The European director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was born into a wealthy family living in the German city of Bielefeld. The real name of Plumpe has always seemed romance boring and dull. Therefore, already an adult, he took the pseudonym Murnau in honor of the picturesque town, where he managed to visit the company of his best friend.
In childhood, loving parents tried not only to pamper the boy, but also instilled in him a love of art and literature. Friedrich had a small improvised theater, and Dostoevsky, Shakespeare and Nietzsche became reference books for the boy. Therefore, admission to the university immediately after school did not become a problem for him. The young man even received a Ph.D. diploma, but in the end he did not feel love for his profession.
Creative Searches
During attempts to realize himself, a charismatic young man discovered a craving for acting. Since 1910, he began to not only play in the German Theater, but also proved to be a talented director. Adoration of the first teacher and creative mentor Max Reinhard, he carried through his whole life.
But the creative way of a talented person could not be called easy. It seemed that nothing could separate him from the theater, but the First World War broke out. The true son of his fatherland, Frederick enlisted and went to the front. Initially, he was part of the Guards regiment in Potsdam, and later was transferred to aviators. Even after being captured in 1917, the creative young man began to actively arrange theatrical performances, wishing to facilitate the existence of prisoners and his own.
Return to Peace
Having returned home after the war, Murnau no longer doubted his choice of profession. He began to work on productions in the theaters of Bren and Zurich. In parallel with this, the young man decided to experience happiness in the filming of the movie. Of course, the availability of meager technical capabilities and the existing format of silent cinema did not allow him to unfold at full strength, but the creator learned to maneuver to the brink of existing opportunities.
Starting to work with Ernst Hoffman, Friedrich created his own company Murnau-Veidt-Gesellschaft aimed at creating films. Throughout life, invisible and inexplicable mysticism were constant companions of the director. Therefore, he did not resist fate, taking aim at non-standard storylines.
Novel with a movie
The first successful film of a multifaceted personality was the story "Boy in Blue", released in 1919. Due to limited opportunities, Murnau acted in it not only as a director and director, but also played the main role.
Three years later, a film was released that brought worldwide fame to Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. "Nosferatu. Symphony of Horror" was one of the first horrors in the history of world cinema. During work, a team led by a tireless innovator applied techniques that no one else knew about existed in the world. This brought not only great public interest in an unprecedented masterpiece, but also the reputation of a great original to the author. Until now, "Nosferatu" is considered one of the most mystical works in world cinema.
Failures and Disappointments
In 1924, the author shot another successful project called The Last Man. In the new work, Murnau continued to emphasize mysticism, the influence of otherworldly forces, and the crumbling lifestyle of the European aristocracy. According to reviews by many critics, this film has become the most profound and psychologically closest to the director himself.
Subsequent work on the staging of the classics “Tartuffe” and “Faust” brought the master only disappointment. The performances came out frankly weak and disastrous. The audience was disappointed in their idol, and critics did not miss the opportunity to hurt the living. Seeing this attitude to his work, Frederick left his native country for the first time in many years. He decided to try his hand at alluring and fabulous Hollywood.
The management of the Fox film company has long invited an unusual creator to work. Therefore, his consent was accepted with enthusiasm, and all conditions were created for success. But it was as if a thin thread had been torn connecting the genius with inspiration. He began to experience a crisis, was worried about any occasion and could not build a new concept of work.
New Searches
The first work by Murnau in the United States was the story Sunrise, which was released in 1927. Despite the numerous awards and prizes received for this film, the director himself was very dissatisfied with him. The financial side of the issue was not in his favor, which caused a personal insult to the vulnerable man.
He hoped to rectify the situation in his subsequent films, but things only got more complicated. "Four Devils" and "City Girl" were mediocre work. And given the transitional period in cinema and the fascination with the majority of transitions to films with voice acting, silent stories have almost sunk into oblivion. Therefore, for the next shoot, the director was looking for opportunities to make a splash.
Final chord
In 1931, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, whose photo you have the opportunity to see in the article, along with the famous documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty, began work on the film "Taboo". For the sake of duet filming, he even went on his own yacht in Tahiti to meet with Robert. But the creative union could not exist for long, and soon brilliant people turned into real enemies because of conceptual disagreements regarding individual scenes.
As a result, Flaherty refused to work with an extravagance, and he had to work on the film on his own. But the stubborn man was able to bring the story to the end, and the movie was scheduled for March 11, 1931.
Premiere without the main character
The director had high hopes for his new work, so he was looking forward to the premiere of “Taboo”. But the author was not able to see the result of the work due to the intervention of the accident. On the road to the long-awaited performance, the famous mystic's car had an accident in Santa Barbara.
As a result of the collision, the Rolls-Royce driver, manager Frederick and his beloved dog remained unharmed. While the most important passenger received a severe neck injury and was rushed to the Santa Monica clinic. It was there that the director died within a few hours without regaining consciousness. So tragically ended the biography of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.
The funeral of the legendary man took place on March 19. Especially many who wanted to attend this sad event were not found, despite the fame of the deceased during his lifetime. Only the closest friends decided to come, who dared to pay tribute to an unusual person, despite a possible blow to their own reputation.
After the official farewell, the director’s embalmed body was sent to Berlin, where in April the burial procedure took place in the family crypt. Relatives and colleagues of the director were already able to attend it.
Personal story
One of the reasons why the public did not rush to express their attitude to the deceased was his orientation. For the beginning of the twentieth century, open ties between members of the same sex were considered a terrible fall. While Friedrich, this fact never worried. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, whose filmography we examined, did not hide his attachment to men, and did not create a family in which children were born.
Even one of the versions of the accident that claimed the director’s life is flirting with an attractive Filipino who was driving. And although the young man himself never commented on these gossip, a blow to his reputation was dealt a strong one.
Unfulfilled dreams
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, whose films became cult, passed away at age 41, full of hope and desire to work. He never found out that most of the frank scenes from his last film were cut out by censorship. Hollywood gentlemen refused to acknowledge the need to show natives naked. Therefore, all the scenes with women were deleted, which caused serious damage to the quality and content of the story.
Mystery even after death
In July 2015, the German newspaper Der Spiegel published an interview with the director of the cemetery, where the director was buried. It turned out that someone unknown opened the grave of Murnau and stole his head. Due to the method of burial, the body was almost completely preserved, so the main version of the investigation was the intervention of a mysterious sect that decided to use the remains for occult rituals.
All attempts by the police to find the culprits were useless, since it was not easy to get on their trail. The cemetery’s management insists that after the end of the investigation, the family crypt, where a famous person is buried with his brothers, should be carefully walled up and equipped with special protection to avoid a recurrence of incidents.
As a result, it turns out that the eternally tossing, completely incomprehensible and lonely master, even after leaving for another world, could not find peace. But while the mysterious story is being investigated, the films of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau continue to occupy one of the most important niches in world cinema not only in Hollywood, but also in Europe. Many directors use many quotes and tricks from films constantly in their works. And if this continues further, the oblivion of this unusual person will not happen for a very long time.