Nosferatu, by Robert Eggers | The girl and death

Germany, 1838. At night, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), wife of notary Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), is visited by an evil entity. When Thomas tells her that Knock (Steven McBurney), his employer, is sending him to Transylvania, Ellen fears the worst. In fact, old Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård, brother of Alexander, who played the leading role in The Northman), whom Thomas must help settle in Germany, is in fact a vampire.

Stayed with Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Anna Harding (Emma Corrin), Ellen plunges into a coma from which she emerges to announce the arrival of a being who terrifies her. While Doctor Sievers (Ralph Ineson, seen in The Witch et The Northman) tries to treat her, Professor Albin Eberhartz von Franz (Willem Dafoe, seen in The Lighthouse et The Northman) understands that Ellen is Orlok's prey. From then on, the controversial scientist sets out to annihilate the nosferate (demon), whose arrival in Germany caused an epidemic of plague.

Having become interested in the figure of the witch (The Witch2015), to Greek mythology (The Lighthouse2019) and a Shakespearean drama inspired by Scandinavian folklore (The Northman2022), Robert Eggers finally realizes the great dream of his short but impressive career. That is to say that after having worked on it since 2015, the man who had co-directed a theatrical version at secondary school is finally delivering his version of Nosferatu the vampire (1922), by FW Murnau.

Unauthorized adaptation of Draculaa novel by Bram Stoker published in 1897, this masterpiece of expressionist cinema had already been the subject of an excellent remake by Werner Herzog in 1979. More bewitching than frightening, despite some striking shock effects and an atmospheric deleterious enhanced by the music of Robert Carolan (The Northman), Eggers' fascinating retelling skillfully combines aesthetic elements of the original and the remake.

Horror and splendor

Signed Jarin Blaschke, Eggers' faithful accomplice, the superb photo sometimes evokes the contrasts specific to German expressionism, sometimes the bloodless colors of the 1979 version. In certain scenes, black and white succeeds almost imperceptibly to color and vice versa; at other times, they coexist in the same frame, which creates astonishing contrasts and suggests the meeting of two universes.

Unlike Herzog, Eggers expelled the sentimental thread from the story, making the vampire not a transfixed lover of the beautiful Ellen, but a predator thirsty for the dark side of an innocent.

Furthermore, Ellen is reminiscent of the character of Anya Taylor Joy (slated for the role of Ellen) in The witch. Evolving in a puritanical environment, the neurasthenic Ellen shocks those close to her when spasms twist her body as if in a state of enjoyment. Despite herself, she no longer seems able to hide her sexual urges.

In this role, Lily-Rose Depp proves masterful. If her pale complexion and dark hair evoke Herzog's Isabelle Adjani, her acting is inspired by the actress's memorable performance in Possessionby Andrzej Żuławski. At his side, each actor plays his part perfectly. Mention to Ralph Ineson, whose deep and penetrating voice suits the gothic genre perfectly.

While Klaus Kinski's vampire bore a striking resemblance to that of Max Schreck (whom Dafoe played in The vampire's shadowof. Elias Merhige, in 2000), the appearance of Bill Skarsgård suggests that of an undead with his rotting skin and that of Vlad III the Impaler, who inspired Stoker to write his novel. Far from the German actor, who played the card of seduction and vulnerability, Skarsgård makes Orlok a brutal and abject being.

If it does not outperform previous versions of Nosferatu and does not reinvent the genre, Robert Eggers can boast of being up to it with this fourth feature film where he rhymes horror with splendor.

In theaters December 25