The Tenant (1976 film)

 

Based on the novel by Roland Topor, The Tenant is the story of a man who rents an apartment in France unaware that its previous tenant had attempted suicide though he believes that something is strange is happening involving its neighbors and landlord. Directed and starring Roman Polanski and screenplay by Polanski and Gerard Bach, the film is the third film in a thematic trilogy set in apartments where it plays into a man dealing with his surroundings as well as people trying to get him to kill himself. Also starring Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Rufus, and Shelley Winters. The Tenant is a riveting and provocative film from Roman Polanski.

The film is the story of a man who rents an apartment as its previous tenant had attempted suicide where the man believes that it wasn’t a suicide as he deals with his elderly neighbors and landlord who make complaints about him while he is baffled by these little complaints. It’s a film that explores a man who just rented this apartment unaware about what happened to its previous tenant as he believed something isn’t right as he grows into paranoia. The film’s screenplay by Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach is largely straightforward in its narrative yet it largely follows the life of its protagonist Treklovsky (Roman Polanski) who arrived in the apartment looking for a place to live as he sees that this apartment has a room opened though the apartment’s landlord Zy (Melvyn Douglas) is reluctant to take him but does under certain conditions. Still, Treklovsky often finds way to agitate other tenants including Zy though he doesn’t mean to while also refusing to sign the petition against a tenant because of the noises her child makes.

The script also has Treklovsky befriend Stella (Isabelle Adjani) who is a close friend of the previous tenant who had died as the two begin a relationship even though she never visits the apartment her friend was in. Treklovsky would learn that the tenant had indeed died from her injuries yet he would also notice little things in his apartment such as a tooth but also the fact that he switched cigarette brands from Gauloises to Marlboro. It adds to these little things that would play into Treklovsky’s psyche as he also believes he’s becoming his previous tenant due to the fact that he’s putting on finger polish and dressing up like a woman.

Polanski’s direction is definitely stylish for the way he uses the crane tracking shot as the opening shot has him going inside the center of the apartment building in Paris to showcase the rooms and other tenants as the building itself is a character in the film. Shot on location in Paris, Polanski does play into a city that is vibrant but also going through changes where the apartment building itself is filled with an eccentric group of people with much of the tenants being elderly including Zy and the concierge (Shelley Winters) running the place as they don’t want any trouble or chaos. Yet, Polanski maintains an intimacy through medium shots and close-ups to play into the dramatic tension as well as the paranoia that Treklovsky would go through. There are wide shots for some scenes in Paris including a scene at a park where Treklovsky is watching kids sailing their toy boats on a fountain where he would act strangely towards a child. Polanski also play into certain visual motifs where mirrors are all over his apartment as it would add to this sense of paranoia that Treklovsky would endure.

Polanski would also play into this world where the city is vibrant where Treklovsky would meet some of Stella’s friends though there is this air of isolation within him as the life outside of the apartment building where his co-workers and the people in his age group or younger are thriving. Still, Polanski would also play into this blur of reality in its third act as it relates to Egyptian imagery that Treklovsky would find in the apartment’s main bathroom as well as a postcard from a man who was in love with the previous tenant. The third act plays into Treklovsky’s paranoia as it relates what he watches as it relates to a couple of tenants whom many have been complaining about where Treklovsky becomes the target. The film’s ending is ambiguous into what Treklovsky experiences as it adds to this idea of reality and fiction as well as his own brief encounter with the previous tenant. Overall, Polanski crafts a mesmerizing and offbeat film about a man who finds himself troubled in a new apartment he bought as well as learning about its previous tenant.

Cinematographer Sven Nykvist does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key lights for many of the nighttime interior/exterior scenes in the apartment as well as its emphasis on cold grey winters for the daytime exterior scenes as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Francoise Bonnot does brilliant work with the editing as it play into the suspense with some unique jump-cuts and other rhythmic cuts that help add to the sense of terror. Production designer Pierre Guffroy, with art directors Claude Moesching and Albert Rajau, does amazing work with the look of the apartment building in its interiors including Treklovsky’s apartment as well as the apartment home of Stella. Costume designer Jacques Schmidt does fantastic work with the costumes from the suits that Treklovsky wears along with some of the fashionable clothing that Stella wears.

