Daily Dialogue — July 17, 2013

[Asked what he thought of the book, Dracula]

Max Schreck: It made me sad.
Albin: Why sad?
Max Schreck: Because Dracula had no servants.
Albin: I think you missed the point of the book, Count Orlock.
Max Schreck: Dracula hasn’t had servants in 400 years and then a man comes to his ancestral home, and he must convince him that he… that he is like the man. He has to feed him, when he himself hasn’t eaten food in centuries. Can he even remember how to buy bread? How to select cheese and wine? And then he remembers the rest of it. How to prepare a meal, how to make a bed. He remembers his first glory, his armies, his retainers, and what he is reduced to. The loneliest part of the book comes… when the man accidentally sees Dracula setting his table.

— Shadow of the Vampire (2000), written by Steven Katz

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is horror scene, suggested by @JaimePrimak. Today’s suggestion by Ashley Cook.

Trivia: 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 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.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary from Ashley: “I think this scene is memorable because good antagonists should be just as fully formed as protagonists, with agendas that make sense for that character. The audience should be able to understand why they do what they do, even if we don’t agree with it.

Here, we see that Schreck is capable of empathy. He feels sad, he feels lonely. He is an antagonist with feelings. We can understand and identify with that. On the horror side of things, he’s empathizing with Dracula. Kind of scary.”

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