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Shadow of the Vampire review
:. Director: E. Elias Merhige
:. Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe
:. Running Time: 1:33
:. Year: 2000
:. Country: USA
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Beyond the obvious tribute to Nosferatu, Shadow Of The Vampire is an ironic reflection on the occupation of the filmmaker.
Elias Merhige's framework is the filming of Nosferatu in 1922, the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. John Malkovich plays German director Murnau, who with the aim of increasing the realism of his film, engages a true vampire in the person of Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe). The filming is then disrupted by incidents as the actor takes his role literally.
As the premise implies, Shadow Of The Vampire is a post-modern film which amuses by scrambling the cards between reality and fiction, cinema and phantasmagoria. By making Schreck a true vampire, the film suggests that cinema is only a projection of reality or that the world drinks its own illusions or legends (in this case the myth of the vampire) until it embodies them. The scenario further tightens the vice since by taking life in front of the camera, the actions of the vampire make Nosferatu a snuff film. Another intimation, Malkovich's camera is the one that Murnau used while filming Nosferatu.
However, where other directors would have profited from palming off a philosophical, pedantic, overbearing fable, Merhige takes another direction altogether to offer us a surprisingly amusing satire on his profession and behind the scenes of a film. Through Malkovich's character he describes directors as egoistic beings whose obsession for their films is so large that they are ready to sacrifice all. In addition to the obvious sacrifices of his personnel to the hooks of his principal actor, one mainly notes Murnau's insistent remarks reminding the writer, producer and other cameramen that they are replaceable. The actors themselves are egocentric people and stripped of talent. Even the vampire turned actor has his whims as a star when he asks for his make-up. Though these themes have been broached many times, and even more corrosively (one thinks of Altman among others), here they have no other goal but to engross the audience with a touch of poetry. Shadow Of The Vampire never takes itself seriously and that's what makes the film work. Nosferatu's cult status could have indeed made us wait for a serious and academic homage. In fact it's very fun; the film plays the humor card instead of horror, and the lightheartedness would fool you were it not for the final scene. The full-length film then takes an unexpected turn in a breathtaking end where the tension and the madness suddenly mount to break the apparent lightness of the ensemble. One can be only impressed by the force of the scene where only the acting and purified direction without special effects render the final scene absolutely staggering.
One then understands that the vampire is not who we thought, but in fact is Murnau. The director feeds off the actors and colleagues he sacrifices through Schreck. The vampire is only a puppet that Murnau manipulates to achieve his ends and to complete his work. The film thus compares the occupation of filmmaker to a vampire. Just like Nosferatu, directors have a hypnotic power which enables them to obtain human and pecuniary resources that they require to make their film. Just like the vampire, directors feed off of their victims. They suck the financial resources of their producers, comparable to blood, and drain the energy of their actors to project it in their roles onscreen.
The acting compensates for the film's low budget and its quick shoot (35 days). If John Malkovich plays Murnau with ease somewhere between humor, fanaticism, and madness, it is indeed Willem Dafoe who offers the most remarkable performance. His interpretation of Max Schreck, the actor and the vampire, is enjoyable and makes each one of his minutes onscreen a real treat. Dafoe enters into vampire Schreck's skin, but by his physique also seems to hint at insane actor Klaus Kinski who interpreted Nosferatu in Werner Herzog's remake. A role which only confirms the talent of an atypical actor and is worthy of a Oscar. The production leaves the actors more than their share. Merhige knows to retreat and leave the court open to his actors. While his production is rather minimalist, with at times the amateur aspects of a first film, the film nonetheless skillfully incorporates black and white passages of the original Nosferatu in its reconstitution. The remainder of the film offers a grainy and toned down image, very "arthouse". We must also commend Nicolas Cage having chosen such a film as his first production, and further hope that he definitively leaves his "cheesy choices" as an actor for those as a producer.
Between homage and drollness, Shadow Of The Vampire is a film addressed to film enthusiasts that will wholly fulfill, and in order to be completely appreciated requires that the original Nosferatu be seen.
Fred Thom
 Nosferatu=
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