E. Elias Merhige's 2000 film "Shadow of the Vampire" is a very strange and interesting film. I walked into this film thinking it was a 'making of' film, like "My Week With Marilyn" or "Hitchcock," except this time it was the making of the 1922 silent horror classic "Nosferatu." It looks and feels like that kind of film at first, but it is not.
There are real people being portrayed. John Malkovich plays a drug addicted F.W. Murnau and Willem Dafoe brilliantly plays the method actor Max Schreck. I'm not sure if Murnau was a drug addict or if Schreck was obsessed with embodying Count Orlock, but I don't think this film really cares about the facts. It doesn't really have to since it is a movie.
The story is about the making of "Nosferatu," but instead of concerning itself with what happened, Merhige focuses on the filmmaking process and why filmmakers do what they do, whether it is the director, actor, cinematographer, and so on. "Shadow of the Vampire" makes us look at what silent filmmakers had to do in order to make a movie and how much passion can be put into a project. Sometimes that passion can become just as horrific as the movie itself.
Because of this focus on the filmmaking process, character development kind of gets left behind. Sometimes things don't feel like they have context. The movie is more about ideas of filmmaking than telling a true account of what happened on the set of "Nosferatu." I don't know exactly why they added the dug addiction part, because it takes away from the main theme of the movie and it isn't really explained. Maybe you can interpret the film in different ways because of it. I guess it's the audience's decision.
"Shadow of the Vampire" seems to be one thing at first and then turns into something else by the end. It's a film that probably deserves a second viewing in order to be fully appreciated. There are great performances and it gives an interesting look at the filmmaking process and why filmmakers do what they do.
There are real people being portrayed. John Malkovich plays a drug addicted F.W. Murnau and Willem Dafoe brilliantly plays the method actor Max Schreck. I'm not sure if Murnau was a drug addict or if Schreck was obsessed with embodying Count Orlock, but I don't think this film really cares about the facts. It doesn't really have to since it is a movie.
The story is about the making of "Nosferatu," but instead of concerning itself with what happened, Merhige focuses on the filmmaking process and why filmmakers do what they do, whether it is the director, actor, cinematographer, and so on. "Shadow of the Vampire" makes us look at what silent filmmakers had to do in order to make a movie and how much passion can be put into a project. Sometimes that passion can become just as horrific as the movie itself.
Because of this focus on the filmmaking process, character development kind of gets left behind. Sometimes things don't feel like they have context. The movie is more about ideas of filmmaking than telling a true account of what happened on the set of "Nosferatu." I don't know exactly why they added the dug addiction part, because it takes away from the main theme of the movie and it isn't really explained. Maybe you can interpret the film in different ways because of it. I guess it's the audience's decision.
"Shadow of the Vampire" seems to be one thing at first and then turns into something else by the end. It's a film that probably deserves a second viewing in order to be fully appreciated. There are great performances and it gives an interesting look at the filmmaking process and why filmmakers do what they do.