Robert Eggers on Why Nosferatu Is the Perfect Twisted Christmas Movie

This Christmas, there are plenty of options at your local cineplex. There are lions, rabbitswitch, godsetc. But the coolest choice, the sexiest choice, is the vampire. This week, filmmaker Robert Eggers they release Nosferatuthe long-awaited, much-anticipated film directed by the famous 1922 film by FW Murnau. Bill Skarsgård played as the evil Count Orlok, who steps in his way the lives of newlyweds Thomas and Ellen (Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp).

It’s a dark, atmospheric, but entertaining film from a filmmaker who, despite only three films under his belt, has built a solid reputation. I am WitchThe Lighthouseand The NorthmanEggers has established himself as a successful artist, filmmaker and historical and gothic artist. Nosferatu maybe his most “Eggers” movie yet, but it’s also coming out at Christmas, a very commercial time.

io9 spoke with Eggers via video chat a few weeks ago and the struggle between art and marketing is where our conversation began.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Germain Lussier, io9: I love your videos because they’re not only entertaining, they’re also very thoughtful, beautiful, and often surprising. I’m wondering, at any point in your career do you struggle between artistic and commercial influences?

Robert Eggers: Well, this film from the beginning was designed to be a very “accessible film”. Maybe you know this and maybe you don’t but the main producer of this is Chris Columbus of Home Alone and Harry Potter fame. And Chris has been a mentor to me since we met during production Witch. But he knows that we are very different filmmakers and that’s why we complement each other so well, and I think it’s a great match. And Jarin Blaschke, my DP, and I, we carefully write the storyboards. Well, we work with a professional storyteller, but we professionally prepare all the images. And Chris was looking at the storyboard, looking at everything very carefully, and sometimes he would say, “Is this the song of the story in your words? You want this here.” And Chris, being a master storyteller Hollywood, for the most part, was like medicine for me and Jarin’s ideas to tell the story the way I wanted, because he was there to make a great movie for Robert Eggers. , not to Chris Columbus-ify it. But also, with this film, I had amazing support from Focus Features, who gave me tons of creative control.

io9: And I think we felt that this had to be very commercial because a year ago when the movie was announced, Focus was like “Robert Eggers, Nosferatugoing out on Christmas Day.” And it’s always like the big thing, the Christmas release. Were you involved in these discussions, and does a release date like that change your mind?

Eggers: Yes, I mean, I was part of the conversation, but in the end that was the day they set for me, and I embraced them with great joy. Obviously the movie takes place, in the middle of Christmas time, and there’s a Christmas tree, and there’s a conversation about Christmas, and there’s a scene where there’s a music box that plays “O Tannenbaum” and it used to play like a Mozart piece. , and when we got the Christmas release date, I was like, “Let’s put ‘O Tannenbaum’ in there.

io9: That’s amazing. Now, Willem Dafoe is in a film you’ve worked on before. Of course he is amazing but he also has a long history with this country Shadow of the Vampire. Did you discuss this before and how much of that discussion came into the film?

Eggers: I love this movie, and it’s a great movie, but it’s inconsistent. But obviously, we all realize that it’s fun for the audience who knows that he’s hunting himself in the film.

io9: Was there anything in the film that you were able to achieve that you were most proud of, or that was the most challenging, either in terms of story and tone?

Eggers: I mean, there are so many things. One thing, for me personally, I don’t know how the audience will see it, but I feel like a long unbroken period, “own” in the film, is very small and invisible. That’s my thinking, maybe I’m wrong. I am very proud of the state of the cemetery. That was something I really wanted. One of the few things that Focus was twisting their hands on was my insistence on not shooting anything but dark weather because we’re standing around waiting for cloud cover and that can be very difficult. But the cemetery was an example of the importance of that way of working. And the appearance of the Transylvanian village was very difficult to cast and dress and close. There are actors, mostly non-actors, professional dancers, and everyone speaks a different language from another country. It was very difficult, but I like how it turned out.

io9: That’s pretty cool. I also know that you love to explore and this plays a big part in all your films. How deep into the history of the Count did you and Bill go? Do you guys know how and when he changed, how he got his powers, or is it junk?

Eggers: No, no. In trying to make this story my own – this story that has been told so many times – I wrote a book where I was trying to break the script and the book had a lot of background to learn about different characters. And the epilogue was the old history of Orlok that I gave to Bill as part of his preparation. This can never be shared because the mystery of the challenge is best for the audience, but it was important for Bill to have this record.

io9: So you have no idea how to put this?

Eggers: No, I mean, just like there are things that aren’t in Murnau’s film, some mystery is important.

io9: This is a story you’ve wanted to tell for a long time and it came close at some point. What about this color now is different from the color you may have made later Witch or earlier in your career?

Eggers: You know, my goals didn’t really change after I wrote the novella and after I broke the script. The script has become stronger and more respected, but my “vision” of what the movie could be has not changed. But I’m glad it took so long. I have grown a lot as a person, certainly as a filmmaker. My relationship with my head of the production department has changed a lot and we complement each other. And I ended up with this completely player.

io9: Very entertaining, which makes all vampire movies special. It’s one of those genres where, you know, we’ve got vampire comedy, we’ve got vampire horror, vampire drama, we’ve got everything. What color makes you stand out the most and what do you like?

Eggers: Yeah, I mean, it’s crazy how vampires are made and how there’s Anne Rice’s place and Blade’s place and Count Chocula’s place and all these things. But this question I have been asked a lot, but the best I can come up with is sex and death. It is a combination of sex and death.

io9: Finally, Focus soon, revealed the $20,000 box set for Nosferatuwhich I’m sure you know. Do you have it? Do you want one? What do you say to someone who has bought it? What are your thoughts?

Eggers: Um. (Laughing, thinking, breathing). “Congratulations.”

io9: (Laughs) Exactly. Well, thank you, sir, for a wonderful, beautiful video.

Nosferatu is in theaters on December 25.

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