the final sequence of nosferatu is everything. it's utterly and profoundly bittersweet. it's a multilayered metaphor. it's beautifully disturbing and disturbingly beautiful.
the agonizing tenderness of the kiss. ellen embracing orlok, the manifestation of her repressed identity that was shunned by society, binding her spirit and flesh to the desire that was seen as sinful and abhorred. a glimpse of something tragically human flickering momentarily in orlok's faltering gaze as ellen lies down for him. thomas' futile desperation to outrun the destiny of his beloved. orlok's desire to be one with ellen overcoming his parasitic predisposition to self-preservation. ellen and orlok being alive at least before accepting death as they unite eternally. her succumbing to his darkness and him burning by her light.
and the score accompanying it all...
the sequence forces you to feel the uncomfortable complexity of it all, and it gives you the relief as well.
god, what a movie.





