Hair stylist Didier Lavergne and makeup artist Ludovic Paris do terrific work with the look of Stella with her hairstyle but also Treklovsky when he goes in drag and wear women’s clothing. Optical effects work by Jean Fouchet does nice work with some of the shots including a key shot late in the film as it play into the terror that Treklovsky would endure. Sound editor Michele Boehm does superb work with the sound as the way noise sounds from another room and such add to the dramatic suspense. The film’s music by Philippe Sarde is wonderful for its orchestral score that feature themes that play into its suspense with its orchestral flourishes as well as somber pieces that play into the drama.

The casting by Catherine Vernoux is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Albert Delby as a neighbor in the apartment, Eva Ionesco as the disabled daughter of a neighbor that Treklovsky helps out, Jacques Monod as a café owner who often gives Treklovsky hot chocolate instead of coffee and Marlboros instead of Gauloises, the trio of Josiane Balasko, Romain Bouteille, and Patrice Alexsandre as co-workers of Treklovsky, Bernard Fresson as a friend/co-worker of Treklovsky in Scope who gives him advice about dealing with the neighbors, and Rufus in a superb small role as a man who was in love with the previous tenant who laments over not expressing his love to her. Lila Kedrova is fantastic as Madame Gaderian as a woman who has a disabled daughter that is getting complaints as she despises her neighbors for being mean to her while she has her own idea of revenge.

Shelley Winters is excellent as the concierge who is a no-nonsense woman that helps run the apartment building though she doesn’t take a liking towards Treklovsky believing he’s causing a lot of trouble. Jo Van Fleet is brilliant in her brief yet effective role as a tenant in Madame Dioz who has created a petition to get rid of Madame Gaderian which Treklovsky refuses to do as she warns him about the trouble she and the others would bring to him. Melvyn Douglas is incredible as Monsieur Zy as the landlord who reluctantly takes Treklovsky in as a tenant while lecturing him about what to do as he brings a lot of ambiguity into his character. Isabelle Adjani is amazing as Stella as a friend of the previous tenant as she befriends Treklovsky that later becomes a romantic relationship as she is this young woman that is just trying to make sense of what happened. Finally, there’s Roman Polanski in a phenomenal performance as Treklovsky as this young man who rents this apartment as he deals with all of the chaos around him where he becomes paranoid and confused where Polanski brings that sense of humility in his physical performance but also some humor when he starts to camp it up in drag.

The Tenant is a sensational film from Roman Polanski that features great performances from Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Rufus, Lila Kedrova, and Shelley Winters. Along with Sven Nykvist’s cinematography, its eerie visuals, chilling music soundtrack, and its exploration of isolation and paranoia in a claustrophobic setting. It is a film that explores a man dealing with his new surroundings while trying to figure out what happened to the previous tenant as he wonders is it really happening to him or is it in his head. In the end, The Tenant is a phenomenal film from Roman Polanski.

Roman Polanski Films: Knife in the Water - Repulsion - Cul-de-Sac - The Fearless Vampire Killers - Rosemary's Baby - Macbeth (1971 film) - (What?) – Chinatown - Tess (1979 film) - (Pirates) – Frantic - Bitter Moon - Death and the Maiden - The Ninth Gate - The Pianist - Oliver Twist (2005 film) - The Ghost Writer - Carnage (2011 film) - (Venus in Fur) – (Based on a True Story) – (An Officer and a Spy) – (The Palace)

© thevoid99 2022

The Driver

Written and directed by Walter Hill, The Driver is the story of a driver whose job is to steal cars as getaway vehicles for robbers as he is being hunted down by a detective. Inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville’s film Le Samourai, the film is an exploration of a man who has a simple job as he deals with being hunted as well as maintain a low profile as the titular character is played by Ryan O’Neal. Also Starring Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, and Ronee Blakley. The Driver is an intoxicating and thrilling film from Walter Hill.

The film revolves an unnamed driver who works as a getaway driver as he deals with a detective obsessed with catching him. It’s a film that is a simple cat-and-mouse game of sorts but with a study into discipline and one-upmanship as the driver and detective (Bruce Dern) try to outwit one another. Walter Hill’s screenplay doesn’t rely very much on plot schematics but rather two men in this game as the detective has an idea in trying to catch the driver by getting a robber to be part of a heist in exchange for serving less time in prison. Yet, due to those who have their own ideas in what they want to do. Things go wrong where the driver is aware that he’s being set-up as it once again plays into the game of wits between the driver and detective as the latter does have a few allies on his side but it adds a lot of ambiguity into whether they’re in it for themselves or helping either person in this game. Some of Hill’s dialogue is stylized as it bears elements of film noir but Hill would favor action instead of dialogue to drive the story.

