In the classic 1922 horror film “Nosferatu” (which I adore, naturally) vampires, like in traditional stories, have no reflection. However, during the climactic death scene, count Orlock is clearly seen to have a reflection in the big standing mirror in the corner of the room. This is shown very clearly for almost the entire length of the death scene. To me, this seems like a mistake that could easily have been avoided: why did there have to be a mirror there in the first place? And surely, anyone would have noticed this during filming, especially someone as devoted to film making as Murnau was.
So what’s the deal here? Is it really a mistake, or does the fact that he’s dying suddenly give the vampire a reflection? IIRC, his reflection was already there before the rooster started crowing, but I could be wrong. So what is it?
Unforunately, I only have the badly edited 81 min. American cut, but is it possible that Murnau was really re-imagining the entire concept of the story? In other words, was he possibly suggesting that Graf Orlok wasn’t a vampire? Could he be suggesting that the entire symphony of horrors is the manifestation of human paranoia and hysteria, as well as the hallucinations of an eccentric recluse?
Ilsa, it would be difficult to reconcile that with the collapse into a pile of ash at daybreak, wouldn’t it?
Metaphor?
Ahhhh…
Just a thought, dude.
Was the lack of reflection in Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ (the book)? Murnau was following the book (sort of), and maybe the lack of reflection thing wasn’t invented until the Bela Lugosi movie or later.
No, I remember that in the Stoker novel, there is a scene in which Harker is shaving, and is disturbed to see that the Count casts no reflection.
As to Nosferatu… well… Murnau basically ripped off the novel, without permission, and when sued, tried to claim that his idea had no relation to Dracula, which was at the time not yet public domain. Seems like he was ALREADY playing pretty fast and loose, so it’s to be expected that he might miss a trick or two…
Ilsa, that was just my way of covering up my embarassment at not thinking of that… 