Bram Stoker's Dracula (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
Bloody, sexy, scary, gorgeous, ridiculous -- that's this version of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The year is 1897. We 1st meet lawyer Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves); who's been asked to trek out to Count Dracula's Transylvania castle to arrange some real estate transactions. See, Jonathan is a replacement for the previous gentleman who was sent on this mission; seems he ran into some problems (poor health, we'll call it, wink). Harker's carriage, driven by a man with claw-like hands, hurtles at the edges of cliffs until he reaches Dracula's ominous castle. The driver then disappears after dispatching of Harker. Dracula (Gary Oldman) greets Harker after he enters the enormous, cavernous lobby of his estate (fantastic scene with great use of shadows & color).
The Count has been waiting for centuries for the return of his dead bride, & when he sees a photo of Harker's fiancee, Mina (Winona Ryder), he knows that his wait may finally come to an end. To Dracula, through Mina, his wife lives again (creeeeepy). Back in London, we meet the other players in this story, including vampire killer Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), & Mina's best friend Lucy (Sadie Frost), a free spirit who has 3 suitors of her liking. When Dracula shows up in town, Van Helsing becomes aware. Count Dracula (a vampire) drains the life from Lucy en route to getting back Mina. And gothic melodrama of the highest & most decadent order ensues. Can Lucy's friends gather the strength to overthrow Dracula before he gets back all that he desires?
To say that 'Dracula' is over-the-top is the understatement of the century. It's overproduced & overcooked. Images of beauty are frequently followed by (or joined with) the grotesque. The music is bombastic. The character interpretations are broad. The performances are grandly acted. The cinematography is ostentatious. Crimson never looked so red. Fog never looked so dense. The art direction (bedrooms, castles) & costumes are blisteringly opulent & scintillatingly bizarre. The locales (i.e., cemeteries) offer a macabre extravaganza. Gas lit Victorian London has never looked so stylized. Top hats never sat so high on men's heads. The make-up work (mostly on Dracula & Lucy) is flinch-from-the-screen horrifying. The sound design is loud, crisp, & probably too much. And the practical special effects are unruly.
All that said ... I ate it all up. Anthony Hopkins chews the scenery as the eager vampire killer. Tom Waits is fun as the asylumed, insect-eating Renfield. Winona Ryder fits right in with her fellow wacko co-stars. Sadie Frost makes for a terrifying, if erotic Lucy. Keanu Reeves is so bad it's almost laughable. And Gary Oldman gives as much gusto as one could give to provide a truly scary, yet charismatic Dracula. He can have blood all over his face, yet still crack a warped joke at the same time. My problem with the film is that the interpretation of the story is blah and lacks coherence.
Now, I appreciate that the film goes in a more erotic direction (sexual fantasies/nightmares) than previous adaptations. I enjoyed the Christian symbolisms & madcap opening sequence. The movie certainly keeps you watching. But like I said above, the story & characters really lose out amid all the visual flourishes. The plot? Mildly interesting. Keanu's Jonathan Harker? A poor protagonist. Winona Ryder? Lacking dynamics in her lead performance. Anthony Hopkins? An exercise in excess; camp acting. 'Dracula' is pure opera; a spectacle. See it for its old-fashioned monster movie hokum. See it for the crazed performances. And see it for some feverish, dangerous, sexually charged visuals ... they're in abundance. It's rare when a seemingly 'bad' movie is actually this 'good'.
The Count has been waiting for centuries for the return of his dead bride, & when he sees a photo of Harker's fiancee, Mina (Winona Ryder), he knows that his wait may finally come to an end. To Dracula, through Mina, his wife lives again (creeeeepy). Back in London, we meet the other players in this story, including vampire killer Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), & Mina's best friend Lucy (Sadie Frost), a free spirit who has 3 suitors of her liking. When Dracula shows up in town, Van Helsing becomes aware. Count Dracula (a vampire) drains the life from Lucy en route to getting back Mina. And gothic melodrama of the highest & most decadent order ensues. Can Lucy's friends gather the strength to overthrow Dracula before he gets back all that he desires?
To say that 'Dracula' is over-the-top is the understatement of the century. It's overproduced & overcooked. Images of beauty are frequently followed by (or joined with) the grotesque. The music is bombastic. The character interpretations are broad. The performances are grandly acted. The cinematography is ostentatious. Crimson never looked so red. Fog never looked so dense. The art direction (bedrooms, castles) & costumes are blisteringly opulent & scintillatingly bizarre. The locales (i.e., cemeteries) offer a macabre extravaganza. Gas lit Victorian London has never looked so stylized. Top hats never sat so high on men's heads. The make-up work (mostly on Dracula & Lucy) is flinch-from-the-screen horrifying. The sound design is loud, crisp, & probably too much. And the practical special effects are unruly.
All that said ... I ate it all up. Anthony Hopkins chews the scenery as the eager vampire killer. Tom Waits is fun as the asylumed, insect-eating Renfield. Winona Ryder fits right in with her fellow wacko co-stars. Sadie Frost makes for a terrifying, if erotic Lucy. Keanu Reeves is so bad it's almost laughable. And Gary Oldman gives as much gusto as one could give to provide a truly scary, yet charismatic Dracula. He can have blood all over his face, yet still crack a warped joke at the same time. My problem with the film is that the interpretation of the story is blah and lacks coherence.
Now, I appreciate that the film goes in a more erotic direction (sexual fantasies/nightmares) than previous adaptations. I enjoyed the Christian symbolisms & madcap opening sequence. The movie certainly keeps you watching. But like I said above, the story & characters really lose out amid all the visual flourishes. The plot? Mildly interesting. Keanu's Jonathan Harker? A poor protagonist. Winona Ryder? Lacking dynamics in her lead performance. Anthony Hopkins? An exercise in excess; camp acting. 'Dracula' is pure opera; a spectacle. See it for its old-fashioned monster movie hokum. See it for the crazed performances. And see it for some feverish, dangerous, sexually charged visuals ... they're in abundance. It's rare when a seemingly 'bad' movie is actually this 'good'.