By
Mark Betancourt
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Movie about filmmaking adds a strange new twist to an old story
GRADE: A-
"Shadow of the Vampire," a tribute to silent film and the filmmaking process, may slip by modern audiences. As an abstract musing on storytelling and the inherently obscure border between fiction and reality, it might as well be sent directly to film schools and bypass the mainstream altogether.
The film portrays the making of "Nosferatu," the original vampire movie from the days of silent film. It focuses on the film's director, F.W. Murnau - a German who added considerably to the narrative style of what was then a new medium - fleshing out his philosophical approach to filmmaking and embellishing the profession's mysticism.
Of course, this is a fairly obscure stage to set given the scarcity of silent film buffs in most modern audiences. Still, it has vampires. OK, one vampire - but his presence in this film is what makes it more than just historical. "Shadow" eerily suggests that Murnau got a real vampire to play Count Orlock, the Dracula-esque villain of "Nosferatu."
This is where "Shadow" takes its treatment of film and reality to a new level. At the beginning of the film, Murnau (played by John Malkovich in yet another eccentric performance), quietly rhapsodizes to his film crew about their artistry. In a particularly telling passage, he says "We are scientists engaging in the task of creating memories." Later, Murnau calmly informs the vampire actor (Willem Dafoe), who has wandered off screen to eat a crew member, that "nothing exists unless it is in the frame."
Whether or not it was drawn from the real Murnau's musings, the idea that filmmaking is the artistic capture of reality serves as the philosophical backdrop for the film's far-fetched fantasy.
What's more, "Shadow" loosely imitates silent-film style, still mystifying the early childhood of filmmaking. Historical tidbits about "Nosferatu"'s production are presented through archaic black slates reminiscent of the written dialogue intercut within original silent films. When Murnau's camera rolls, the screen degenerates to an old-looking black and white as scenes from the original "Nosferatu" are re-created on brand-new celluloid. Malkovich's voice spills Murnau's calm and constant direction as the actors reel and grimace in that familiar silent film way.
The plot of "Shadow of the Vampire" is yet another clever homage to "Nosferatu." Just as Murnau's film was based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula," this film follows the same famous tale of an outsider's journey into the world of a solitary vampire. Like Stoker's Jonathan, Murnau travels from modern Europe into the medieval darkness of a castle in the country's interior, in this case to shoot "Nosferatu." Like Doctor Van Helsing, only Murnau knows that his vampire is real.
At first sight, "Shadow" is just a clever little jaunt into the film archives wrapped in well-drawn but simple commentary. Still, it's somehow scary. Although new films are full of crazy make-up jobs, something about the fact that Willem Dafoe only appears as the pale, long-fingered Orlock in an otherwise historically accurate setting almost convinces viewers that "Nosferatu" actually did star a vampire. That's the beauty of "Shadow of the Vampire." It takes an 80-year-old idea about the reality of filmmaking and brings it to creeping, crawling life right before our eyes.
