Confronting Reality: How Nosferatu Exemplifies Film Horror Tactics Essa

Many films, and sometimes film genres, are dismissed as being part of the cinema of escapism. This assumes that in times of particular social or economic hardship (often on a national or international level), people go to movies for the sole purpose of â€Å"getting away from it all.† While some films may follow this overall trend, it is important to note that it cannot be a generalization made for all films. During the Weimar era in Germany, the nation was in the midst of a national struggle on many fronts. As a people, Germans attempted to deal with their past (the problems during World War I as well as the consequences of their loss) and move toward the future (finding a solution for their economic struggles and defining themselves culturally and socially). This period saw a resurgence of the horror genre, this time adapted to the new medium of film. However, the way horror was portrayed via film is the interesting part: it drew specifically on the struggles of the na tion to instill horror. This is an exact reversal of the idea of cinematic escapism, since many Weimar era horror films used relatable struggles in order to both entertain and terrify (in this case, existing concurrently as well as dependently on each other). One of the clearest examples of this is through the film Nosferatu, a cinematic retelling of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula directed by F.W. Murnau. The budding horror genre of the Weimar era, as exemplified by Nosferatu, succeeded because it drew parallels to the German people’s collective post-World War I mindset, including references to the terrible nature of the war itself and the fearful prospect of how to move forward. Nosferatu employs various plot points and imagery to elicit an emotional response ... ...dience long after the film reels have stopped turning. The idea of a â€Å"scary movie† could be innocuous enough, if it is simply frights and ghoulish images, but Nosferatu raised the bar and discovered how to delve into a collective mindset and produce a truly unsettling product. Germany’s residual shame and concern regarding World War I made Nosferatu a gripping, telling exploration of a nation’s psyche. Works Cited Bodek, Richard. â€Å"The Not-So-Golden Twenties: everyday Life and Communist Agitprop in Weimar-Era Berlin.† Journal of Social History. Vol. 30, No. 1. Autumn 1996. Calhoon, Kenneth S. â€Å"Horror vacui.† Peripheral Visions: The Hidden Stages of Weimar Cinema. Wayne State University Press: Detroit, 2001. Kracauer, Siegfried. From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film. Princeton University Press: Princeton and Oxford, 2004.