Nosferatu (1988 Enno Patalas / ZDF restoration, Hans Erdmann score conducted by Berndt Heller)

F. W. Murnau: Nosferatu. Eine Symphonie des Grauens (DE 1922). Original poster art by Albin Grau.

011586 / 12 / DE / 1922 / Murnau, F. W. / / horror

Nosferatu. Eine Symphonie des Grauens / Nosferatu (video, TV). PC: Prana-Film. D: F. W. Murnau. SC: Henrik Galeen [based, unauthorized, on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker]. DP: Fritz Arno Wagner. AD+CO: Albin Grau. CAST: Max Schreck (Count Orlok, aka Nosferatu = Dracula), Gustav von Wangenheim (Hutter = Jonathan Harker), Greta Schröder (Ellen Hutter = Mina), Alexander Granach (Knock = Renfield), John Gottowt (Bulwer = Van Helsing). Silent b&w toned, cinema M by Hans Erdmann arranged by Berndt Heller conducting Symphonie-Orchester Graunke. 1967 m /18 fps/ 95’. 1988 restoration by Enno Patalas / Munich Film Museum. Image and music edited by ZDF. Finnish TV premiere Yleisradio TV2. Finnish subtitles by Marja Hannula. Viewed in Helsinki, Sunday 4 January 1998. **** Still haunting. This restored version is incomparably better than the one that was available before the 1980s. Maybe they could correct the instability of light definition. This is maybe the fifth different score I hear to Nosferatu. This music is no worse than the others, but I was grateful for the opportunity to turn it off. The film becomes more compelling in total silence. It has a strong structure, rhythm and harmony of its own. Perhaps a master composer could succeed with a soundtrack. Tod Browning’s Dracula had little music except the theme from Tshaikovski’s Swan Lake. Carl Th. Dreyer’s Vampyr, which has almost no dialogue at all, has an overwhelming score by Wolfgang Zeller. It’s either way. No compromise works.

Nathan der Weise / Nathan the Wise (1922)

Manfred Noa : Nathan der Weise / Nathan the Wise (DE 1922) starring (right) Werner Krauss.

/ / DE / 1922 / Noa, Manfred / / historical drama
Nathan der Weise / Die Erstürmung Jerusalems. PC: Filmhaus Bavaria. D: Manfred Noa. Based on the play (1779) by Lessing. CAST: Werner Krauss (Nathan), Carl de Vogt, Max Schreck. 

    2675 m /18 fps/ 128 min
    Unreleased in Finland.

    Münchner Filmmuseum / Gosfilmofond. 

    Pordenone, Cinema Verdi, Thursday 16 October 1997. 

*** Epic adaptation of Lessing’s play made during the Golden Era of German cinema presents exciting mass scenes and a striking mise-en-scène based on symmetry and graphic forms, including masks and vignettes. The film is faithful to the concept of the play - the tragedy of the ”Holy War” of Jerusalem. The staging of the tale of the three rings is impressive. Each of the sons (symbolising Judaism, Christianity and Islam) is given ”the only true ring” by the father. ”He who has the true ring will be revealed by his love of humanity”. It is a tale no less relevant today than when it was written. The film’s release in Munich led to the earliest anti-semitic riots of the Nazi Party.