Nosferatu Analysis

Nosferatu’s Meaning and Comparisons
It’s easy to say that Germany led in experimentation of film making with Murnau’s Nosferatu. Filmed in 1922, it dealt with the outside world effects of post-world war and political uproar. With everything that was going on in Europe at that time, you can see that Germany was scared with what was going to happen to their country, and that’s where Nosferatu is symbolic for Germany.
Count Orlok’s characteristics like his hooked nose, long ears, and bushy eyebrows don’t help his innocence. Carrying death and disease with him is his rats that spreads a plague which is a theme that has went against Jews for centuries. We can see that Orlok represents the Jews in the movie, but even some would say that he plays into the idea that the Jews stabbed the Germans in the back during the World War. Other’s believe that Mr. Murnau himself wasn’t really “anti-Semitic” because he had Jewish friends and protected them from constant slurs at them. Some academics have pointed out

Now-a-days, Nosferatu isn’t considered horror, it is seen as more creepiness than anything else. It builds a little bit of terror opposed to moments of shock and fright. With German Expressionism, Nosferatu relies on odd sets and locations, heavy emotion, distorted styles, and sites that show inner turmoil. Themes like fantasy, madness, and inner fears are used to drive this movie which is different than what is used in modern expressionism movies which focus on the feeling of something rather then that literal thing. You can also see that with Murnau’s use of shadowing and angles, it appropriately portrays Count Orlok as more creepier then frightening, which is something we talk for granted and don’t really look for in filmmaking today.