'Nosferatu' Director Talks Sexuality in the Movie and His Book Collection
Filmmaker Robert Eggers shares his archive of "bits and bobs" with L’OFFICIEL while discussing his latest film, which stars Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, and Nicholas Hoult.
"I never think of things in a contemporary context," director Robert Eggers says. A fascination with the past—and, frankly, a creepy place-based aesthetic—defines his filmography, which includes The Witch (1630s New England), The Lighthouse (1890s New England), and The Northman (Viking Age Scandinavia). Eggers’s latest film, Nosferatu (1830s Germany)—starring Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, and Nicholas Hoult—retells the classic Bram Stoker horror tale (that was popularized by the 1922 silent German film of the same name) with as much contemporary context as possible, especially through using edgier themes like sexuality as a vehicle for modernity. "I try to stay in the worldview of the characters, but I don't live in a vacuum," he says. "What's happening now is going to resonate, if I've been successful."
Eggers’s signature eerie aesthetic is also present in his personal archive. One of the most cherished pieces in his collection—which includes "lots of books, tiny statues, and bits and bobs"—is a 1923 edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination, illustrated in color by Harry Clarke [the first edition illustrated by Clarke was published in 1919]. Eggers’s director of photography, Jarin Blaschke, gifted him the book after they finished shooting The Northman.
The book holds sentimental value to both Eggers and Blaschke, who, when they first started working together in their early 20s, bonded over their love for Poe, and for illustrations from that era. When they began working together, Blaschke had an odd job photographing rare books, including (a different 1923 copy of) Tales of Mystery and Imagination. "It's something that I have coveted for a long time," Eggers says of the edition. "And, obviously, I like Edgar Allan Poe." In his current London rental, Eggers keeps his copy on a prominent bookshelf in the dining area. Eggers specifically drew inspiration from Poe and the book for the moody, gothic atmosphere of Nosferatu, in theaters Christmas Day. "Hopefully it works," he says.
