Live accompaniment on organ by Ben Model, one of the leading silent film accompanists in the world.
Nosferatu is one of the silent era’s most influential masterpieces. Building on the unusual design ideas introduced by The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari the previous year, its eerie, gothic look and feel — and a chilling performance from Max Schreck as the vampire — was startlingly new and became the template for an entire genre. In the words of Tom Huddleston, writing in Time Out: “So this is it: ground zero, the birth of horror cinema… So many keynotes of the genre emerge fully formed here: the use of light and shadow, threat and tension, beauty and ugliness, a man in grotesque make-up threatening an innocent girl.” 1922, Germany, 94 minutes, silent with title cards, based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”
Presented with ArtsRock and Arts Angels, and sponsored by Rockland Tourism.
Does the name Ben Model sound familiar? Ben accompanied the very first film presented by Rivertown Film, Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman, in 2001. Even then he was one of the leading silent film accompanists, and is today the official accompanist for the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress. A film historian, he has restored numerous forgotten silent comedies and released them on his own DVD label. To see a four minute video of Ben Model talking about accompanying silent films, specifically Nosferatu, visit the Time Magazine website.
Tickets: $10 students, $15 members of Rivertown Film and Arts Angels, $20 general.
“It doesn’t scare us, but it haunts us. It shows not that vampires can jump out of shadows, but that evil can grow there, nourished on death.” –Roger Ebert
Here is a five minute film from 100 Years of Cinema which discusses Nosferatu and why it is an essential classic.