Hill’s direction is definitely stylish not just for its intricate and thrilling car chases but also in the scenes where it is about what would happen next before the next job and the planning of these jobs. Shot entirely on location in Los Angeles, the film does play like a world that is very modern yet the driver is someone that plays by his own rules and with a keen sense of discipline. Notably in the opening sequence in the way he waits for a robbery to commence but things don’t go right because the robbers arrived late and they’re being chased by the police yet the driver is able to succeed in the getaway. Hill’s approach to compositions in the close-ups and medium shots says a lot in creating that air of suspense and drama. Hill’s usage of wide shots do help play into the chases as it relates to the look of Los Angeles in the way they look for scenes set at night as it feels like a world that is very modern.

The car chases definitely says a lot in the way Hill films them with the usage of cameras being locked into the cars to provide that sense of thrill and realism in how fast things are and the impact of the way they would hit certain objects or cars. When they’re seen from afar, there is still that sense of power in the way cars try to chase each other and how the driver has to get rid of them without wanting to kill someone. Still, Hill would maintain a sense of noir in the people that the driver meets including a young gambler (Isabelle Adjani) who would help him in one final game of wits against the detective. Even as the driver has to deal with the men he was reluctant to work with as he knows that they’re driven by money where it is about what is right and important in the need to survive. Overall, Hill crafts an exhilarating and riveting film about a getaway driver trying to evade the hands of an obsessed detective trying to catch him.

Cinematographer Philip H. Lathrop does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography in the way many of the nighttime exteriors in Los Angeles are shown with its usage of blue-green lights as well as some low-key lights for scenes set in the hotels and bars at night. Editors Tina Hirsch and Robert K. Lambert do amazing work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts and other rhythmic cuts to play into the chases while being straightforward for the dramatic and low-key moments of suspense in the film. Production designer Harry Horner, with set decorator Darrell Silvera and art director David M. Haber, does excellent work with the look of the posh hotel room the gambler lives at to the more quaint homes and rooms that the driver lives in.

Costume designers Jack Bear, Robert Cornwall, and Jennifer L. Parsons do fantastic work with the costumes with the look of the gambler and the clothes that she wears to the more casual look of the driver. The sound work of Donald C. Rogers and production sound mixer Richard Wagner is superb for the way the sound of tires sound when they break very hard for turns as well as the sounds of gunfire and all sorts of moment that add so much to its suspense and action. The film’s music by Michael Small is terrific for its low-key score that has bits of orchestration but also some jazz pieces with some country and disco music that is being played in the background.

The casting by Jane Feinberg and Mike Fenton is wonderful as it features some notable small roles from Nick Dmitri and Bob Minor as the two robbers in the film’s opening sequence, Denny Macko as an exchange man the gambler knows, Matt Clark and Felice Orlandi as a couple of detectives aiding the detective, Joseph Walsh as a man caught by the detective who is given a deal to bait the driver, Rudy Ramos as a fellow criminal who tries to confront the driver only to push things the wrong way, and Ronee Blakely as the driver’s friend who provides all of the connections. Isabelle Adjani is amazing as the gambler as a young woman who would be at the opening robbery as a witness as she doesn’t give away the driver’s identity as she is this quiet companion of sorts for him.

Bruce Dern is brilliant as the detective as this man that is eager to catch the driver by any means but also has a bit of respect for the man knowing that he is willing to make things harder as it’s a role of wit and bravado for Dern. Finally, there’s Ryan O’Neal in an excellent performance as the titular character who doesn’t say very much as he maintains a sense of professionalism in what he does while being someone that is always suspicious on those he is working with and with the detective who is catching him as it is one of his more underrated performances.

The Driver is an incredible film from Walter Hill that features top-notch performances from Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. It’s a film that isn’t just an intriguing cat-and-mouse film of sorts with elements of film noir. It’s also a unique study of what two men would do to outwit each other while maintaining a code of honor in their battle. In the end, The Driver is a phenomenal film from Walter Hill.

