The director breaks down the exciting vampire moments trendy blogger

Spoiler alert: This article contains minor spoilers for the movie “Nosferatu,” which is now in theaters.

Robert Eggers’ fourth film — “Nosferatu,” in theaters today via Focus Features — is a bold, star-studded reimagining of F.W. Murnau’s brilliant 1922 silent film of the same name. Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård star as the gorgeous Ellen Hutter and the vampire Stranger Count Orlok, respectively, alongside Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Eggers regulars Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson. The gorgeous and sinister tale draws on the dark historical traditions of Eggers’ previous films — 2015’s “The Witch,” 2019’s “The Lighthouse,” and 2022’s “The Northman” — and infuses them with drama, desire, and electrifying electricity. Eggers spoke to him, as funny and self-deprecating in conversation as his dark films diverse On creating a new vision for a film that influenced him since childhood, his unique partnership with director Chris Columbus and the popular “Nosferatu” merchandise.

Why do you think the original film caught your attention at a young age?

I was already a fan of vampires and had watched Bela Lugosi’s movie several times, and I’m going to be Dracula for Halloween. But “Nosferatu”… In the new, recently restored versions, you can see the bald headdress on Max Schreck and the greasy paint that makes up his eyebrows. On the VHS system that I had when I was a kid, it was made from a degraded 16mm print and you couldn’t see any of that stuff, and it was TRUE A vampire somehow. Because the thing was so dilapidated, it looked like an unearthed archive of the past, and the atmosphere seemed even more unsettling. To use a word I seem to be obsessed with, it was “authentic.”

I’ve written an entire novel to help you prepare for making the film. Is this something that would see the light of day?

It’s very poorly written because I’m not a novelist. Some of my screenplays aren’t too bad if you want to read them. But the script is incomplete to make you make the movie. The novel was also a big tool to get me into screenwriting. So no, it’s disgusting.

You’ve said that you’re grateful that it took you 10 years to make this film so that you can direct it at a point in your career where you can tell the story the way you want to. What do you think you have been able to achieve now in your directing career that you may not have been able to achieve in your younger days?

This accumulation of knowledge is what helps me put my imagination on screen with more precision. I’ve only made four films, and they’re not This is amazing Brilliant career. But I had more control: it was the story and, frankly, the intellectual property and the budget that made her able to give me an incredible amount of creative freedom, as well as unparalleled support. So I was put in a very fortunate position where I was able to make the film I wanted.

Was there a specific moment where you knew Lily-Rose could play Ellen?

I met her because I had seen some work she had done that I thought was very powerful, but she had never carried a film. But once I met her, I was sure she could do the job because she understood the character. I said to her, “I would love to cast you in this role, but you need to audition anyway. So let’s make sure you pass the audition.” So we prepared a little bit for the audition, but she knew what she was doing. She had to do two difficult scenes: the monologue about Death at the wedding, and then she had to do some of this big crazy scene at the end of the confrontation with her husband but she wasn’t trained at all – the same kind of raw ferocity that the performance showed in that scene in the movie that she brought to the audition, and it wasn’t possible. Denial range Her strength.

I could talk about how amazing Lily is all day, but when I audition, I want to see people make strong choices and do it. The movies I make are demanding, so I want to see that you’re hungry enough to watch them.

When did you realize that Orlok’s look would include a prominent mustache?

So, to try to make a more terrifying vampire than we’ve had in a long time, I went back to folklore. It’s something I like anyway, but the first popular vampires were written by people who believed in the existence of vampires. There will be some good ones out there, as a folklore vampire is a corrupted, walking undead corpse. So the question became: “What does a dead nobleman look like in Transylvania?” This means this complicated Hungarian outfit with very long sleeves, exotic high-heeled shoes, and a fur hat. It also means the mustache. No matter what, there’s no way this guy doesn’t have a mustache. He tries To find a Transylvanian adult who can grow a mustache who doesn’t have one. It’s part of the culture. If you don’t want the hassle of Googling, consider Vlad the Impaler. Even Bram Stoker had the sense to give Dracula a mustache in the book.

Another visual question: When did the stunning final image of the film, with Orlok and Elaine in an eternal embrace, come to you as a way to close the story?

Even when I was struggling to figure out how to prevent Orlok’s death, that last shot was always the last shot. It’s nice to have our own version of the “Death and the Maiden” idea. I think it looks very beautiful.

(He thinks to himself, laughingNo, that’s a little too crazy.

