Sometimes silence is golden...
F.W. Murnau’s ‘Nosferatu’ has issues with production but what ‘Shadow of the Vampire’ poses is that the star of the film, Max Schreck, really is a vampire and John Malkovich’s Murnau will do anything to make sure his masterpiece is made, even if it means sacrificing a few cast and crew. Willem Dafoe is creepy as hell as the actor/vampire, not quite hamming it up but keeping up the mystery until the climatic last scenes. It’s brilliantly atmospheric and fascinating to seeing the world of silent filmmaking.
The unlikely awards favourite, a silent film made in 2011, but its so fantastically created, its difficult not to like this somewhat typical story but made in a unique fashion. Add in a wonderful dog and two great actors that Hollywood hadn’t seen before and its a hit. Jean Dujardin, a comic actor who made his name in spy spoof films in France, is a huge film star but with the age of sound encroaching, his star soon fades, while a new kid fresh faced Peppy played by Berenice Bejo, rises with each new film she makes. A rags to riches alongside a riches to rags/love story, with only a couple of lines of dialogue in sound in the whole film, that really does put so much more into perspective, the film is a perfect movie about movies.
Who doesn’t know or love this film? With one of the famous scenes in cinematic history as well as some of the best songs and great musical all round, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor (my favourite of the trio, he sings my favourite song in the film), really are superb. Another pick (spot the theme?) about silent films and the age of talkies, the studio decides to turn ‘The Royal Rascal’ into the musical ‘The Duelling Cavalier’ but they need a leading lady who can sing. It stands the test of time, no matter when its set, when it was made, the music is timeless.