Related: Le Samourai - Drive

Walter Hill Films: (Hard Times (1975 film)) - (The Warriors) - (The Long Riders) - (Southern Comfort) - (48 Hrs.) - (Streets of Fire) - (Brewster’s Millions (1985 film)) - (Crossroads (1986 film)) - (Extreme Prejudice) - (Red Heat) - (Johnny Handsome) - (Another 48 Hrs.) - (Trespass) - (Geronimo: An American Legend) - (Wild Bill) - (Last Man Standing) - (Supernova) - (Undisputed) - (Broken Trail) - (Bullet to the Head)

© thevoid99 2016

Possession (1981 film)

Directed by Andrezj Zulawski and written by Zulawski and Frederic Tuten, Possession is the story of a woman who starts to behave very strangely after asking her international spy husband for a divorce. The film explores a marriage coming apart as well as a woman unraveling amidst the decision to end her marriage. Starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill. Possession is a terrifying yet provocative film from Andrezj Zulawski.

A spy returns home from a mission as his wife asks for a divorce as she starts to behave erratically as he wonders what is wrong with as their marriage starts to crumble. It’s a film that plays into questions about how a marriage can fall apart as questions of infidelity come into play but things become more complicated due to the behavior of the wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) who becomes neglectful towards her son Bob (Michael Hogben) as well as being unkempt and goes away for long periods of time. For the husband Mark (Sam Neill), he wonders what Anna is up to as he asks her friend Margie (Margit Cartensen) and a lover of Anna in Heinrich (Heinz Bennent) as they don’t really know. Eventually, the answer that Mark finds would force him to question to his own devotion to his own wife.

The film’s screenplay starts off with Mark returning home as it showcases that his life as a spy is an ambiguous one where not much is revealed as his home life isn’t great either due to his numerous absences as he desires to stay home. Upon this decision, his life would unravel as he sees his marriage fall apart where Anna would leave for days as her decisions become questionable to the point that he would give her space until the realization that he couldn’t leave her. In some ways, the film is a love story of a man trying to prove his devotion to his wife who wants nothing to do with him as well as some revelations about how their marriage disintegrated. Even as Mark is tempted move on from his marriage after meeting Bob’s schoolteacher Helen (Isabelle Adjani) who is the exact opposite of Anna. Still, Mark is eager to help Anna who starts to unravel as he hires private detectives to find out what she is doing as it would involve some extremely dark aspects relating to Anna’s odd behavior.

Andrezj Zulawski’s direction is very stylish in not just some of the tracking shots he creates that are very elaborate. It’s also in some of the intimate moments between Mark and Anna where it showcases a lot of dramatic tension and quieter moments that showcases their disintegrating marriage. Notably a scene at a restaurant where Mark makes a scene as it showcases some of the film’s manic tone where Zulawski uses a lot of hand-held cameras to capture the action along with some long takes. Even the tracking shots that are created go on for a while to play into the world the characters are in as it’s set in West Berlin near the Berlin Wall where Mark often sees guards looking at him from the Wall. The use of the locations has Zulawski play into something where it serves as a metaphor for where Mark and Anna are in their life and marriage.

The sense of maniacal terror definitely looms once it becomes clear into why Anna has become quite secretive as it includes this eerie flashback scene of a meltdown in a subway tunnel that is just fucked up beyond recognition. It’s a moment in the film where it’s very primal and visceral where Zulawski’s use of hand-held cameras and the location itself adds to that sense of terror that looms. Even as the film progresses where this mix of horror, drama, and suspense come together where it plays into what Mark wants from Anna. Overall, Zulawski creates a truly mesmerizing yet haunting film about a man’s attempt to save his marriage.

Cinematographer Bruno Nuytten does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography with its use of grayish colors to play into the dreariness of the locations and its tone of horror. Editors Marie-Sophi Dubus and Suzanne Lang-Willar do fantastic work with the editing with its use of jump-cuts from a film that Mark watches about Anna to some of the rhythmic cuts in the film‘s suspenseful moments. Art director Holger Gross does amazing work with the look of the apartments the characters look including the apartment that Anna lives in all by herself.

