When I first heard that Francis Ford Coppola, the director of
the Godfather films and Apocalypse Now, was directing a movie about Dracula, I
initially figured that it would be a solemn, serious historical piece about the
real Dracula, also known as Vlad The Impaler, who had a nasty habit of impaling
people on large stakes at the slightest whim. So imagine my surprise when I
finally saw Bram Stoker's Dracula, and it turned out to be a stylish, gaudy and
fun retelling of the Dracula tale. Coppola pulls out all of the stops, using
every camera trick in the book, in his enthusiastic effort to revitalize Bram
Stoker's original story for the modern age, and Coppola succeeds greatly.
Despite using Stoker's name in the title, the movie is not exactly a faithful
adaptation of the Stoker novel--in fact, some elements are strongly reminiscent
of the Dan Curtis-directed Dracula production that starred Jack Palance as the
undead count. And while we're on the topic, I've noticed that the use of shadows
in certain scenes also seems to recall the silent horror classic Nosferatu.
Nevertheless, it is easy to be swept away by Coppola's visually stunning
treatment of Dracula. The Vlad The Impaler legend is used here, showing the
origins of Dracula as a normal man, a warlord who leads the defense against a
Turkish invasion. He returns to his homeland as its hero and savior--however, he
discovers that his beloved Elisabeta (played by Winona Ryder in a dual role) has
killed herself after believing him to be dead. Since she killed herself, the
church refuses to give Elisabeta a proper funeral, stating that her soul is
damned. Enraged by what he feels is a betrayal of the very same church that he
had fought and killed for, Dracula renounces God, thus beginning his reign of
darkness. Several centuries later, in 1897, when Dracula invites Jonanthan Harker (Keanu Reeves) to his
castle to help him make plans to move to England, the old bloodsucker is stunned to
see that Harker's love Mina (also played by Ryder) is a dead ringer for his long
lost Elisabeta. Gary Oldman is a marvel as Dracula; he effortlessly plays a decrepit
old man, a handsome young prince who woos Mina (played by Ryder), and even a
half-man half-vampire bat--all while being utterly convincing at every turn.
Another fascinating performance is Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.
Barely a year after his Oscar-winning performance as Dr. Hannibal Lector in The
Silence Of The Lambs, Hopkins plunges head first into his role as Van Helsing.
He plays the good doctor as a slightly deranged genius, who offers much-needed
help to Lord Arthur Holmwood (Cary Elwes) and his fellow inexperienced group of
vampire hunters when Dracula starts nibbling on his nubile young bride Lucy
(Sadie Frost). Hopkins doesn't chew the scenery so much as he devours it whole,
but taken within context of the film, it works. I also must mention musician Tom
Waits, who adroitly handles the role of the unhinged, bug-eating Renfield. And
with a cast this great, what the hell is Keanu Reeves doing in this film? Don't
get me wrong, I like Reeves as an actor, and think he's great if given the right
material (such as the Matrix movies), but I just could not accept him as a
Londoner, no matter how hard I tried. Winona Ryder fares better in her role as Mina, and she shares great
chemistry with Oldman (in fact, Ryder has a far better onscreen chemistry
with Oldman than she does with Reeves, who plays her fiancé, Jonathan Harker).
Unfortunately, the DVD has zero special features. Which is a shame, since the Bram Stoker's
Dracula laser disc, released by Criterion some ten years ago, was chock-full of
goodies. And the film's lavish production design demands a decent documentary of
some kind. Still, this is an extremely enjoyable film to watch, especially around
Halloween. --SF
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