Jump to content

Count Orlok

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Count Orlock)
This article is about the fictional vampire. For the band, see Graf Orlock (band). For the Judge Dredd comic strip character, see Orlok the Assassin.
Count Orlok
Nosferatu character
Max Schreck as Count Orlok
First appearanceNosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
Created byF. W. Murnau
Based onCount Dracula by Bram Stoker
Portrayed by
In-universe information
Aliases
  • The Bird of Death
  • Nosferatu
SpeciesVampire
GenderMale
NationalityRomanian

Count Orlok (German: Graf Orlok; Romanian: Contele Orlok), is a fictional character who originally appeared in the silent film Nosferatu (1922) directed by F. W. Murnau, as well as its subsequent remakes, which is based on Bram Stoker's character Count Dracula.[1][2] In the original 1922 film Count Orlok is portrayed by German actor Max Schreck.

Name

[edit]

The 1922 film is an unauthorized and unofficial adaptation of Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, thus character names were changed in an attempt to avoid accusations of copyright infringement, including changing Count Dracula's name to Count Orlok which, according to historian Matei Cazacu [ro], derives from the Romanian vârcolac,[3] while David Annwn Jones links it phonetically to ordog.[4] However, the original intertitles explicitly state that the film is based on Stoker's novel and the character is also referred to as Dracula in the public domain version of the film.

In Werner Herzog's 1979 remake, Nosferatu the Vampyre, the character names were reverted to those used in the original novel,[5] while the 2023 and 2024 remakes maintain the names used in the original 1922 film. In the 1988 sequel to the 1979 film, Vampire in Venice, the character is referred to as "Nosferatu".

Fictional character biography

[edit]

In Nosferatu, Count Orlok is a vampire from Transylvania known as the "Bird of Death"[6] who feasts upon the blood of living humans. He is believed to have been some sort of black magician, transformed into a vampire by Belial, the lieutenant demon of Satan.[7]

Orlok dwells alone in a vast castle hidden among the rugged peaks in a lost corner of the Carpathian Mountains. The castle and its master, forgotten by the world for centuries, are swathed in shadows and exhibit a highly sinister feel due to years of neglect. He is in league with the housing agent Knock and wants to purchase a house in the (fictional) city of Wisborg, Germany. Local peasants live in terror of phantoms and werewolves haunting the region and never venture out after dark. Thomas Hutter scorns their fears as mere superstition and ventures to the decrepit castle; however, the coach-driver will not take him over the bridge leading to it. A black-swathed figure in a black coach (Orlok in disguise) drives him the rest of the way. He is greeted by Orlok, who claims that as it is past midnight, all his servants have gone to bed, and the two dine together and discuss Orlok's purchasing of the aforementioned house.[8] Hutter accidentally cuts his thumb when slicing bread and Orlok is barely able to control himself from drinking from Hutter's wound. After Hutter collapses in a chair, Orlok feeds off him, but this is not shown on screen: Hutter discovers two bites on his neck the next day but attributes them to mosquitoes, unaware at this point that his host is a vampire.

After further reading from The Book of the Vampires, Hutter realizes the horrific truth only later in his chambers and discovers that he is trapped in the castle with the Nosferatu. Orlok advances upon Hutter, and Hutter's beloved wife, Ellen, senses through telepathy that her husband's life is in mortal danger; she screams for him, and somehow Orlok senses her presence and becomes uninterested in Hutter before leaving the room. The next morning, Hutter searches the castle and discovers, to his revulsion, that Orlok is "sleeping" in the basement in a filthy coffin filled with earth. Hutter then witnesses Orlok loading a cart with several coffins filled with soil, one of which he then hides in, and they are driven off to be loaded onto a ship headed for Wisborg. This soil is later revealed to be unhallowed earth from Orlok's own grave; according to The Book of the Vampires, Nosferatu must sleep by day in the unholy earth from their graves to sustain their power.

