did a lot for me.
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