When a 15th-century prince denounces God after the loss of his wife he inherits an eternal curse: he becomes Dracula. Condemned to wander the centuries, he defies fate and death, guided by a single hope – to be reunited with his lost love.
Chuck says:
Estimates as to how many times Dracula has appeared on film range from approximately 200 to 500. The low number is tabulated by purists who only count productions that feature a version of Bram Stoker’s character while the latter figure included parodies or knock-offs of the seminal vampire. He’s also been the subject of operas, ballets, stage plays, television shows, musicals, radio plays, cartoons and comic books. And, I would be remiss not to mention the diabetes-inducing chocolate cereal inspired by the character.
As such, it seems a foolhardy endeavor to take on this pop culture mainstay and his origin story once more, unless there was some fresh angle to explore. Director Luc Besson adds a couple new elements in his “Dracula,” a sumptuous production that vacillates from reverence to post-modernism at the drop of a hat. This allows the director to inject some much-needed ironic humor into the proceedings, conscious to never segue into parody, but poking just enough fun so that we don’t take any of this too seriously.
That’s not to say the film is without its drama, as it focuses more on the vampire’s tragic love story with his beloved Elisabeta, as well as his Vlad the Impaler inspired origin story, both of which were first explored in the Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” And while there is copious bloodletting, Besson eschews the more horrific elements of the story to concentrate on the doomed romance and the events that led Dracula from being a noble prince to Lord of the Undead.
The Catholic Church is engaged in a holy war with the Muslims in 1480, many battles being waged in Eastern Europe. And while Prince Vlad (Caleb Landry-Jones) has no problem fighting for this cause, his reason for being is his lovely Elisabeta (Zoe Bleu). His world is torn asunder when she is killed while he’s away at battle, leading him to renounce his faith and curse God, an act that dooms him to wander the Earth for the rest of eternity, as a member of the undead.
The action shifts to Paris of 1880, where a priest (Christoph Waltz) has been summoned to a church-run hospital for an unusual case. Seems a young bride, Maria (Matilda De Angelis), had an extreme reaction to the priest overseeing her wedding, displaying superhuman strength, very unladylike behavior and an insatiable desire for blood. Taken into custody, the man-of-the-cloth determines she is a vampire, a creature he’s been studying for years but had never laid his eyes on before now. He hopes that by examining and questioning her he may be able to track down the source of her affliction, a patient zero who, when dispatched, will free all he’s infected.
The story then plays out much like a police procedural, the priest hunting down clues and delving into history books in an effort to track down the titular character. His efforts are crosscut with scenes of the now-ancient vampire meeting solicitor Jonanthan Harker (Ewins Abid), realizing his fiancé is the reincarnation of his beloved Elisabetta, and setting out to reclaim her.
Among the additions Besson brings to the story is a flashback that sees the Count developing a perfume that causes anyone who smells it to be drawn to him. Used over 400 years in various high courts in Europe, we see him fail again and again to find his reincarnated love. While this is an intriguing element, it only slows down the story, delaying the inevitable. More damaging is the addition of stone gargoyles that act as Dracula’s castle servants and warriors. Cheaply rendered and inexplicably used for comic relief, they’re a distraction that breaks the film’s spell whenever they appear, a blunder that nearly sinks the entire production.
However, the work of the three principals salvages the film, though barely. Bleu is properly haughty and sensuous as Elisabeta, as well as confused and passionate as her modern incarnation, Mina. Through the actress’ efforts we understand why the Count would pine over her for four centuries. Meanwhile, Waltz vacillates from serious vampire hunter to sarcastic cynic with ease, bringing a sense of subversive humor that adds life to a traditionally stuffy role. His taunting interactions early on with Maria alone is worth the price of admission.
Most surprising is Landry-Jones who manages to give a distinctive performance in a role that one would think has been bled dry. The sense of melancholy he brings to Dracula proves poignant, the actor mining the character’s sense of loss to great effect. In his hands, this is not a character driven by bloodlust but rather heartbreak. His vampirism is treated as a sidenote, the focus here being his insatiable appetite for genuine love. As such, he is a far more tragic figure than in any of the other adaptations, Landry-Jones doleful eyes, measured movements and sad, rueful line readings capturing the character’s despair beautifully.
The work of these three is so good, had Besson fashioned a more streamline screenplay and excluded those ill-conceived gargoyles, his “Dracula” may have been one for the ages. As is, this version is a character-driven exercise, brought low by superfluous distractions, narrowly saved by its capable cast.
3 Stars
