Eggers’ Nosferatu a bloodless exercise
Among horror film aficionados, Robert Egger’s Nosferatu is
the most eagerly awaited film of the year. While Werner Herzog’s 1979 remake of
F.W. Murnau’s classic was a more grounded approach to the seminal vampire tale,
the aesthetic of Eggers previous work promises something different. As for the
story, Eggers introduces one interesting innovation, but for the most part,
sticks to the basic outline of Bram Stoker’s novel.
For the uninitiated, Thomas Hutter (the seemingly ubiquitous
Nicholas Hoult) is eager to make good at the real estate firm where he’s
employed. So when its owner, Knock (Simon McBurney), offers him a unique
opportunity he grabs it, eager to make good.
Seems the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) is eager to purchase a
property in the German town of Wisborg and insists that he peruse and sign the
necessary documents in his Transylvanian home.
Anxious to get started on his journey, Hutter ignores his
wife Ellen’s (Lily-Rose Depp) misgivings. Having suffered from dark
premonitions from a young age, she’s convinced a dark spirit is calling to her
and that her husband’s task is somehow connected to it. Still, he sets out,
ignoring the warnings of other travelers and the citizens of a remote village
along the way.
Eggers and his crew are firing on all cylinders once Hutter
arrives at the castle. Crumbling and decrepit, the entire structure and all it
contains appears as if the life has been drained out of it. Compounding that,
Eggers nurtures our fear and anticipation by offering only glimpses of its
inhabitant, Orlok. However, Hoult’s reactions let us know how dire his
situation is as well as the grotesque nature of his host. Much like the novel
and many other adaptations, this section proves to be the most effective.
Meanwhile, after falling ill, Ellen has moved in with her
confidante, Anna (Emma Corrin), and her husband Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
When her condition worsens and she begins having horrific seizures, Dr. Sievers
(Ralph Ineson) is called in to examine her. Quickly realizing he is in need of
assistance, he refers her to Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe),
who makes a diagnosis none of them expect.
The connection between Orlok and Ellen is developed further
than in previous versions and is Eggers’ most significant narrative
contribution. A prologue shows her wishing for an angel to look over her, a
request that innocently awakens a malevolent force. The bond between her and
this spirit increases until it haunts her dreams, slowly creeping into the
reality she shares with her loved ones. This perverse attraction ends up having
horrifying ramifications as what Ellen has unleashed results in a plague that
sweeps through the city, and when the evil force finally contacts Ellen, a dear
price is paid by all.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more committed cast than the
one assembled here. The emotional investment from each is impressive, Depp
standing out with a raw performance that reeks of passion and desperation.
McBurney revels in Knock’s spiral into madness, while Corrin conveys a sense of
confusion and ultimately helplessness that proves poignant. As expected, Dafoe
delivers a grand turn in the Van Helsing role, the character’s flair for the
dramatic a perfect fit.
As with Eggers’ other films, there’s a great deal to unpack,
multiple viewings likely to reveal additional depth and meaning. Having seen it
only once, it comes off as a handsome, visual exercise. The problem is, it
feels like an exercise, one lacking emotion or purpose. It is surely the most
visually arresting version of the story since Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but
unlike the Francis Ford Coppola classic, Nosferatu resembles its titular
character in the worst way – it lacks life.
In theaters.
Unknown an evocative look at Bob Dylan and his times
While James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown only covers a
small portion of Bob Dylan’s life, it manages to capture much of what made him
stand apart from his peers and why he continues to captivate his fans some 60 years later.
The film begins in New York City in 1961 when 19-year-old Bob
Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in New York City, having made the pilgrimage
from Minnesota to visit Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), the folk singer having
been hospitalized and exhibiting the first signs of Huntington’s Disease.
During his visit, the young singer meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), who takes
him in. After hearing some of his guest’s songs, it doesn’t take long for him
to realize Dylan has a distinctive voice. Phone calls and introductions are
made and very soon, the teen finds himself playing in Village clubs and meeting
with representatives from Columbia Records. He also crosses paths with two
women who would have a significant impact on his life, fellow musician Joan
Baez (Monica Barbaro) and artist Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning).
The screenplay by Jay Cocks and Mangold focuses only on the
first four years of Dylan’s career, his meteoric rise told in a compact and
compelling manner. Scenes of him providing hits for more established artists
segue into those in which he’s creating a sensation in the Big Apple’s folk
venues, followed by sequences of him cutting songs that would become classics
at Columbia. All the while, he keeps those in his sphere guessing as to his
intentions.
