Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Director: E. Elias Merhige

Plot Synopsis

The filming of Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe) is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.

Male Deaths

• Willem Dafoe [Max Schreck]
• Cary Elwes [Fritz Arno Wagner]
• Udo Kier [Albin Grau]
• Ronan Vibert [Mueller]

Female Deaths

• Catherine McCormack [Greta Schroeder]

Trivia

1. Based in part upon a legend that Max Schreck was in reality a vampire which is why he played the role of Orlock/Dracula so well. Some variations of the legend suggest that Nosferatu (1922) was the only film Schreck made, though in reality he was already a stage and screen veteran by the time Nosferatu was shot, and would appear in many non-vampiric roles before his death in 1936.
2. Murnau's line, "If it isn't in the frame, it doesn't exist", is a paraphrase of a piece of advice the real Murnau gave to the young Alfred Hitchcock when the latter visited the Ufa Studios in Berlin before becoming famous. Hitchcock never forgot this advice and was still quoting it when making his final movie in the mid-1970s. The use of the quotation in the context of "Shadow Of The Vampire" is a distortion of what the real Murnau meant.
3. The locomotive that conveys the film crew to Czechoslovakia is named "Charon". In Greek myth, Charon was the ferryman who conveyed the souls of the dead across the river Styx.
4. The music played on the phonograph to set the mood for the actors in some of the scenes is the soundtrack of Dracula (1979) written by John Williams.
5. Willem Dafoe was hired as The Green Goblin in Spider-Man (2002) after the producers watched his performance in this film.
6. Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe) recites Tennyson's poem 'Tithonus' at one point: 'The woods decay, the woods decay and fall, the vapors weep their burthen to the ground...' This is apropos, because the poem is about a character from Greek mythology who was immortal even though he continued to age. Just like Schreck, this made him a tragic figure.
7. Udo Kier, who appears as Albin Grau, played the Count himself in Blood for Dracula (1974) and Vampire Elder Dragonetti in Blade (1998).
8. The first movie Nicolas Cage produced.
9. The part of Max Schreck was written specifically for Willem Dafoe.
10. The real Max Schreck was 6'3" while Willem Dafoe is only 5'9".

Gallery

Catherine McCormack

Willem Dafoe

Poster