The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 6, 1980 Page: 9 of 20
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Every vampire for itselfand God against all
£
Kinski on the verge of encountering
Nosferatu — Phantom Der
Nacht
English version: Nosferatu — The
Vampyre
Written and Directed by Werner
Herzog
Werner Herzog is a great
director. His work is diverse,
interesting, and frequently
brilliant. Of his thirteen (or so)
releases, I don't think he's made a
poor, or even mediocre, film. Yet
somehow I was a bit disappointed
with Nosferatu.
It's difficult to attribute the
blame to any single factor. One
problem is a lack of overall
cohesiveness. While the story is
basically standard Dracula fare,
Herzog's approach seems
uninspired or even mixed up. Is
Nosferatu an homage to Murnau's
classic of the same name, or is it
intended to be a significantly
different interpretation of the
material? Or are Herzog's loyalties
drawn to Bram Stoker's literary
version? This inconclusiveness on
the filmmaker's part leads to
several excesses, such as the
introduction — simply because he
appeared in Stoker's novel — of a
major character (Renfield) whose
presence is totally unnecessary.
The outcome of all this is that
Nosferatu sort of plods along in
stylistic limbo: without the rapid
pace of most suspense thrillers but
also lacking the customary slow-is-
beautiful quality found in Herzog's
other films.
Of course, Nosferatu is not
without its moments of genius. No
Herzog film, from the perverse
Even Dwarfs Started Small to the
obsessive Aguirre, The Wrath of
God, is without them. In Nosferatu
the filmmaker's attention to detail,
his shrewd photographic eye, and
his masterful use of music are all
the wrath of Good
very much in evidence. (The film's
final shot, in which the hero
(Bruno Ganz) rides off across the
sand accompanied by Gounod's
"Sanctus" provides an appropriate
example of what Herzog means
when he says: wMy deepest
impulses for filmmaking come
from music.") The fact that at $1.5
million this was his most expensive
undertaking to date (compared to
an average $8 million sum for
American releases) bolsters my
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The Sorrows of Young Werner
contention that many Hollywood
people are getting filthy rich by
fellating one another, and
performing similarly uncinematic
activities, in our nation's movie
capitol.
The cast of Nosferatu is
well chosen. Bruno Ganz (the lead
in Wim Wenders' intricate thriller
The American Friend) gives a neat
performance, changing from
Jonathan Harker the Meek to
Jonathan Harker the Possessed.
Isabelle Adjani plays Harker's wife
—whose initial grief at her
husband's malaise becomes a
determination to destroy the cause
of it at any price. Since her
stunning debut in Truffaut's The
Story of Adele H., Adjani has
proved her talents, not only in
acting but also in choosing roles
which enhance her artistic
reputation. In my opinion, she is
also the most beautiful woman
working in the cinema today.
(And I've had it up to here with all
the vacuous sexpots that are (
constantly, and with increasing
frequency, being foisted on the
public—from Tragic Marilyn
Monroe to Bo (for BOring) Derek.
These people have very little to
offer a sensible audience save the
dubious mythic ideal of WASP
womanhood. They don't belong in
film, they belong in the glossy
centers of what were once
subversive but are now very
mainstream publications.)
Now where was I before that
little tirade? Oh yes, the actors. I
have never understood the terror
people seem to find in the
limp-wristed formally attired Bela
Lugosi — Vincent Price character.
If that's evil personified, the devil's
agent on earth, we have very little
to worry about. In Herzog's film,
like its 1922 predecessor, this
problem of a convincingly
malicious Dracula never arises.
One look at Klaus Kinski in
Nosferatu and you know you're
not dealing with some middle-aged
pansy. Kinski's Count is insidious,
physically repulsive, and most
importantly, seems capable of
causing bodily harm.
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Isabelle Adjani amid rats: choosing roles which enhance her reputation
Lest my earlier statements be
misconstrued, Nosferatu is not a
failure (though it is one of Herzog's
lesser achievements). It has a lot to
offer, both to the casual moviegoer
and to the connoisseur. Herzog's
distinctive direction (for example
in his use of long-takes depicting
strange and mysterious events, like
the child who inexplicably plays a
violin at the front door of
Dracula's castle every morning),
assures us of this.
I suppose that the fundamental
problem with the film lies in its
subject matter. Herzog has always
Qterobic ^
INSTRUCTORS NEEDED
Must be:
Professional physically fit, and aggressive.
Excellent incentive compensation.
(until Nosferatu and his latest,
Woyzeck) worked from his own
material. In Nosferatu, Herzog is
dealing with a format (the vampire
plot) which is spent. Too many
versions of Dracula's tale have
been made, so that even major
variations on the theme (such as
sexual or comic interpretations)
have been exhausted. Unfortu-
nately, filmmakers seem unaware
of this, and the vampire theme
continues to haunt the screen like
the undead, unable to find its
much-deserved eternal rest.
— F. Brotzen
«ocoooocoocoo
I
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PLACEMENT OEE1CE INTERVIEWS
DATE
COMPANIES
3/10
MPR & Associates, inc.
3/10
Union Carbide Corp.
3/10
U.S. Navy Officers Program
3/10
Hercules, Inc.
3/10
Hooker Chemical Co.
3/10
C. E. Lummus Co.
3/10
Eirst international Bank
3/11
Southwestern Life Insurance
3/11
Dresser Industries
3/11
Vulcan Materials Co.
3/11
Travelers Insurance Co.
3/11
Welex
3/12
Bank of America
3/12
Baker Service Tools
3/12
E Systems, Inc.
3/12
Combustion Engineering Co.
3/12
U.S. Air Force
3/12-13
Bell Systems
3/13
Motorola, Inc.
3/13
Houston National Bank
3/13
J. Ray McDermott & Co.
3/14
Chevron Geophysical Co.
3/14
Failure Analysis Assoc.
3/14
Trinity Consultants
3/14
Prudential Insurance Co.
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Muller, Matthew. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 6, 1980, newspaper, March 6, 1980; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245432/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.