Way back in 1897, Abraham Stoker had written a novel which became the basis of countless Dracula movies, but none of them so close to the original story as Bram Stoker’s Dracula which was released in 1992, won 3 Academy Awards & has a run time of 128 minutes. Produced & Directed by Francis Ford Coppola; Co-producers are Fred Fuchs & Charles Mulvehill, Screenplay by James V Hart & the Music score by Wojeciech Kilar. A Columbia Tristar Presentation, it’s an American Zoetrope Production.
Starcast:
Gary Oldman- Count Dracula/ Prince Vlad Tepes
Winona Ryder- Mina Murray/Elisabeta
Anthony Gopkins- Prof Abraham Van Helsing
Keanu Reeves- Jonathan Harker
Richard E. Grant- Dr. Jack Seward
Cary Elwes- Lord Arthur Holmwood
Bill Campbell- Quincey P. Morris
Sadie Frost- Lucy Westerna
Tom Waits- RM Renfield
Monica Bellucci, Michaela Bercu, Florina Kendick as Dracula’s vampire brides.
Prologue: In the year 1462 in Transylvania, lived Prince Vlad Tepes who belonged to the sacred order of the dragons known as Dracula. He defended the Cross, fighting with the enemies of God bravely. He lived in a castle with his beloved wife, Elisabeta, who was his most prized possession.
Muslim Turks swept into Europe, plundering & threatening all religions other than their own. Prince Vlad led his small army against them inspite of knowing that he may never return alive & leaving his lovely Elisabeta behind praying for his safe return. Miraculously, he defeats the enemies & praises God for his victory & rushes home to his bride. In the meantime, vengeful Turks had shot an arrow carrying a message into the castle telling of the false news of Vlad’s defeat & death. Elisabeta, heartbroken, plunges into the deep river & kills herself with the hope of being united in Heaven with her Prince.
The Prince reaches home to find the dead body of his bride at the altar. One of the 3 the priests present tells him that since she went against the Will of God & killed herself, her soul cannot be saved. Vlad gets enraged, loses all control & cries like a madman. ’Is this how U repay me? I renounce U! I will arise from my grave & avenge her death with all the powers of darkness. Her blood is now my life.’’ He stabs a sword in the heart of the Cross & from there pours forth blood, shrouding the castle in darkness. The Prince drinks this blood & his kingdom becomes a prison of darkness & death. The stabbing of the cross means that the Prince is now striving against God & all things that represent God. From a human, he changes to an animal, neither alive nor dead.
The Movie: Year 1897, London, in Carfax District, young Jonathan is a clerk in a law firm. He is instructed to visit the Count in Transylvania to help him close the deals on some real estate which he wants to purchase in London. His predecessor, Renfield, returned from the Count’s castle & put in the lunatic asylum under the care of Dr. Jack. Renfield keeps talking about his ’Master’ & is thirty for blood. Jonathan tells his fiancee, Mina (rebirth of Elisabeta) that he has to leave at once & they would be married on his return. In the meantime, she would live with her friend, Lucy- a rich young lady with 3 serious suitors.
Jonathan sets off for the castle & sees many strange things on the way. He finds the Count an old, pale, bloodless man & immediately senses something wrong. During their conversations, Count sees the photograph of Mina & wonders at her resemblance to his beloved. He immediately sets loose his half-nude vampire brides on Jonathan & leaves for London in boxes carrying soil from the castle. (Vampires can only sleep in their native spoil) He is carried by the ship ’Demeter’ which gets caught in the storm & the crew start disappearing mysteriously. Feeding on fresh blood, the Count transforms from an old to a younger man, a human body to a half-animal. On reaching Carfax, he preys on Lucy. Not understanding her condition, Dr. Jack- her doctor & lover- calls for his mentor Professor Helsing, who researches & finds out the truth, though no one really believes him.
In the daytime, Prince Vlad walks around as a handsome young Englishman & starts seducing Mina. She is drawn to him, starts meeting him secretly & slowly remembers her previous birth as if in a dream. Meanwhile, Jonathan manages to escape the vampires who keep feeding on his blood. He takes refuge in a convent & summons Mina at one to get married. Torn between her fiance & her true love, she leaves a message for the Prince & leaves to get married. On returning to Carfax, Mina wonders about her young Prince who keeps watching her. Jonathan spies the Prince & is surprised to see him young again while he himself has started becoming grey.
To conclude the mystery, Professor convinces everyone about the real happenings & they all set off seeking to end the Dracula. But not before he has claimed Mina as his bride. Though he says that he loves her too much to take her away, she begs him to let them remain united & drinks his blood. (This reminded me of the video ’I would do anything for Love’ by Meatloaf). The quest ends at the castle in Transylvania where.... Why don’t U watch the movie? ;0)
A beautifully made movie, very touching & romantic. The sound track ’’Love song for a vampire’ by Annie Lennox can stir Ur heart & make U feel sad for the Count who lost his Love. Gary Oldman looks convincing as The Dracula, supported by all the other casts. Winona Ryder is sweet, sensuous & beautiful in the English costumes while Sadie has given a wonderful debut. Anthony Hopkins goes a bit overboard while Keanu Reeves is in a part which could have been enacted by just anyone at all. Worth mentioning is Monica Bellucci who doesn’t have a long role. However, she looks ravishing & sexy as usual as one of the vampire brides. The rest of the cast is well- thought & have done a good job.
A small research tells that Prince Vlad Tepes actually walked the streets of London. He was Romanian & also known as ’The Impaler’ for obvious reasons. (U can find information about Prince Vlad at https://ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/tepes.htm) It is also interesting to note that at the beginning of the movie which depicts the 15th Century, the heartbroken Prince denounces God in the presence of 3 priests. They too are reborn as the 3 suitors of Lucy, who later on join the conspiracy to end the Count. Destiny?!
Though this movie drifts a bit from the original story, it is said to be the best & closest to the original. I recommend it to anyone who likes horror without the gory blob kind of terror with a pinch of romance. If U prefer to read the book (or have watched the movie & want to read the book) then U can find it at:
https://literature.org/authors/stoker-bram/dracula/
Happy reading & Happy Watching!