4.11 - NOSFERATU and Longing

In our first film in a new 'sub-season', we tackle the 1922 classic that kick-started the vampire film genre (no, it wasn’t absolutely the first, but it was the first ‘mainstream’ vampire movie, and has inspired so many others). We have a special guest this week, who talks to us about German Expressionism, how this film is a reflection of contemporary events, and how to get 17-year-olds interested in a silent film from the 1920s!

Next Time Our next vampire film is another cornerstone of the genre: DRACULA (1931).

Recent Media CHERNOBYL (2019): Craig Mazin, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård SUMMER OF ROCKETS (2019): Stephen Poliakoff, Keeley Hawes, Linus Roache GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019): Michael Dougherty, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga TRIPLE FRONTIER (2019): J.C. Chandor, Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac

Recommendations THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI (1920): Robert Wiene, Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt METROPOLIS (1927): Fritz Lang, Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008): Tomas Alfredson, Kåre Hedebrandt, Lina Leandersson THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (1999–2007): Alan Moore, Kevin O’Neill, Bill Oakley TABU: A STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS (1931): F.W. Murnau, Matahi, Anne Chevalier BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935): James Whale, Boris Karloff, Colin Clive

Footnotes Before we get to this week’s film, the documentary film about Chernobyl that Jennifer mentions, to which the tv mini-series is indebted, is this. Firstly, then, there’s some important grounding in the genre of German Expressionism and in the story on which this film is based. This is a good introduction to the history of the time. This is the cinematographic technique to which Jennifer refers. And here’s more on the movement in medical thought, popular in the 17th century, which led Sam to have questions about the film’s history.