Shadow of the Vampire
Review
by : Ryan
Lybarger 
Dafoe ponders a fingernail clipping. |
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Starring:
John Malkovich (F.W. Murnau), Willem Dafoe
(Max Schreck)
Directed by: E. Elias Merhige
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I have
been awaiting this movie’s release, breathlessly, since I
first saw the preview almost a year ago. I thought: “What
could be better than a movie about making a movie about a
vampire, starring a real vampire?” So, when asked to go, I
was only too happy to accompany my lovely date to the Castleton
Arts Theater. I sat down to enjoy what was sure to be a fine
John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe movie.
I was
not disappointed. Sure, John Malkovich slipped out of his
German accent from time to time, but who noticed? Malkovich’s
performance took a backseat to Willem Dafoe’s. Dafoe’s Max
Schreck/Count Orlock has got to be one of the finest performances
I’ve seen this year. He manages to capture all the elements
that I’d come to expect in a vampire. He was at once fearsome
and pathetic, regal and debauched (as opposed to poncy and
frilly, like an Anne Rice vampire). Dafoe made me believe
the Count when he waxed maudlin for the good old days (for
him, several centuries ago). And when the Count gave his interpretation
of Stoker’s Dracula, I nearly cried with laughter. Willem
Dafoe may be the next Boris Karloff, if he keeps this up.
No one before him, besides Karloff, imbued his monster with
as much life as Dafoe (sure, Gary Oldman was good, but he
wasn’t in make-up the whole time). This, and his amazing performance
in Boondock Saints (check out the crime-scene reenactment
where he becomes part of the crime he’s reenacting), mark
him as one of the boldest actors of the day.
Dafoe
wasn’t the only great thing in this movie. Many unique techniques
were used to make us feel like we were a part of the filmmaking
process. In an age when most movies boast of sound better
then real-life, director E. Elias Merhige choose to minimize
the sound entirely by rendering it in mono. It’s not the same
as a silent movie, but mono sound brings to mind old Victrola
records, and that puts you in the right mindset to enjoy Shadow
of the Vampire. All of the recreated scenes were shot in black
and white, bordered by a camera iris. That technique forces
into the head of the director. This also served to set the
mood for the movie.
I did
Malkovich a disservice by dissing his accent earlier. He really
was quite good. His role was to explore the artist and how
far he’s willing to go for art. His F.W. Murnau wants to record
memory, to make it real, to, in effect, create modern cave
paintings (for all future generations to see). He is obsessed,
and no one does that better than Malkovich. How far he is
willing to go is demonstrated by the fact that he has hired
a real vampire for his movie.
Anybody
who likes vampires, German Expressionism, film as art, film
as life, movies in general, monster flicks, taught drama or
comedy should see this film. Not everyone will get it, but
as Lo Pan once said, “You are not here to ‘get it’ Mr. Burton.”
Go, enjoy yourself. This one can be enjoyed on so many levels;
you’re sure to find one you like.
Shadow
of the Vampire
another take on the movie, by : Kyle DuVall
Rating:
Even after
eight decades of horror films and a thousand innovations in
special effects, F.W. Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece, Nosferatu
is still considered by many to be the greatest vampire movie
ever made. Much of the film’s enduring power can be attributed
to the chilling depiction of the film’s title character, the
undead fiend Count Orlak. Played at a time where makeup effects
were minimal, the ghastly vision of actor Max Schreck’s demonic
Orlak still disturbs viewers, reaching across 80 years of
cinematic history and chilling audiences like a hand from
beyond the grave.
So powerful
is the performance of the enigmatic Schreck, some suggest,
only half-jokingly, that Schreck was not a simple thespian,
but a Vampire himself.
Shadow
of The Vampire takes this shred of folklore and shapes
it into a film that is part dark comedy, part horror flick
and part art film. Mixing clever satire, eerie atmosphere
and some overly earnest brooding, Shadow is a film of mixed
success. At its best it’s witty and bizarre. At its worst
it’s pretentious and overly self-conscious.
Shadow
begins with director Murnau (John Malkovich) shooting the
initial scenes in his latest work Nosferatu. We are quickly
introduced to the cadre of dram school stereotypes who comprise
Murnau’s cast and crew. There’s Greta Schroeder (Catherine
McCormack) the obligatory primadonna leading lady, Gustav
(Eddie Izzard), a predictably effeminate romantic lead, the
scowling producer Albin (Udo Kier) and, of course Murnau himself,
who seems to be the apotheosis of the intense German artist,
rattling off pseudo-poetic dialogue in a monotone reminiscent
of Michael Myers Dieter from Saturday night live.
One character
is conspicuously absent, however. Much to the chagrin of Murnau’s
cohorts and investors, the cast has yet to meet the most important
player of all: the Vampire. On the eve of a trip to Czechoslovakia
for location shooting, Murnau finally reveals a little bit
about the mysterious performer they will soon meet. His name
is Max Schreck, explains Murnau, and he’s a bit eccentric.
Schreck, he tells them, will not appear out of character,
and he does not wish to fraternize with the crew. They will
only see him at night when it is time to film scenes. He’s
a method actor, Murnau goes on, one of those new Russian-school
dramatists who immerse themselves in their character.
Of course
Schreck is not really a student of the Stanislavsky school,
he’s an actual, bonafide vampire. But, so convincing is Murnau’s
explanation of their new companions odd behavior, even when
“Schreck” (Willem Dafoe) shows a propensity for biting the
heads of rodents Ozzy-Osbourne style and gets caught lunging
at the jugular of the cinematographer, no one in the cast
really seems to give it a second thought. He’s just another
one of those wacky method actors…
Murnau’s
monomaniacal drive to make his masterpiece, of course, has
secretly put the entire crew in danger, and the peril escalates
as Murnau slowly learns he can’t manipulate his undead actor
the same way he does the rest of his crew. The undead don’t
care about close-ups or screen time, they just want to eat,
and having your crew turned into lifeless, drained husks can
really throw a monkey wrench into even the most well organized
production schedule.
On top
of that, “Max” is the primadonna from hell. He fumbles his
lines and improvises, he refuses to travel by boat and he
needs fresh blood delivered to him daily. Jeez!…And people
thought Sean Young was hard to deal with…. Things eventually
come to a head when “Max” kills the group’s cinematographer.
It quickly becomes obvious that Murnau has lost his creative
control, and as the bodies drop on the set, Murnau’s production
progresses towards a grisly conclusion.
The best
aspect of Shadow is, without a doubt, Dafoe’s performance.
Buried under ghoulish makeup and restrained by a girdle to
create his gaunt, vampiric image, Dafoe plays the vampire
as a remarkably well-rounded entity. He’s, at times, pitiful
and decrepit, and at others sinister and totally formidable.
In a film where too many of the principles (especially Malkovich)
are playing everything too broadly, Dafoe seems to know just
when to go over the top and when to play it straight and intense.
The movie's
truly haunting moments, like the scene where the vampire can
finally watch a forever forbidden sunset thanks to a movie
projector, and the most subtle funny moments, like “Schreck”’s
exchange with Albin about the technical failings of Dracula,
have, at their heart Dafoe’s performance.
Despite
such a strong portrayal, Shadow does have some deep-rooted
flaws. As stated earlier, the performances and characterizations
of most of the supporting cast are too flamboyant and often
downright cartoonish. In the early stages, when you think
the film is just going to be a straight satire or horror-comedy,
this serves the film well. Murnau’s pretension’s, Schroeder’s
hammy obnoxiousness and Gustav’s prissiness, all make the
possibility of seeing these characters as prey for a bloodsucking
just that much more delicious.
Unfortunately,
director Elias Merhige didn’t seem to be satisfied with just
making a subtle, satisfying satire. As the film progresses
it becomes more brooding and moody. Merhige tries to up the
intensity but, unfortunately, the characters, as they are
established, are too broad and cartoonish to sustain real
drama. As Shadow devolves into a pretentious, pointless meditation
on some esoteric theory on the nature of art in its final
minutes, one may very well wonder what happened to the sly
wit that drove the earliest acts of the film.
Still,
when you see what else passes for vampire flicks these days,
Shadow comes off pretty good. Dafoe's performance will definitely
vindicate anything else that falls short in Shadow of The
Vampire. At the least this film will make you want to watch
Nosferatu a few hundred more times, and you can’t really find
fault in that.
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