Warning: this article contains spoilers for NosferatuNosferatu, the latest film by director Robert Eggers, is a haunting story with a delicate floral motif: lilacs. The purple flowers appear throughout the movie up until Nosferatu's ending as Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) Hutter attempt to thwart the control of the powerful vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Certain types of flowers are often used for symbolic purposes in film and TV, and that's certainly the case here with Nosferatu.
When they first appear, they appear to represent more than a gesture of affection from one of the characters in Nosferatu's cast. But as the film continues, this specific flower develops a recurring presence in the movie, showing up in a handful of sequences, but not always under the same circumstances. In doing so, the movie indicates that all of these lilacs appearing in the movie is hardly a coincidence.
Ellen is Surrounded by Lilacs
Lilacs Follow Ellen Throughout Nosferatu
In an early scene of Nosferatu, Thomas gives Ellen a bouquet of lilacs as he tells her that he will be leaving for six weeks to sell an estate to Count Orlok. Ellen responds that the flowers will die in "only in a few days" and demands that Thomas throw them out. The short life span of the lilacs foreshadows Ellen's own impending doom, wherein she will die after three days of being haunted by Count Orlok.
Before Thomas leaves, Ellen tells him of a horrific nightmare she had. She describes herself marrying Death, and notes that "the scent of lilacs was strong in the rain." However, when she and Death turned to face the audience of their wedding, Ellen remarks that everyone was dead. She describes the "horrible" stench of their bodies, a nod to the fact that a wilting lilac smells like a corpse. The movie immediately connects lilacs to Death, an entity which Nosferatu's Count Orlok embodies.
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At the end of Nosferatu, Ellen bravely chooses to sacrifice herself to Count Orlok to save her town of Wisburg from a deadly plague. When Count Orlok arrives at her bedroom, Ellen is wearing lilacs in her hair, the same that she wore on her original wedding day with Thomas. Just like in her dream of marrying Death, Ellen is surrounded by the scent of lilacs.
Count Orlok then successfully drains her of blood, killing her before sunlight begins to flood Ellen's room and kills him. When Thomas finds their bodies, he falls to his knees in despair. Alchemist Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe) enters the room and scatters a bouquet of lilacs across Ellen and Count Orlok's bodies, presumably to disguise the scent of death. From its opening scene until its closing lines, Nosferatu ensures that Ellen is enveloped by lilacs.
Lilacs are Associated with Death and Possession
Lilacs Have a Special Death-Scented Chemical
Lilacs contain indole, a chemical compound that is also found in corpses. Indole is also associated with the musky-scent of human sex. Lilacs sit at the crossroads between sex and death, making them a perfect fit for Nosferatu and Ellen's character, in particular. Ellen is haunted by her loneliness and carnal desires, which ultimately manifests in her dying at the hands—or rather, fangs—of Count Orlok.
Lilacs also hold a special place in Greek mythology, inspiring their scientific name, Syringa vulgaris, from Syringa, a nymph who was pursued by Pan, a forest god. Syringa escaped from Pan's chase by turning herself into a lilac bush. Pan ultimately found her and created a flute from her new form, which he kept forever. Nosferatu's Ellen is a Syringa in her own right, succumbing to a relentless chase from a lustful, all-powerful being.
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