Shadow of the Vampire
"Our battle, our struggle is to create art. Our weapon is the moving picture. Because we have the moving picture, our paintings will grow and recede. Our poetry will be shadows that lengthen and conceal. Our light will play across living faces... that laugh and agonize. And our music will linger and finally overwhelm because it will have a context as certain as the grave. We are scientists engaged in the creation of memory. But our memory will neither blur, or fade."
-John Malkovich as Murnau
A big box of Snow Caps: $.99
A bottle of Dr. Pepper Red Fusion: $1.29
My copy of "Shadow of the Vampire": $2.33
The look on Ronan's face during the "or a man" comment:
Priceless.
For the poor college student with a simple sugar fix there's junkfood and caffeine. For everything else, there's Ronan Vibert.
Everyone is astounded that this is in my Top 100 movies of all time, along with it's subject the silent film "Nosferatu" (which you can actually watch in it's entirety right here if you have real audio capabilities). I suppose that it's not all together astounding is it? I know that it's put together roughly and the development is shaky, but on a shoe string budget, 35 days and several pages of script thrown out, I think it's done rather well.
When I make my first millions, I'm going to have the movie re-made with however much they need to do it right. Until then, I will continue to watch it over and over and over...
Ronan plays the "photographer" (today what we know as a combination of a camera man and cinematographer)and the fist victim of the vampire. You really feel for the guy, I mean... he was so pale already! All in all, Wolf was terribly devoted, incredibly witty and apparently very tasty.
Quotes from Shadow:
Producer: Does anyone know where he's running off to?
Scripter: Perhaps he has a woman.
Wolfgang: Or a man.
Scripter: Strictly speaking, this is not Dracula. The widow wouldn't give us the rights to the novel.
Wolfgang: So who's playing count Dracula? I mean Orlock.
Wolfgang: (distracted from setting up a shot with his viewfinder) Mmmm... Congratulations Gustav.
Gustav: Yes... I was good wasn't I?
Wolfgang:(After being attacked by Schreck) Is my room ready?
Peasant woman: Yes. (gets a good look at the empty Wolf) Nosferatu!
Wolfgang: (though completely wiped out from the attack, murmuring) Bring the cameras straight up to my room, Paul... I must prepare for tomorrow.
Murnau: How dare you destroy my photographer!...Why him you monster? Why not the script girl?
Shreck: Oh, the script girl... I'll eat her later.
And how many times to we hear...
Murnau: Wolf, roll camera. Iris in... and... begin.