On board the ship, he kills every crew member until only the captain and his first mate remain. Later, when the first mate goes to the cargo hold to investigate, Count Orlok rises from his coffin, terrifying the first mate, who jumps overboard in fear. The captain ties himself to the wheel of the ship, and then Count Orlok creeps up on him and kills the captain. His journey by sea spreads plague throughout Europe.[9]

Upon his arrival in Wisborg, Orlok infests the city with rats that sleep in his coffins, and countless people fall victim to the plague, forcing the local authorities to declare a quarantine and provoking hysteria among the citizens. Rather than come back as vampires, however, his victims simply die. Ellen and Hutter know the causes of the plague but fear they are powerless to stop the vampire. Ellen watches sullenly as lines of coffins are carried through the empty streets, and she realises Orlok must be stopped. Ellen learns from The Book of the Vampires that, rather than a stake through the heart, the Nosferatu can be vanquished only if a woman pure in heart willingly allows him to feed on her long enough to prevent him from seeking shelter from sunrise. Ellen coaxes Orlok to her room and lies in bed whilst he drinks from her neck. The sun rises, and Orlok is burned away in a cloud of smoke. Knock is able to sense that Orlok is dead. Ellen dies soon after.

Characterization

[edit]

This vampire is someone millions can identify with. He personifies the mingled sadness and desire of people who want to kill themselves because they can't live without physical and spiritual love.

The character was portrayed by Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's 1979 remake Nosferatu the Vampyre. Herzog described this incarnation as "not a monster, but an ambivalent, masterful force of change. When the plague threatens, people throw their property into the streets; they discard their bourgeois trappings. A re‐evaluation of life and its meaning takes place."[11] Kinski described him as "a man without free will. He cannot choose, and he cannot cease to be. He is a kind of incarnation of evil, but he is also a man who is suffering, suffering for love. This makes it so much more dramatic, more double‐edged."[11] Kinski's make-up, with black costume, bald head, rat-like teeth, and long fingernails, is an imitation of Max Schreck's makeup in the 1922 original. The makeup artist who worked on Kinski was the Japanese artist Reiko Kruk. Although he fought with Herzog and others during the making of other films, Kinski got along with Kruk, and the four-hour makeup sessions went on with no outbursts from Kinski himself.[12] Kinski's portrayal was praised by Roger Ebert, who wrote that there is "nothing pleasant about Herzog's vampire", which was "played totally without ego by Klaus Kinski. ... Here is a film that does honor to the seriousness of vampires. No, I don't believe in them. But if they were real, here is how they must look".[13] In the 1988 sequel Vampire in Venice, Kinski refused to shave his head and wear fake fangs for the role.[14] Matthew Edwards stated that "Kinski paints his sadistic vampire with a sneering disgust for those around him",[15] while Roberto Curti stated that Kinski's performance "drowns the film".[16]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ F.W., Murnau. "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (A Symphony of Horror)". archive.org. Internet Archive. Retrieved August 22, 2016. Published 1922
  2. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Nosferatu". rogerebert.com. Ebert Digital, LLC. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  3. ^ Cazacu 2017, p. 390
  4. ^ Annwn Jones 2017, p. 171
  5. ^ Prager 2012, p. 105
  6. ^ "Nosferatu". uen.org. Utah Education Network. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  7. ^ Annwn Jones 2017, pp. 169, 184
  8. ^ Klinowski, Jacek; Garbicz, Adam (2012). Feature Cinema in the 20th Century: Volume One: 1913–1950: a Comprehensive Guide. Planet RGB Limited. p. 1920. ISBN 9781624075643. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  9. ^ Hsu, Jeremy (9 September 2011). "Germs on the Big Screen: 11 Infectious Movies". livescience.com. Future US, Inc. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  10. ^ Jacobs, Diane (7 October 1979). ""I Become My Characters"". Nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  11. ^ a b Kennedy, Harlan (30 July 1978). "Dracula Is a Bourgeois Nightmare, Says Herzog". Nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht by Walter Chaw". filmfreakcentral.com. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  13. ^ Ebert, Roger (24 October 2011). "Nosferatu the Vampyre Movie Review (1979)". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  14. ^ Curti 2019, p. 168.
  15. ^ Edwards 2016, p. 290.
  16. ^ Curti 2019, p. 170.

Bibliography

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Count_Orlok&oldid=1269270042"