Robert Eggers on Why Nosferatu is a great twisted Christmas movie

This Christmas, there are plenty of options at your local cineplex. there are lions, curlswitches, demigodsand more. But the best choice, the sexiest choice, is the vampire. this week, filmmaker Robert Eggers unleash Nosferatua highly anticipated and highly anticipated film inspired by the iconic 1922 film by FW Murnau. Bill Skarsgård plays the sinister Count Orlok, that creeps in its 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, even with only three films under his belt, has developed a very well-earned reputation. With The witchThe Lighthouseand The Man of the NorthEggers has established himself as a meticulous and visual filmmaker with a flair for the historical and the gothic. Nosferatu it’s perhaps his most “Eggers” movie yet, but it’s also coming out at Christmas, a very commercial time.

io9 spoke to Eggers via video chat a few weeks ago and that struggle between art and product is where our conversation began.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Germain Lussier, io9: I love your movies because they’re not only funny, they’re so meticulous, beautiful, and often just weird. I wonder, at any point in the process is there a struggle between artistic impulses and commercial viability?

Robert Eggers: Well, this film from the beginning was meant to be my “most approachable film”. Maybe you know this and maybe you don’t, but the main creative producer in it is Chris Columbus of Home alone and Harry Potter fame And Chris has been a mentor to me since we met during the post-production of The witch. But he knows that we’re very different filmmakers and that’s part of why we get along creatively, and I think it’s a great match. And Jarin Blaschke, my DP and I, meticulously storyboard the films. Well, we work with a storyboard artist, but we meticulously plan all the shots. And Chris was combing through the storyboards, looking at them all very carefully, and occasionally saying, “Where’s this beat story that’s in your script? You need it here.” And Chris, being a master of orthodox Hollywood storytelling, was often like an antidote to me and Jarin’s arty-farty inclinations to tell this story the way I wanted, because he was there to make this the best movie by Robert Eggers that could be. , not to Chris Columbus-ify it. But also, with this film, I had incredible support from Focus Features, who gave me tons of creative control.

io9: And I think we have a hint that this should be more commercial because a year ago when the movie was announced, Focus was like “Robert Eggers, NosferatuIt comes out on Christmas Day.” And that’s still kind of a big deal, a Christmas release. Were you part of that conversation, and does an earlier release date like that change your thinking?

Eggers: Yes, I mean, I was part of the conversation, but ultimately it was the date they introduced me to, and I embraced her with great excitement. Obviously, the movie takes place, at the midpoint, around Christmas time, and there’s a Christmas tree, and there’s conversations about Christmas, and there’s a scene where there’s a music box playing “O Tannenbaum” and was originally played as a piece by Mozart. , and when we got the Christmas release date, I said, “Let’s put ‘O Tannenbaum’ in there.”

io9: That’s amazing. Now, Willem Dafoe is in the movie you worked on before. It’s clearly incredible, but it also has a bit of a history with this world Shadow of the Vampire. Did you discuss it before and how much did those conversations play into this film?

Eggers: I love this movie, and it’s a great movie, but I’m not some kind of relationship. But obviously, we both recognize that it’s cool for audience members who are in the know to know that he’s kind of hunting in this movie.

io9: Is there anything in this film that you were able to accomplish that you were particularly proud of, or that was particularly difficult, both technically in terms of story and tone?

Eggers: I mean, there are a lot of things. One thing, for me personally, I don’t know how the audience will experience it, but I feel like the long uninterrupted shots, the “owners” in this film, are a little less heavy and a little more invisible. That’s my impression, maybe I’m wrong. I am very proud of the atmosphere of the cemetery. It was something I really, really, really wanted. One of the very few things that Focus was wringing its hands was my insistence to never shoot in anything, but in cloudy weather because we were waiting for a cloud and that can be very tense. But the cemetery was an example of the need for that way of working. And the scene of the village of Transylvania was incredibly complicated by cast and costume and blocking. There are some actors, mostly non-actors, some professional dancers, and everyone who speaks a different language from a different country. It was very complicated, but I like how it turned out.

io9: That’s so cool. I also know that you love research and that it plays a big role in all your films. How immersed are you in the history of the county, both for yourself and for Bill? Do you know how and when he changed, how he developed his powers, or is that superfluous stuff?

Eggers: No, no. In trying to make this story mine – this story that has been told so many times – I wrote a novella when I was trying to break the script, and the novella had a lot of history to learn about different characters. And the epilogue was a long story about Orlok that I gave Bill as part of his preparation. That will never be shared because the mystery of the enigma is better for an audience, but it was important for Bill to have that story.

io9: So ever thought of putting it all together?

Eggers: No, I mean, as much as this teases out things that aren’t teased out in Murnau’s film, a certain degree of mystery is important.

io9: This is a story you’ve wanted to tell for a long time and even approached it at some point. What about this version now is different from a version you may have done later The witch or earlier in your career?

Eggers: You know, my intentions didn’t really change once I wrote that novel and once I broke that script. The script has become tighter and just more refined, but my “vision” for what the film would be hasn’t changed. But I’m glad it took a long time. I’ve grown a lot as a person, certainly as a filmmaker. My collaborations with my head of creative departments have become even more fluid and we are more extensions of each other. And yet I ended up with this completely awesome cast.

io9: Oh a fantastic cast, which is something that makes all vampire movies unique. It’s also one of those genres that, you know, we have vampire comedies, we have vampire horror, vampire drama, we have everything. What is it about the genre that makes it so malleable and what do you like about it?

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

io9: Last thing, recently Focus, revealed a $20,000 Nosferatu coffin bedwhich I’m sure you know. Do you have one? Do you want one? What would you say to someone buying one? What are your thoughts?

Eggers: Um. (Laughs, thinks, stops). “Congratulations.”

io9: (laughs) Exactly. Well congratulations to you sir for a fantastic and beautiful film.

Nosferatu is in theaters on December 25.

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