Costume designer Ingrid Zore does terrific work with the costumes from the blue dresses of Anna to the more white dresses that her doppelganger Helen wears. The sound work of Norman Engel and Karl-Heinz Laabs do brilliant work with the sound from some of the effects it play into the film‘s horror as well as the mixing to convey some of its suspense and ominous moments. The film’s music by Andrezj Korzynski is superb for its very chilling use of pianos and discordant string arrangements as well as sound textures that play into the sense of terror that looms in the film.

The film’s incredible cast include some notable small roles from Carl Duering as a private detective hired to follow Anna, Shaun Lawton as the detective’s partner, Joanna Hofer as Heinrich’s mother, Maximillian Ruthlein as an associate of Mark from the spy service, and Michael Hogben as Mark and Anna’s son Bob who wonders about his mother’s many absences. Heinz Bennent is terrific as Anna’s lover Heinrich who is a very strange man who claims to love everything as he is also a skilled fighter as he is someone that tests Mark. Margit Cartensen is wonderful in a small role as Anna’s best friend Margie whom Mark doesn’t like very much as she is aware that something about Anna isn’t right as she helps Mark in looking after Bob.

Sam Neill is great as Mark as this spy who returns home to see his marriage unraveling as it’s a performance that is terrifying at times in terms of Mark’s devotion to Anna as he also displays a darkly comic sense of charm to his role. Finally, there’s Isabelle Adjani in a performance for the ages in the dual roles of Anna and Helen. In the latter, there is a sweetness to the character of Helen as she represents everything that Anna isn’t while being offbeat in her look due to the green eyes she has. In Anna, Adjani goes all out as it is over-the-top at times but also a performance that is just visceral and frightening to watch. Most notably the scene at the tunnel where Adjani is like a wild animal coming apart as it’s a performance that is unquestionably one of the scariest performances captured on film.

Possession is a phenomenal film from Andrezj Zulawski that features a very terrifying and unforgettable performance from Isabelle Adjani. The film is without question one of the most intriguing films about marriage as well as being a smart genre-bender that refuses to define itself into one genre. Even as it has something for everyone including horror fans in how it can go to great extremes. In the end, Possession is a magnificent film from Andrezj Zulawski.

Andrezj Zulawski Films: (The Third Part of the Night) - (Diabel) - That Most Important Thing: Love - (The Public Woman) - (L’Amour braque) - (On the Silver Globe) - (My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days) - (Boris Godunov) - (The Blue Note (1991 film)) - (Szamanka) - (Fidelity) - (Cosmos (2015 film))

© thevoid99 2014

The Story of Adele H.

Based on the diaries of Adele Hugo, L’Histoire d’Adele H. (The Story of Adele H.) recounts the life of the daughter of writer Victor Hugo and her love for a military officer that would lead to her downfall. Directed by Francois Truffaut with a script by Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman, Jean Grualt, and Frances Vernor Guille, the film is an exploration of a young woman’s encounter with an officer in the mid-19th Century as she is played by Isabelle Adjani. Also starring Bruce Robinson and Sylvia Marriott. L’Histoire d’Adele H. is an intense yet haunting film from Francois Truffaut.

The film is set during the early 1860s in Halifax, Nova Scotia where Adele Hugo travels to the island to find the British officer she lives in Lt. Pinson (Bruce Robinson) as she hopes to marry him despite the fact that he keeps pushing her away. It’s a film that explores a period in Adele Hugo’s life as she goes under different alias so that people wouldn’t know who her father is as she stays at a boarding house run by the kind Mrs. Saunders (Sylvia Marriott). Upon her pursuit for Lt. Pinson, Adele would start to unravel emotionally and mentally as images of her older sister’s death would appear in her nightmares. The film’s script takes place in the span of an entire year from Adele’s arrival to Halifax where Lt. Pinson is stationed in to her growing descent into madness as she would do whatever to claim him.

While Lt. Pinson does care for her, he couldn’t deal with her desperation and antics as she would eventually cause troubled for him in his own life. The first half is about Adele’s pursuit while its second half is about her slow descent to madness and her attempts to ruin the new life that Lt. Pinson is trying to create. Many of which would have Adele claiming to be Lt. Pinson’s wife and claimed to have married him as she would constantly write letters to her family as they would give her money. Yet, Adele’s antics would cause disappointment among her family as they beg her to come home to be with her ailing mother as Adele’s behavior would eventually become more and more erratic towards the end of the film.

