shadow of the vampire Directed by E. Elias Merhige, produced by Nicholas Cage. It is the story of the making of F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent horror classic Nosferatu. Eddie plays actor Gustav Von Wangenheim, Willem Dafoe plays Max Schreck and John Malkovitch plays the director. Picture from the unofficial John Malkovitch Page Eddie says: It's called Shadow of the Vampire. Its about the making of one of the first silent vampire films called Nosferatu, a German film, and Willem Dafoe plays Nosferatu, and I play the estate agent character who goes out and says, "Do you want a house? Well I can sort it out. Buy, buy, sell, sell." But in a German 1920s way. 'I'm the dickhead who goes to the vampire and says, "I've got this house, a really nice property, I think you'll like it. Oh, what big teeth you've got. Oh, what a big castle. Hey, how do I get out of here!" I'm a Twenties estate agent, basically. I should have the equivalent of a German mobile phone, a can on a string. Funny how in vampire films no one will go near the castle except the postman. "Yeah, I'll take it on horseback. No problem."' In any case, he wants to sink his teeth into lots more films. Celluloid is his obsession. 'They're just too much fun to pass on. Film is what I wanted to do when I was a kid. What could be better than sitting round a blazing torch swapping stories with John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. In Luxembourg.' from the 'press pack': Eddie Izzard on Gustav, bad acting, and vampires "As you see in the film, silent film-making was quite a curious way of acting because someone is just telling you your every emotion as it comes up. I thought it would screw with my mind -- John Malkovich saying 'OK you're feeling this,' 'what did you think then?', 'who's that coming out of that hole?," etc. But actually it works, and it's quite fun really. You almost have to do nothing except react to what's happening in front of you. It's a bit like improvisation. I've done quite a lot of improv and you often have a narrator saying 'it was a stormy day and so Dr Zhivago arrived.' This is what John Malkovich has become -- the narrator of the scene -- and I'm the actor. I think you have to make your reactions much larger too. I might have underplayed it a bit because Gustav in the actual NOSFERATU had some big bad acting. He does some movements which seem very over the top now. He wasn't a good actor. He was not their main choice, he wasn't even in the top ten. So he's not that great and does seem very over the top except for when he's with the vampire. But, when he's with Count Orlock he does put in a pretty good performance; maybe he's just scared out of his wits. How to be a bad actor is quite tricky really. In the end I think I might have been slightly better than a bad actor. However, people might go 'no, you're a terrible actor' and if that happens then I've done it well because he was a bad actor." Plot summary (iMDB): Shadow of the Vampire is a film about the making of a German all time classic silent horror-movie from 1922 called Nosferatu-Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu-a Symphony of Horror). The production of Nosferatu had to deal with a lot of strange things (some crew members disappeared, some died). This movie focuses on the difficult relationship between Murnau, the director, and Schreck, the lead actor. Summary written by Anonymous Saturn Films: Trailer 28.8k 56k (Eddie's the first one on... see pic below) Two time Academy Award nominee John Malkovich is set to star in Shadow of the Vampire, a thriller directed by E. Elias Merhige (whose visionary classic, Begotten, was proclaimed by Time Magazine as "One of the Top Ten films of the year"). The remainder of the cast will be named shortly. The first film from Nicolas Cage's three-year-old production entity, Saturn Films, Shadow of the Vampire was chosen by the company to launch its foray into the independent market, after an aggressive review of available product. Cage and his partner Jeff Levine's intent is to brand the company as a leader in high quality independent film. The film marks the box office superstar's ascension to the rank of producer. Also producing is Saturn partner Levine and Paul Brooks, co-founder of British indy production and distribution entity, Metrodome. Also named as co-producer is London-based BBC Films, who also holds U.K. rights. Lions Gate Films International is selling the film internationally (excluding the U.K.) with Saturn Films holding U.S. rights. Production begins April 14 in Luxembourg. Shadow of the Vampire is written by Steven Katz, a prolific screenwriter who has credits for such screen adaptations as Interview with the Vampire and American Gothic as well as original screenplays (Tri-Star's The Big Bang, Paramount's Morningside Heights and Universal's The Just). The script for Shadow of the Vampire was inspired by the brilliant and eccentric director, F.W. Murnau's iconic classic, Nosferatu, the first and most haunting cinematic representation of Bram Stoker's classic,"Dracula." Cage comments, "As an avid supporter of independent film, this project is personally exciting for me. I also love both the history and folklore that follows Nosferatu's memory, which is considered to be the best vampire film ever made. While happy to continue working within the studio system, I am also committed to broadening the company's filmmaking activities to encompass the independent arena. This is an exciting debut film for Saturn Films." Producing partner Levine concurs, "Steven's script is startlingly original. We were fascinated by the enigmatic question he asked: what if, in Murnau's pursuit of cinematic authenticity, he went beyond the accepted moral limits imposed by society? It seemed like a must for Saturn Films." "We are tremendously excited to be working with Nicolas Cage and Saturn Films on Shadow of the Vampire," comments Alan Howden, head of the program acquisition group for BBC Television/Film. "This film is the type of intelligent product with which we are always seeking to be involved, to enhance our slate." Credits: Willem Dafoe.... Max Schreck Ingeborga Dapkunaite.... Micheline Nicholas Elliott.... Paul Cary Elwes .... Fritz Arno Wagner John Aden Gillett.... Henrik Galeen Eddie Izzard.... Gustav von Wangenheim Udo Kier.... Albin Grau Derek Kueter.... Reporter Sophie Langevin.... Elke John Malkovich.... Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Tania Marzen.... Eva Catherine McCormack.... Greta Schroeder Myriam Muller.... Maria Ronan Vibert.... Wolfgang Muller Released Summer 2000 official site back to film & stage