I can do crazy!

Well, if you look closely at that shot, you’ll see that Orlok is still bleeding from his eyes, ears, and nose. There are some holes in the back. We also faked him bleeding from his anus, but it was too comedic. When we started rolling, we literally had to put a cork in it.

Is there something you learned about filmmaking while making this film that stuck with you?

If you were working with thousands of mice, it would be very smelly. Although they are intelligent, they are also incontinent.

Did you learn anything about yourself while making this film?

One of the coolest things is that the creative producer was Chris Columbus. Obviously we seem like a strange match. But having one of Hollywood’s masters of storytelling by my side, next to the screen every day, has been extremely helpful. We make different movies like this, and he wasn’t trying to imitate Chris Columbus’s “Nosferatu,” he was trying to make this the best Robert Eggers movie it could possibly be. But his thoughtfulness will sometimes be an antidote to me and cinematographer Jaren Blaschke’s arty tendencies. It was a good safety net to say, “Are you telling the story as clearly as you can at this moment?” Most of these types of conversations happened during preparation when he was looking at storyboards. If I had it my way, Chris would have produced all my films. Unfortunately, he’s also a director so he has to direct his own work king films. (He laughs) But if there was a situation where I wasn’t there for him, Chris’ voice would speak out loud to help me check in with myself.

How did this collaboration come about?

When I was about to finish The Witch, we ran out of money. We do post-production with Monopoly money, and Chris and his daughter Eleanor’s company Maiden Voyage was initially created to help first- and second-time filmmakers. Eleanor was a fan of the screenplay for “The Witch” and wanted to make the film. But Chris wasn’t interested at first, but when they saw a clip of the film, he changed his mind. So they helped finish the film, and that’s when I first met Chris, and he’s been a mentor ever since.

The film shows some very interesting scenes while telling its story. How did you decide what role you wanted sexuality to play, like what you wanted to portray on screen versus leaving it up to the imagination?

One of the biggest cinematic influences on this film is Jack Clayon’s The Innocents, where all this sexual stuff is left to the imagination. And just that Burns In your imagination. It’s very powerful, but I’ve seen versions of “The Turn of the Screw” where they do explicit sex and it doesn’t really work. And we certainly would have jumped at the opportunity to bring these things to the forefront. But I think part of what makes it work this way is that the story is told entirely through the eyes of Ellen, the female protagonist. This will allow for greater potential for emotional and psychological complexity because you’re centered around this woman who moves during sleep.

Sleepwalkers in the 19th century were believed to have feet in another world and understand darkness. She has this understanding of this other world, this other way of thinking that she doesn’t have a language for, so she’s isolated. But the attraction to her is so strong, that’s why people consider her sad and hysterical, and we can see her fighting inside herself. I think that her presence stems from the reality of a woman who was a victim of 19th century society is the thing that makes it work. I also think that maybe because the vampire is physically disgusting it adds another layer where the eroticism and disgust are mixed in a very obvious way.

Some official merchandise inspired by the film has caught the internet’s attention, including a coffin-shaped popcorn bucket and a $20,000 life-size coffin bed. Have you been involved in any discussions about this “Nosferatu” gear?

I said nothing bad, “Please don’t do that.” I don’t come up with ideas, but I think they’re fun.

Are you the owner of the coffin bed?

I can’t afford one! (He laughs)

Looking forward, what can you reveal about any upcoming projects?

I’ve written a lot of scripts, and I’m writing a few scripts. Some things are bigger, some things are smaller. There’s an appeal in working at all these different scales to tell different kinds of stories. Unfortunately, I don’t have a very broad imagination and I keep drawn to the same kind of themes and tropes. They’re all Robert Eggers, for better or worse.

So you can’t see yourself doing something like broad modern comedy or something else outside the norm?

I mean, look: aside from the fact that I wouldn’t like it, why would you want me to do it? There are things I have skills at, so maybe I should embrace it and keep getting better at it. Obviously you want to stretch yourself, but it’s like I don’t want to do something that’s not my business.

Is there any action in the Rasputin series that has been teased for a while?

I don’t think I’ll be on location in Russia anytime soon, unfortunately.

You’ve been pretty busy finishing “Nosferatu,” but did you get a chance to see any horror this year, and if so, what did you enjoy?

I really like the “material”. It had a consistent, clear and defined vision and was executed very well. As a director, you can’t help but admire and support him.