Shadow of the Vampire
Shadow of the Vampire is a
movie that opened in
America on
December 29,
2000. It was directed by
E. Elias Merhige and written by
Steven Katz, and it starred
John Malkovich,
Willem Dafoe and
Udo Kier.
The movie is a
fictionalized account of the making of the classic
horror film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, directed by
F.W. Murnau. The story takes place in
1922 in
Eastern Europe.
Murnau, the director, takes his cast and crew into a faraway place in order to shoot the film, while he keeps assuring them that everything will be fine. The person who is playing the part of the vampire Count Orlok, an obscure German theater performer called
Max Schreck, is very professional, and in order to get fully involved in the story he will only appear in full makeup and character.
The main setting is an old castle. Schreck is there waiting for the filming team, and his appearance and behavior are truly disquieting. The cameraman soon starts feeling terrorized and sick, and has to be taken away and replaced. The other main actor is frightened of Schreck but then convinces himself that he is simply a very good actor.
On one occasion, two members of the crew are sharing a drink under the stars, and Schreck approaches. They invite him to join them, and Schreck drinks with them. Jokingly they ask about his vampirism and Schreck replies as if he were a real vampire, centuries old. A bat flies by and Schreck catches it with a quick hand and bites it, ecstatically sucking blood from its body. The others are left impressed.
As it turns out, Murnau has made a deal with a true vampire, in order to make his film absolutely realistic. Schreck has been promised the main actress Greta Schroeder as prize, provided he fulfills his role until the end of the filming. But the vampire is at times uncooperative and seems too anxious to wait. He eventually grabs a member of the crew by surprise and sucks him dry. Murnau is furious and has to threaten him, while reassuring his investors.
In the end, Schreck kills Schroeder and the crew before being exposed to sunlight and dying, all while Murnau continues filming.
The film includes frames with texts explaining
elided action as in silent films.The crew uses
iris lenses to turn images to
black-and-white.The image the public sees also becomes monochrome during the shooting.
*
John Malkovich ....
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, the director of
Nosferatu.
*
Willem Dafoe ....
Maximillian "Max" Schreck, who plays Nosferatu.
*
Udo Kier ....
Albin Grau, the producer and art director.
*
Cary Elwes ....
Fritz Arno 'Fritzy' Wagner.
*
Catherine McCormack ....
Greta Schröder, who plays Ellen Hutter.
*
Eddie Izzard ....
Gustav von Wangenheim, who plays Hutter.
*
Aden Gillett ....
Henrik Galeen.
Shadow of the Vampire won several awards:
*the
Prix Tournage*the
Saturn Award*the
Gran Angular Award*the
International Fantasy Film Award*the
President Award*the
Golden Satellite Award*the
Independent Spirit Award*the
LAFCA Award for Willem Dafoe
*the
Bram Stoker Award for Steven Katz
*
* http://www.angelfire.com/art/zen/malkovich.html (I Shot John Malkovich, filmset photos Bigdowski Robert [
1])