Francois Truffaut’s direction is pretty simple yet effective in the way he portrays a year in the life of Adele Hugo. Though the film is shot in the island of Guernsey, where Victor Hugo lived in exile during that time, due to the fact that Halifax didn’t look like what it was during the mid-19th Century. It does play into the world that Adele is in as she tries to go to the various places where Lt. Pinson is at as he is prepared to take part in the American Civil War if it would reach Halifax. The direction has Truffaut use a lot of close-ups and medium shots to maintain an intimacy in the story as well as play into Adele’s growing descent into madness. Early on, she looks like a proper woman but slowly would look ragged and lost as she would follow Lt. Pinson wherever he is as she would become more desperate and erratic. There is also a sense of melancholia that lingers in the film as Truffaut would incorporate that into the story as well as the fate that Adele would eventually succumb to. Overall, Truffaut crafts a very eerie yet evocative film about Adele Hugo’s descent into madness.

Cinematographer Nestor Almendros does amazing work with the film‘s lush and intoxicating cinematography with its use of low-key and natural lights for some of its nighttime exterior and interiors as well as vibrant colors for some of the daytime exterior scenes. Editors Yann Dedet, Martine Barraque, Jean Gargonne, Michele Neny, and Muriel Zeleny do excellent work with the film‘s stylized editing with the use of dissolve for the nightmare sequences as well as jump-cuts and transition wipes to play with its structure. Production designer Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko does fantastic work with the set pieces such as the home that Adele stays at to the taverns and bookstore that she goes to.

Costume designer Jacqueline Guyot is brilliant for the dresses that Adele wears to play into her personality as well as the uniform that Lt. Pinson wears. The sound work of Michel Laurent and Jean-Pierre Rush is terrific for the atmosphere that is presented on many of the film‘s locations including a party that Adele crashes. The film’s music by Maurice Jaubert is superb for its somber orchestral score that plays into Adele‘s growing descent as well as some more chilling pieces in the nightmare sequences.

The film’s wonderful cast includes some notable small roles from Francois Truffaut as a soldier Adele encounters, Cecil de Sausmarez as a notary in a bank Adele goes to, Roger Martin as a doctor who discovers Adele’s true identity yet keeps it a secret, Ruben Dorey as Mr. Saunders, Sir Raymond Falla as a judge whose daughter was to marry Lt. Pinson, and Ivry Gitlis as a hypnotist Adele tries to hire during a show she attends. Joseph Blatchley is terrific as a kind book store owner who tries to help Adele while Sylvia Marriott is excellent as the very warm Mrs. Saunders who makes sure that Adele lives comfortably while keeping her identity a secret.

Bruce Robinson is superb as Lt. Pinson as a man who is being pursued by Adele as he knows that he can’t love her like he used to as he devotes himself to duty and seeking a new life for himself. Finally, there’s Isabelle Adjani in a tremendous performance as Adele Hugo as she brings in this fierce intensity to her character that is filled with anguish and a determination to be loved. Most notably in the way she presents Adele’s descent into madness with a physically and raggedness that is just eerie to watch as it is one of Adjani’s finest performances.

L’Histoire d’Adele H. is a remarkable film from Francois Truffaut that features a magnificent performance from Isabelle Adjani. The film isn’t just an eerie portrait into a woman trying to claim the love of a man who doesn’t love her but an exploration into mental illness and a woman’s desperation that would lead to madness. In the end, L’Histoire d’Adele H. is a phenomenal film from Francois Truffaut.

Francois Truffaut Films: The 400 Blows - Shoot the Piano Player -Jules & Jim - Antoine & Colette - The Soft Skin - Fahrenheit 451 - The Bride Wore Black - Stolen Kisses - Mississippi Mermaid - The Wild Child - Bed and Board - Two English Girls - Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me - Day for Night - Small Change - The Man Who Loved Women - The Green Room - Love on the Run - The Last Metro - The Woman Next Door - Confidentially Yours

The Auteur #40: Francois Truffaut (Pt. 1) - (Pt. 2)

© thevoid99 2014

Nosferatu, the Vampyre

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com 1/4/07 w/ Additional Edits

Based on Bram Stoker's story of Count Dracula, Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu, the Vampyre) is the story how a man came to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula only to capture him and claim the man's wife. Written for the screen and directed by Werner Herzog, the film is a remake of sorts of F.W. Murnau's 1922 version that was famously played by Max Schrek. For this version, the film stars Klaus Kinski in the title role marking their second collaboration between Herzog and Kinski. Also starring Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz, and Walter Ladengast. Nosferatu is a fascinating, haunting remake from Werner Herzog and its star Klaus Kinski.

