Nadja (1994)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

An Exercise In Nonsense

A Masterpiece!

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I had never heard of "Nadja" until it turned up on a 4-film budget priced "Vampire Collector's Set" DVD that I recently purchased, where it shared space with three other low budget bloodsucker films. I'll be honest, from the package description "Nadja" didn't sound like my cup of tea from the get-go, so I wasn't expecting much from it to begin with. Sometimes when I go into such films with my expectations lowered, I am pleasantly surprised, but not this time. "Nadja" was 90 minutes of plodding, occasionally irritating "art house" crap disguised as a vampire film.I pretty much knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw the words "DAVID LYNCH PRESENTS..." flash across the screen (though he can't be fully blamed for how badly "Nadja" turned out as he was only a producer on this film), because to a B-Movie kinda guy like me, David Lynch's name is pretty much Kryptonite. I've got nothing against Lynch, I know he's got a lot of fans, but he just doesn't make "my" kind of movies. So knowing he had a even a small hand in this thing was already one strike in my book.Anyway, getting to the story (what little there is of it) as I understand it: "Nadja" transplants the Dracula myth to present day New York, with the famed bloodsucker's daughter prowling around Greenwich Village looking for a random hookup. She meets "Lucy," a depressed, bisexual night owl, who soon falls under Nadja's spell, much to the dismay of Lucy's drunken doofus of a husband. Fortunately hubby's Uncle (Peter Fonda, who appears to be the only cast member having fun in this film) happens to be Van Helsing himself, and he of course knows how to handle a vampire problem. From there...well, there's a whole lot of pseudo-philosophy, endless talking, a lot of cigarettes being smoked, a lot of self important dialogue, and not much else. Eventually Nadja's estranged twin brother hooks up with Hubby and Helsing and they travel to Nadja's lair in Romania, where... awww the hell with it, I'm not even going to bother describing the rest of this nonsense. Let's just say if you can make it to that point in the film without feeling an urge to drift off to sleep (or change the channel), I salute you.At first I thought the film being made in stark black and white might be distracting in this day and age, but I'll admit the B&W photography in "Nadja" is really cool...for a while. Then along came numerous segments where, for no discernible reason whatsoever, the picture would suddenly go grainy and pixellated for minutes at a time. At first I thought something was wrong with my DVD, but it turns out that director Michael Almerayda shot those particular scenes (which turn up randomly throughout the film) with a Fisher-Price kids' toy camera. He's probably got some artsy fartsy explanation for why he did those scenes that way, but to me it only served to antagonize an already bored audience.Ultimately "Nadja" comes off like one of those 1990's Calvin Klein commercials stretched out to feature length, complete with its hip (for the time period) soundtrack (The Verve, Portishead, My Bloody Valentine, etc.). It's nice to look at (occasionally, when it's not pixellated) but doesn't have an ounce of soul.I'll (grudgingly) give "Nadja" two stars for two reasons: Number one, the lesbian seduction scene between Nadja and Lucy was pretty cool, (though it's got nothing on the Catherine Deneuve/Susan Sarandon scene in "The Hunger," its obvious inspiration) and number two, the song "In the Meantime" by Spacehog plays over the end credits, and I've always liked that song. Otherwise, I can't recommend this one at all. Judging from the other reviews on this site, "Nadja" appears to be a film that people either love or hate. I guess it's obvious which side I'm on. Avoid!!!

Dracula's daughter Nadja wanders New York City,melancholy and driven by her need for blood.She seduces and drinks from the depressed Lucy.Meanwhile Lucy's husband Jim is asked to help his friend Van Helsing who has been arrested for staking Dracula.But then the two of them realize that Nadja is drinking from Lucy.As they try to hunt her down,Nadja and her self-described 'slave' Renfield flee back to Rumania."Nadja" is a post-modern vampire flick which is actually a black-and-white reworking "Dracula's Daughter"(1936).The film was produced by David Lynch who also played a small cameo as a morgue attendant that gets hypnotized by Nadja.The film is splendidly photographed in a glorious black-and-white and offers tons of mesmerizingly dreamy atmosphere.Overall,"Nadja" is much better than overrated and too philosophical "The Addiction".The soundtrack by Portishead and The Verve is fabulous too!

The hilarious and well-written dialogue featured in Nadja is enough to categorize it as an instant cult-classic. If you can't add at least ten of history's most unforgettable one-liners to your personal collection after viewing this film you are hearing-impaired and should seek medical attention. The style and cinematography follows in the theme of general nuttiness provided by the script, and anyone who's sense of humor is not so moth-eatenly archaic that they can't appreciate ingeniously formulated nonsense is sure to wet their pants with laughter. Nadja also features the wonderful acting talent of Elina Löwensohn and Peter Fonda, and has a great soundtrack which includes Portishead. The film is not intended to be scary (although the "bizzare vampire sexuality" is a little) but overall it is an entertainment masterpiece worthy of owning, and I give it two fangs in the neck of unenlightened criticism.

"Nadja" falls into a category of films I would describe as 'vampire movies for adults.' Viewers seeking an action-packed gorefest along the lines of "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) or "Blade II" (2002) should bypass "Nadja". Moody, opiated, and dreamily ethereal, it is similar in this respect to Guy Maddin's more recent "Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary" (2002) and not most other modern vampire flicks. Its emphasis on the emotional and evocative rather than physical aspects of the genre puts it in the company of Tony Scott's "The Hunger" (1983) and Po-Chih Leong's "Immortality" (aka "The Wisdom of Crocodiles") (1998). Shot on black-and-white film, a dying art form, with a good musical score by Portishead, it avoids sinking into pretentiousness with occasional, self-parodying irony (example: "He says he's dying ... for a cigarette."). A major drawback to the film is director Michael Almereyda's overuse of the Pixelvision camera, a technology he has used in the past and should have left there. The acting is spotty, but that's of little importance in a film emphasizing atmosphere over character portrayal. Elina Lowensohn in the title role and Peter Fonda as Dr. Van Helsing (played as he has never been played before) do stand out from the rest of the cast. I'd rate this as 'must see' for aficionados of vampire films, if only to take a break from the less imaginative schlock that overwhelms the genre. Rating: 7/10.