Russo’s (Suze Rotolo in real life) affection for him comes
at a price, as Dylan refuses to be tied down by her or Baez, who also suffers
from his mercurial behavior. Meanwhile, record executives become increasingly
concerned when their artist begins to deviate from what they thought was his
established norm. Perhaps no one is more worried about Dylan than Seeger, who
has come to see him as the artist who can increase folk music’s popularity and
the progressive messages it contains. The last thing he wants is for his young
musical messiah to wander off what he perceives to be his destined path.
Mangold does a wonderful job recreating the sense of
optimism of the era. It’s heartbreaking to revisit a less cynical time in which
the belief that art could affect change existed, that sensibility pulsing
through the film. Much of this is due to the performances; Barbaro and Fanning
convey the strength and determination in their characters, while the
contrariness displayed by Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash proves a nice
counterpoint. Norton exemplifies this sensibility the most. Modest but
determined to create change in a world that’s quickly passing him by, the actor
never plays Seeger as a fool but as a gentle man, blinded by his own optimism.
As for Chalamet, he’s genuinely impressive, immersed in the
role to the point that Dylan feels like a natural extension of himself.
Spending five years to learn the guitar as well as 30 of the musician’s songs,
the hard work pays off, the actor capturing not just his character’s sound but
his swagger, petulance and rebelliousness as well. He manages to subsume his
own persona, the transformation to Dylan a complete and rousing success.
Of course, Seeger’s fears are realized in his own backyard
when Dylan comes on stage at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, shocking the crowd
by playing electric guitar. Seen as a betrayal to the music’s traditional
stylings, the hue and cry was immediate, the reasoning for this act a mystery.
But, of course, that’s the whole point. Part of Dylan’s mystique revolves
around his unpredictable nature, as well as his resistance to share many
details about his private life. Yet, instead of repelling his fans, it just
draws them further in, A Complete Unknown is successful not only in chronicling
how Dylan’s voice was created but also in maintaining and even fostering the
mystery of the artist. In theaters.
Half-baked Babygirl reeks of desperation
Written and directed by Halina Reijn, Babygirl is the
sort of film where you witness a solid premise slowly disintegrate before your
eyes. Nicole Kidman is Romy, the CEO of a robotics company who, by any standard,
has it all. Her husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas), is attentive, attractive and
successful, they have two healthy, intelligent daughters and live in a style
and degree of comfort most of us can’t imagine.
And yet, there’s something missing. Despite passionate, and
seemingly frequent, bouts of sex with her husband, Romy remains dissatisfied.
Inexplicably, she becomes attracted to Samuel (Harris Dickinson), an intern at
her company. Seeing him stop a runaway
dog with just the tone of his voice and then giving it a treat, triggers
something in her. In witnessing this, she realizes what she’s been missing.
It’s obvious she will give in to him, yet Reijn draws out
their foreplay until it becomes tedious. Granted, this is part of the game they
are playing, yet the film feels mired in indecision, the narrative spinning its
wheels, covering much of the same ground again and again.
The movie’s biggest fault is that there’s never a sense of
danger or daring where what the couple is doing is concerned. Kidman and Dickinson,
as game as they are, are just going through the motions, roleplaying, as their
characters do, instead of convincing us they are two genuinely complex,
troubled individuals. Reijn fails to give them backstories, which proves
fatal, especially where Samuel is concerned. The young man is much more
experienced than his age would suggest, so indications as to how his
manipulative nature come to be and what his motivations are, seem like logical
inclusions. Without them, the hole in the narrative is too large to overlook or
overcome.
As for Romy, it’s easier to assume that, having to oversee
so many professional and personal responsibilities, she would want to give
herself over to someone. Being free, if only momentarily, of having to call all
the shots would be appealing and perhaps liberating. However, we are left to
fill these blanks in for ourselves, the complexities of her character suggested
rather than explored.
A bit of intrigue is introduced late in the film regarding
Samuel manipulating others within the company for his own gain, while scenes in
which he ingratiates himself into Romy’s family offer up the potential of
suspense. While I admire Reijn for not going down the same path as Fatal
Attraction and similar features, at least some tension would have resulted
had these moments and Samuel’s intentions towards Jacob and his children been
developed.
Not much better than the titillating late night fare that used
to run on Cinemax and other cable channels, Babygirl ends up being very
much like those movies. There’s a suggestion that something provocative or
titillating will occur, but in the end the movie comes off as a collection of
poorly executed, half-baked ideas. In theaters.
This article appears in Remembering 2024.