In the small German town of Wismar in 1850, real estate agent Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) is asked to close a deal for a home that is bought by a mysterious man named Dracula. Going to the Carpathian Mountains under the order of his eccentric boss Renfield (Roland Topor), Harker says goodbye to his wife Lucy (Isabelle Adjani) who thinks the trip is a bad idea. Still, Harker goes on the four-week trek from Wismar to Romania as a stop at a small Romanian town has him encountering gypsies who believe that the castle is cursed. Still, Harker continues his journey as he rides a mysterious carriage to the castle where he meets the reclusive Dracula. After a tense meeting over the business deal, Harker is irked by Dracula's dark presence as her never sees him in the daylight as her later becomes ill. After Dracula sees Harker's locket that carries a picture of Lucy, Harker's illness intensify where he's trapped in Dracula's castle while learning of his true identity.

Dracula flees via a small group of caskets shipped to Germany as Harker makes an escape where Dracula eventually arrives to Wismar. There, Lucy's paranoia over Jonathan gets the attention of a doctor named Van Helsing (Walter Landengast) who think she's ill from a fever. The ship that carries caskets as it arrives with a dead crew and rats as Van Helsing believes there's a plague happening. Dracula finally emerges as he meets with Renfield to have him give out orders while the ailing Jonathan finally arrives at Wismar. Dracula meets Lucy as he wants her love as she refuses as he leaves to try and win her again. With the plague intensifying and Jonathan's illness increasing, Lucy reads Jonathan's diary to discover what is happening as she waits for Dracula to arrive.

While Herzog's adaptation of Dracula isn't the most faithful version of the story he switches the main heroine of Mina to a supporting character with Lucy being the Mina role. Still, the film is clearly more of a remake of the original Murnau film as Herzog again goes for the conflict of man vs. environment. This time around, the dark environment are in Transylvania as Jonathan enters the dark world where he nearly dies. The second is in Wismar where at night, Dracula seems to take an advantage only right till the end. Herzog's script and wandering direction really brings a strong yet entrancing approach to the story of Dracula where he's given a different portrayal than the ones several years ago. Plus, given to Herzog's views of nature. He definitely goes for nature vs. man but this time around, it's Dracula who controls nature to send a plague on humanity. While the film is merely a stylized account of the story of Dracula, it's done with a lot of intelligence mixed with entertainment that it's still a strong film from Herzog.

Helping Herzog in his presentation is cinematographer Jorg Schmidt-Reitwein whose work in the shades, shadows, and lighting set-ups are exquisitely amazing to convey the dark atmosphere of the night in Transylvania and Wismar. Editor Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus does excellent work in bringing a stylized, rhythmic approach to the editing to convey the suspense and momentum of the film. Art director Henning von Gierke does an amazing job in creating the decaying, ominous look of Transylvania as well as that eerie clock of Dracula's. Costume designer Gisela Storch does great work in creating the 19th-Century costumes while making a great, black cloak for Kinski that is wonderful. Makeup artists Dominique Colladant and Reiko Kruk do great work in creating the look of Kinski's Dracula with its ears and teeth. Sound recordist Harold Maury also does excellent with the film's atmosphere. The German group Popol Vuh and its leader Florian Fricke brings a haunting score filled with an ominous choir to convey the sense of horror as well as a dreamy, folky track for the film's early, romantic sequences. The rest of the soundtrack includes an operatic track from Charles Gounod and the sweeping Das Rheingold from Richard Wagner.

