"Blood! Your Precious Blood!"

[bradygirl_12]

So last weekend I finally got the chance to see the 1922 silent film classic, Nosferatu. Thoughts when I first saw it was playing? That the Batman Elseworlds was based on this, a companion to Wonder Woman's Blue Angel and Superman's Metropolis. So I automatically think fannish connections? Wait, it gets better! :)



That was my second thought. My first thought was of siriusfanatic's Public Enemies Halloween story (written for my 2009 Guns_Fedoras Public Enemies Fic/Art Halloween Challenge), Silent Film, LOL! While I watched the film, I loved the thought of Mel and Johnny holding hands in the dark theater and making out! ;) When the dialogue she quoted came on-screen, I giggled! :) BTW, her story is awesome! :)

Pretty cool movie. When the film first came out in 1922, Bram Stoker's Dracula had been out for 25 years, a nice chunk of time, but by now it's 113 years! Whew! And silent films may stretch into the 1920s (some even into the early '30s), but they look so 19th century, don't they? The make-up is so theatrical, and the acting has to be broad without any dialogue. If we went back to view a 19th century play, we'd probably consider it ham acting, as the actors of the time had to project their voices and make grand gestures for theaters without microphones and other modern equipment. And the Victorians did love their melodrama. :)

And think of Nosferatu in 1922: pretty over-the-top to modern eyes, but back then, pretty scary, just like 1931's Frankenstein and Dracula were considered pretty horrific. Remember, people then didn't have slasher flicks (the bloody kind!) and weren't numbed by shocking scenes like modern audiences, so these horror flicks must have given them some chills.

Remember, everything comes back to fandom! ;)

Comments

[aranel-took.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see Nosferatu. I have The Sheik with Rudolph Valentino on a VHS tape (somewhere in my basement) that I taped off American Movie Classics back in college. That was apparently very controversial in 1921! It would be interesting to see filmmakers -- besides Mel Brooks ;-) -- make more of them today. There's a lot of beauty in the silence, with only actions and music (and the occasional dialogue card) to tell the story.

[bradygirl_12]

I'd love to see Nosferatu. I have The Sheik with Rudolph Valentino on a VHS tape (somewhere in my basement) that I taped off American Movie Classics back in college. That was apparently very controversial in 1921!

I'd heard that! And I'd read the stories about all the hysteria over Valentino's death in 1927, too. Movies really captured the American imagination.

It would be interesting to see filmmakers -- besides Mel Brooks ;-) -- make more of them today. There's a lot of beauty in the silence, with only actions and music (and the occasional dialogue card) to tell the story.

I bet there are actors and directors out there who would love the challenge of doing a silent film. :)