Virginia Film Festival - Day One

Last night kicked off the 13th annual Virginia Film Festival in grand style. The evening started with the big gala at the Bayly Art Museum on the University of Virginia campus. Essentially this means it was an ultra-fancy affair and naturally your favorite group of film fans felt a bit out of place. Lanceley and I got all dolled up and headed in with visions of impressing the hell out of the beautiful people in attendance.

Then we got there and noticed a distinct lack of the beautiful people in attendance. Now when I say beautiful people, I don't mean attractive, I mean famous. Because there were plenty of attractive ladies there. Men too I'm guessing from Lanceley's running commentary. Actually there were plenty of directors and producers on hand but nobody I could recognize with out a name card. The only person we did recognize was Roger Ebert, who predictably was surrounded by a small crowd at all times.

So we simply decided to take advantage of the surroundings to amuse ourselves. By surroundings I mean the bar. We made a point of sampling Virginia's finest wines at a pretty good clip. We spent a fair amount of time debating whether to make up some wild stories for your amusement or not. Obviously I opted for the truth but we had a pretty good story ready for you. About the time I felt ready to start commenting on bad fashion to total strangers, the lights flashed to inform us that it was time to move on to the theater for the first show.

The first show was a double feature of Nosferatu and Shadow of the Vampire. Nosferatu, for those unaware, is a 1922 silent movie based on the Dracula storyline. Director F.W. Murnau couldn't get the rights to Dracula from the Bram Stoker estate so he simply changed all the names and made the movie anyway. The film is most remembered for the appearance and performance of Max Schreck as the vampire. This copy we saw was a restored copy from one of the two surviving originals of the film. The film was accompanied by a new soundtrack by the Silent Orchestra, a two man group that put on a hell of a live performance. We were informed by David Shepard, the archivist who restored the print, that this print along with the new soundtrack, will be released on DVD December 31, not coincidently two days after the release of Shadow of the Vampire to theaters.

Shepard talked about the film's history a bit. Following the release of the film, the Stoker estate pursued Murnau's film ruthlessly, attempting to have it destroyed. After many years they got the negative and burned it, seemingly ending the film for all time. However, two original prints survived, one in Spain and another in France. This version was restored from that French print. Compared to the version I saw a few months back this version is considerably improved in visual quality and I believe it includes some more footage as well. It's unlikely anyone today would ever be frightened by this movie but you have to admire the creepy performance by Schreck. With the new score though, the film takes on a new sense of dread. It really goes to show how much a movie can be changed by the musical score that accompanies it. I highly recommend checking it out when it comes out on DVD as it is a big improvement over the current DVD release.

After a short intermission where we discussed the movie with Ultra Magnus, who was also in attendance, it was back in to the theater for Shadow of the Vampire. This is the perfect film to follow Nosferatu. Many rumors surrounded the making of Nosferatu. The biggest was that Murnau had hired a real vampire to play the part of Count Orlok. If you've seen Max Schreck in the movie then you probably aren't surprised by that assumption. Apparently there were several deaths on the set that helped sustain those rumors. Shadow of the Vampire is about the making of Nosferatu but it assumes that the rumors are true and that Schreck really was a vampire.

Here Schreck is played by Willem Dafoe in what may be his best performance ever. He is extremely believable as a vampire. Schreck is an ancient creature, so old he has trouble remembering his own beginnings. He was once very powerful but now he is a wretched creature, lurking about his decaying castle and feeding on rats and bats. Somehow Murnau, beautifully played by John Malkovich, finds Schreck and convinces him to appear in his movie. Having a real vampire on hand makes a nice reason why Murnau would be so determined to make the movie even without the rights to the Dracula story.

The movie is equal part haunting and funny. What you might not expect is that it is Murnau who is disturbing and Schreck who is amusing. Murnau is a heavily driven director who is so passionate about making his movie that he considers the lives of his cast and crew unimportant. In fact when Scheck kills some of them, Murnau isn't so much upset about the deaths but about the inconvenience that creates in making the film. Eventually it is revealed just what Murnau promised Schreck to get him to appear in the movie. It makes you wonder who the real monster is.

Schreck however generates a lot of laughs. The cast thinks that he is an extreme method actor who never leaves character. He scares the hell out of them but they are oblivious to just how dangerous Schreck is. This produces a lot of funny interactions. But mostly you just have to marvel at the performance by Dafoe. He is nothing short of brilliant here. When this movie is released, make a point of going to see it because you will likely here Dafoe nominated for a lot of awards.

The movie, directed by Elias Merghe, is well done all around. The look is very grainy, matching well the look of Nosferatu and blurring the line between fact and fantasy. Excellent supporting roles are turned in by Eddie Izzard (doing a great impersonation of a silent actor), Carey Elwes, Udo Kier and Catherine McCormack. I doubt this movie will connect with mainstream audiences, most of whom have probably never seen Nosferatu, but is nonetheless an excellent film well worth your attention.

So that wraps up Day 1 at the festival. Tune in later for a report from Ultra Magnus and very late tonight my report on Day 2.

- John Shea