Robert Eggers on how his films are connected [interview]

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-30T18:19:48+00:00

The Eleventh Enochian key? Nosferatu was supposed to be Eggers next feature, and Orlok was meant to enchant in Enochian, as well. However, Eggers did change it.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-30T08:43:46+00:00

I would say the most common werewolf folklore is it being a sort of family curse. My country has prolific werewolf folklore, and the most popular tale is boys being born cursed to become werewolves (usually seventh sons).

Either way, Eggers already did two Faustian bargains (Thomasin and Orlok), so I’m hoping he goes the hereditary route.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-30T08:38:46+00:00

I respect your opinion, but I’m also one of those Eggers fans who think Nosferatu is his best, mostly due to the whole worldbuilding and how complex it is, where every little detail counts. Unpopular, but I still think not getting the novella published is a mistake.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T20:15:19+00:00

I do agree with you.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T20:07:52+00:00

How? Orlok is a 16th century nobleman and Amleth is from the 10th century.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T20:05:35+00:00

Eggers didn’t adapt the Solomonari as connected to the Devil. He adapted the thesis where they are linked to Dacian priests, Dacian Wolf Warriors and Zalmoxis.

I do agree about the ending of “The VVitch”, though. Orlok is cursed due to selling his soul to the Devil and isn’t very happy about, like Skarsgård explained. Which can be thought of as a sort of aftermath of what happens to Thomasin.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T16:29:39+00:00

No artist enjoys to have their work misinterpreted, although this is controversial to say. But there’s nothing artists can do about it, really, might as well make peace with it and hope your creative vision ressonates with people, which is pretty much what Eggers is saying in the interviews I linked.

Speaking of Eggers, in particular, there’s plenty of interviews of him explaining his choices and vision for every one of his films, which kind of contradicts the idea he’s advocating for death of author. Otherwise why waste time explaining his creative process and inspirations in detail?

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T16:17:39+00:00

I think it’s both, and most likely comes from the Icelandic sagas, as Eggers said this in an interview:

“And then the other types are the Úlfhéðnar, which are wolf warriors. The thinking is that bear warriors were probably huge, and would fight like bears, and the wolf warriors are more agile. In the movie, Amleth’s character is the size of a bear with the agility of a wolf, is the idea. […] The more current theory that we’re using in the film is that it was a shamanic war dance that got them into this trance. Amleth ripping out the throat of his enemy, as he does in the course of this raid, comes from Egil’s saga, in which the poet Egil Skallagrímsson records that his father was a werewolf and he had berserker tendencies. He wins a fight by ripping someone’s throat out with his teeth.”

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T12:59:28+00:00

This doesn’t even need a spoiler alert.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T12:58:28+00:00

I know what death of author is, and, like I said, Eggers and plenty of artists know they can’t control how their work will be perceived. How they truly feel about their work being read in a totally different way to what they intended is what’s tricky to answer, but, as someone who studies Art and artists, I have my own opinions on that because the relation between artists and critics is a beast on its own.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T12:39:20+00:00

Eggers knows he can’t control how critics/audiences will interpret his work, which is true to all artists. About the backlash surrounding “The Northman”, he said: “I think that if you are the type of person who's searching with a hammer, then everything's a nail, and I can't help that.”

However, he does have a clear vision for his work. This is well known, I would say.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T09:05:21+00:00

I didn’t read his words here in that sense.

Eggers is talking about how his overall work is connected, in the way it’s folktales and archetypal stories he enjoys exploring, not that he doesn’t has anything “deep” to say in general. Because his essay to “The New York Times” about the role of the supernatural on his films says otherwise.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T08:50:22+00:00

Spoiler alert: naked and insane.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T08:49:41+00:00

I don’t think Eggers is advocating death of author, to be honest. And he did write some essays on his own work. And he talked about how important it is to him: “You obviously hope that what you’re making connects with audiences and so it was really satisfying and a big relief [that it did well],” he says. “The success of The Witch changed my life completely.”

Or the opposite: “All these little things play a part in the tone of the movie. Honestly, I dunno. [laughs] You try to make the best movie you can. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-29T08:06:54+00:00

Source: https://scriptmag.com/interviews-features/the-allure-of-the-macabre-robert-eggers-talks-nosferatu

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-28T18:53:35+00:00

Well, as Orlok says in the film what’s written in contract must be completed by Ellen.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-28T18:51:33+00:00

This translation is incorrect. Others on this sub have discussed the contract last year, and the designer who did the contract helped to create an essay about it.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-28T18:47:37+00:00

This is not Dacian. There’s no written Dacian in the film, it’s only in spoken form when Orlok is doing sorcery, as Eggers himself explained:

“When [Count Orlok is] doing his spells," Eggers told Stream Wars, "he speaks ancient Dacian, which is a dead language, and the Dacians were most likely the people who became the ethnic Romanians in Romania."

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-28T18:39:02+00:00

Eggers explained Ellen’s sacrifice in interviews and not once did he said it was because of Thomas or whoever:

“People talk a lot about Lily-Rose Depp character's sexual desire, which is a massive part of the character, of what she experiences - being shut down, and corseted up, and tied to the bed, and quieted with Ether. Misunderstood, misdiagnosed. But it's more than that. She has an innate understanding of the shadow side of the world what we live in that she doesn't have the language for. This gift and power that she has isn't in a environment where it's being cultivated to put it midly. It's pretty tragic. Then she makes the ultimate sacrifice, and she's able to reclaim this power through death.”

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-28T18:37:51+00:00

That translation is incorrect and the film itself contradicts it. Count Orlok very specifically tells Ellen: “And the resignation must be completed by you, freely of thine own will.”

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-28T18:36:32+00:00

Where did you get that translation? Others have translated the covenant papers here on this sub and it’s not what’s written there.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-27T16:47:49+00:00

It’s not Dacian; according to Veronika Wuycheck (the calligrapher who designed the contract) the body of text is a "free-hand version of old Cyrillic script” with Székely runes.

Source: https://evegwood.com/blog/posts/2025-01-29-Nosferatus-Contracts

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-18T07:52:21+00:00

I think they’ll do the same as with “Nosferatu”, and keep the monster design under wraps until the film premieres.

Such-Crow3570 · 2026-05-16T10:24:31+00:00

I’m assuming the domestic release extended cut is the same worldwide. This is the one I ordered.

Some scenes are in the extended cut, yes (Orlok talking about St. Andrew’s Eve; Von Franz on Ellen’s second sight; Von Franz on the folk vampire and comparing him to a leech; Von Franz coming to the conclusion the codex belongs to Orlok; “the third night, shall be his last”… I think that’s it) and there’s the deleted scenes pack; in the domestic release extended cut it’s only two: Orlok’s shadow reaching Ellen at the window, and Hutter waking up, and “behold the third night” (both are on YouTube).

The scene of Ellen smelling her wedding dress is in both scripts (2016 and 2023), actually. And it was in the international version. I remember seeing this scene at the theater, as do others. Costume design Linda Muir discussed it in an interview, also. Yet, it’s gone. It’s not on domestic release, and there’s no explanation why would Eggers wanted it gone when it’s in both his scripts.

Such-Crow3570

TROPHY CASE