I’ve always
found Bram Stoker’s Dracula to be a fairly unexciting narrative, if only for
the fact that its story has been told enough cinematically to remove any
element of surprise. Francis Ford Coppola does his best to remedy this, though
he does so by vamping up the art direction and campy sexuality rather than the
story. Sadly, the lush photography and over-indulged practical effects does not
save the film from the amateurish acting by the younger cast members and the
decision to make Dracula a protagonist in search of a lost love. While many
movie monsters inspire sympathy in the audience, this has always worked much
better with Frankenstein’s monster than with Dracula, and it takes away from
the frightening elements of the genre.
Seemingly
desperate to compensate for the lack of terror within the narrative, Coppola
makes the decision to give Dracula an assortment of grotesque monster
appearances. With Gary Oldman under all of the make-up, the undead Transylvanian
prince transforms into countless forms, though this is less horrifying when
Coppola amplifies the erotic nature of the violence and changes the narrative
to become a tragic love story. The result is a rich and lush retelling of Bram
Stoker’s tale, even if the strength remains only in the visual storytelling.
Dracula is given
a back-story to explain his monstrous condition, and giving him reason to
travel from Eastern Europe to London England
Though the romance added to the narrative has
little impact, the erotic scenes overpower the horror aspects of the story, and
even Keanu Reeves and Coppola agree that he was a bad casting choice, there is
still no denying the power of the visual filmmaking at work in Dracula. The creativity of the practical
effects combined with the richness of the award-winning costume design and
make-up work provide reason enough to recommend this 4K mastered high
definition presentation. Also exclusive to the latest Blu-ray release of
Coppola’s film are all-new interviews with the director. There are also new
interviews with his son, Roman, who was brought on to help when other crew members
insisted that modern special effects were necessary for the production.
Also included in
the extras is a rare commentary track with Coppola, which I assume was
originally recorded for the Laserdisc release. This commentary track also
includes Roman Coppola and makeup supervisor Greg Cannom, though there is an
additional commentary track and introduction to the film done by Francis Ford
Coppola alone. There are also an assortment of featurettes, many of which focus
on the production elements such as costumes and visual effects. Also included
is “The Blood is the Life,” a making-of featurette, a handful of deleted and
extended scenes, and the original theatrical trailer.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical Significance:
7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment