R E V I E W S
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Starring: John
Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes, Eddie Izzard Studio: Lions Gate Films Review Posted: 2.4.01 Rating: 7/10
By Stephen.
"Whatever it takes to get the right shot"
The story of Dracula has seen a lot of remakes (and copy-cats). One such remake, spin-off, or copycat in some aspects, was F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu. The production and filming of it is chronicled, maybe not as greatly, in Shadow of the Vampire. Mainly, E. Elias Merhige (and screenwriter Steven Katz) shows us the making of an all-time German classic silent horror movie. Shot in 1922, Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Graues (Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror) is about the familiar story of Count Orloc moving from his ruined castle to the city of Wisborg, after the visit of one Jonathan Harker. Once there he becomes involved with Jonathan's fiancée Nina, who alone holds the power to destroy him.
Shadow of the Vampire shows how the production of Nosferatu had to cope with a lot of problems and strange things. Some crew members disappeared, some died. Murnau (John Malkovich), the director, tried to accommodate his lead actor's wishes as best as he could. Max Schrek (Willem Dafoe), who played Count Orlock in Nosferatu, was hard to please. Yet, as shown in this movie, Murnau was able to control him through most of the production, right until the very end. During production, Schrek injured the original director of photography, which prompted Murnau to get Fritz Wagner (Cary Elwes) as a replacement.
Visually, Shadow of the Vampire is great. Many times, the picture dissolves into the grainy and flickery picture (as in quality) Murnau used to shoot Nosferatu in. In terms of usage of time, it's not as entertaining. Some scenes felt too long and boring, sometimes empty and unresolved as the movie jump cuts to various happenings without proper explanation, as if it were heavily cut. The dialogue was mostly proper for its characters. Instead of saying "action," Murnau called out "start" to tell his actors to act and "end" to let them know the scene is over, instead of saying "cut" as we know it today. Some portions of dialogue were a little unoriginal.
Murnau, as portrayed in this movie, did whatever it takes to get the right shot. He was aggravated if Schrek ignored and acted on his own and pleased when he saw his picture coming to life. Malkovich turned in a good performance, but it wasn't his best. Murnau's producer Albin Grau (Udo Kier) was more like the quiet type, but had a great perspicacity. Kier was actually pretty good. Gustav von Wangenheim (Eddie Izzard) was the second lead actor opposite Schrek. Izzard left all but an ephemeral impression. He was downright great and funny for the part. Murnau's second D.O.P. Fritz Wagner (Cary Elwes) seemed to have a prepossessing personality. Elwes's acting and spot-on German accent was a work of consummate artistry. Greta Schroeder (Catherine McCormack), as the woman Count Orlok is going to suck dry, appeared to be an esoteric kind of person. McCormack did as best of a job she could, even showing off her firm breasts (they looked good, mind you; and I'm not what you might think now, ya know).
Shadow of the Vampire had pretty good directing but as I said before, seemed to flow out of order as if the editing machine magically took out some vital scenes that would've conveyed a better understanding of the happenings. It was fun to watch at most times. The down factor was that the boringness played a factor in the enjoyment. The scene were Schrek grabs a bat and sucks its blood was pretty hilarious, yet weird (but still good). Now all I need to do is watch Nosferatu.
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