The film's cast includes some notable small performances from Jan Groth as a harbormaster, Cartsen Bodinus as Schrader, and Martje Grohmann as Mina. Roland Topor is hilarious and creepy as Renfield with his irritating cackle and wide-eyed face. Walter Ladengast is excellent as Van Helsing with his restrained, weary presence as a man who tries to understand what's going on only to realize that he might be the one to stop everything. Bruno Ganz is great as Jonathan Harker with his cautious performance as a man who is unaware of the atmosphere he's in and tries desperately to save his wife only to find himself ill. Though she doesn't have much to do, Isabelle Adjani is amazing as the paranoid, scared Lucy Harker as it's her face that does a lot of the acting and Adjani's minimalist performance is great as she has some great scenes with Kinski. Finally, Klaus Kinski is brilliant in the film's title role as Dracula. Kinski's performance is very restrained yet he brings a lot of depth to the character where he lets his face bring a lot of horror while adding a range of restrained emotions to the role. Again, Kinski owns the film like he did in his previous collaboration with Herzog in Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes.

***Additional DVD Content Written and Posted on 1/30/07***

The Region 1 DVD from the 2000 Anchor Bay Herzog-Kinski box set presents the film in the widescreen format of 1:85:1 ratio for 16x9 TV screens plus 5.1. and 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in German with English subtitles. The DVD version of the box set is the film's German version which is considered superior to the English version of the film (which is also available, seperately, on DVD). The special features include two U.S. trailers (one with voiceover), a Spanish trailer, the talent bios of Herzog and Kinski, and a 13-minute making-of featurette. The making-of segment is presented by the film's original distributor, 20th Century Fox as Herzog talks in English about Nosferatu where he said the 1922 Murnau version was the greatest film in German history. The making-of reveals the actors performing in English (he also shot them in German, since Herzog, Ganz, and Kinski are German) while directing several sequences in the Delft area of Holland. It's one of the more insightful featurettes into how Herzog works, including his moments with Kinski, while Kinski is shown putting on the makeup of Dracula.

The second special feature is a commentary track from Herzog and Norman Hill. Herzog discusses about wanting to remake Murnau's version but adding new things with some shots in tribute to the original film. He discussed Kinski's notorious behavior which was difficult to handle as well as many of the actors' discomvort in speaking in English for the film's U.S. version given their thick native accents. Herzog discusses with Hill about maintaining an atmosphere for the film where he admitted to having a few problems with the American distributors at 20th Century Fox as well as casting issues since Herzog was using then-unknown European actors. Herzog admits to making compromises for American audiences to the film though he didn't think it was a big deal while giving his own opinion on Francis Ford Coppola's version of Dracula. One enjoyable part of the commentary is Herzog talking about how the rats were shipped from Germany, through Austria and to Holland where he revealed a very funny story about the rats going through custom

***End of DVD Tidbits***

While fans of the Dracula story might be put off by some of the changes in the story, Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht is still a faithful, atmospheric film from Werner Herzog and its star Klaus Kinski. With a great supporting cast and wandering images, it's still a film that brings elements of horror while staying faithful to the original Murnau film. Fans of Herzog and Kinski will indeed consider this film as one of their great collaborations in the five films they made. In the end, Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht is an excellent adaptation of the story of Dracula.

Werner Herzog Films: Feature Films: (Signs of Life) - (Even the Dwarfs Started Small) - (Fatana Morgana) - Aguirre, the Wrath of God - (The Enigma of Kasper Hauer) - (Heart of Glass) - Stroszek - Woyzeck - Fitzcarraldo - (Where the Green Ants Dream) - Cobra Verde - (Scream of Stone) - (Lessons of Darkness) - (Invincible (2001 film)) - (The Wild Blue Yonder) - Rescue Dawn - (Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) - (My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?) - Queen of the Desert

Documentaries: (The Flying Doctors of East Africa) - (Handicapped Future) - (Land of Silence and Darkness) - (The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner) - (How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck) - (La Soufrière) - (Huie's Sermon) - (God's Angry Man) - (Ballad of the Little Soldier) - (The Dark Glow of the Mountains) - (Wodaabe – Herdsmen of the Sun) - (Echoes from a Somber Empire) - (Jag Mandir) - (Bells from the Deep) - (The Transformation of the World into Music) - (Death for Five Voices) - (Little Dieter Needs to Fly) - My Best Fiend - (Wings of Hope) - (Pilgrimage) - (Ten Thousand Years Older) - (Wheel of Time) - (The White Diamond) - Grizzly Man - Encounters at the End of the World - Cave of Forgotten Dreams - (Into the Abyss) - (On Death Row) - From One Second to the Next

Related: Nosferatu - Nosferatu (2024 film)

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