Thread: Dracula (1931)
View Single Post
  #23  
Old 03-04-2006, 09:51 AM
hollywoodgothiq's Avatar
hollywoodgothiq hollywoodgothiq is offline
Evil Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 140
This only further underlines my point: it's okay to take aim at DRACULA, but NOSFERATU is off limits.

This is especially egregious in the case of the accusation of anti-semitism, because the charge really doesn't hold up in regards to DRACULA. Most obviously, the Count's medal looks nothing like a star, let alone a Star of David. (It's actually a circle, with lines radiating out from the center. These lines may give the impression of being the points of a star in long shots, but they are not.)

As for NOSFERATU, well, the film is a metaphor for post-World War I Germany, with the lifeblood of the Fatherland being drained away by Orlock, whose makeup and appearance suggest Shakespeare' Shylock more than Bram Stoker's Dracula. Fortunately, the virtuous Rhinemaiden's sacrifice destroys the evil, so that Germany can rise again... and we all know what that led to. (At least Werner Herzog had the good sense to tag a highly ironic ending onto his remake.)
Reply With Quote