Nosferatu Case

"Nosferatu" was in my opinion the utmost iconic example of what cinema is all about. I was completely moved by how much cinema has changed in the three years between the "Doctor Caligari" and "Nosferatu." What was so moving about this horror film was not so much the plot but how the director, F.W Murnau used his creative and innovative mind to change cinema forever. What stood tall amongst everything else in this masterpiece was use of speed and negative photography. These two methods provided the viewer a truer sense of another worldly being which is Nosferatu.

Another innovative moving feature Murnau used in this film was the use of symbolism and imagery. Throughout the entire movie Murnau is fascinated with the idea of entrapment. He wants to viewer to experience that Nosferatu is a force not to be reckoned with. For example, when the plague moves into the city Wisborg, Murnau shoots a symbolic scene of a narrow street of tenements all on top and close together. This exemplifies that the plague will spend rapidly and the narrow street provides a poor escape to this terrible disease. Murnau also uses imagery in the sense of the transformation of Nosferatu. The vampire upon first appearance is portrayed as a rat-looking human based creature. However, throughout the film the physical attributes of Nosferatu dramatically change. This transformation along with Murnau's creative abilities with the camera perfectly set the tone for films to come on how to portray a monstrous character.

There was something about this film that I truly did not understand upon its completion; why Nosferatu destroys the only person who reaches out to him. I understand that Murnau decided this film was going to be classified as strictly horror. However, what bothers me is that there was not much of a backstory to why Nosferatu was isolated or where he even came from. If this background information was provided I truly feel that this classic would reach its fullest potential.

There are many values and teachings of Saint Francis one could say were definitely espoused or contradicted. Unlike "Doctor Caligari," in "Nosferatu" a viewer has more clarity into designating which character is in the right or the wrong.

* The Saint Francis teaching "To face fear and deal with it not with force, but with courage and love" perfectly applies to this film through the character Ellen. To protect her village from