Nadja movie review & film summary (1995)

None of this is played for laughs - exactly. "Nadja," written and directed by Michael Almereyda, is an example of a genre we can call Deadpan Noir. It's the kind of movie that deals with unspeakable subjects while keeping a certain ironic distance, and using dialogue that seems funny, although the characters never seem in on the joke. David Lynch (who appears in "Nadja" as a morgue attendant) practiced this genre in films like "Blue Velvet" and "Wild at Heart," and Hal Hartley's films are also in a similar style (both Lowensohn and Donovan are veterans of his movies).

Deadpan Noir wants to work in a commercial vein, but at arm's length. "Nadja" wants to be a vampire movie for those who insist on one, and a sly parody for those in the know. Sophisticated viewers know they're not supposed to care about the characters or stories; the whole point is to see the director demonstrating how he's superior to the material. Yet they depend on the traditions of, say, the vampire genre for characters, dialogue and atmosphere; they're like guests at a party who keep saying, "I can't believe I'm really here," and yet hold out their glasses for a refill.

What Almereyda brings to the film is good control of tone (the movie is ironic, and yet sad about its irony) and an interesting visual style. "Nadja" is filmed in black and white, which is always the best choice for a vampire film, since blood has a way of looking too real in color. Parts of the film were shot with a Pixelvision camera, a primitive video toy that's used as a vampire's-eye-view, as if vampires, like flies, had faceted eyes. It all sort of works, although probably not for general audiences. To really enjoy "Nadja," you have to know what Almereyda is doing: The film's like a jazz improvisation that wouldn't mean much if you didn't know the original song.