2008 Woodie Awards
Bram Stoker's Dracula
David C. Scott
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: Mixed Plate
In 1992, Francis Ford Coppola succeeded in reviving a classic story that has gone untold in Hollywood for several decades. With an almost experimental style and an all-star cast of talented actors, Coppola's major accomplishment is the retelling of the story nearly word for word of Bram Stoker's masterpiece. He then adds to it through a very unique form with perhaps the most beautiful visuals ever seen in a horror film. The film is vastly unlike anything Coppola has done before.
The film differs from Bram Stoker's novel primarily in its characterization of Count Dracula, in that the film both references the ancient figure Vlad the Impaler (the cruel prince who ruled what is now Romania during the 15th century) and portrays Dracula as a man who is tortured by the very demon he is, and the extent of his monstrosity.
It begins with Dracula setting out to fight in a ferocious war against the Turks, leaving behind his true love, Elizabeth. She is devastated and cannot bear the fact that he sets out to fight in the war. While he proves victorious in a graphic yet beautiful shot of all his victims impaled and hoisted upright by the spears that pierced their bodies, false word arrives to his bride that he was killed in battle.
In one of the most amazing shots, Elizabeth flings herself from the top of the castle to the river far below. Upon discovery of her death, a furious and heartbroken Dracula renounces God for the tragedy and wages a war against Him, swearing to become the master of all beasts and prince of darkness to avenge her damned soul and wait for her reincarnation so he can be reunited with her again. Thus begins the familiar version of the story written in the 19th century by the Irish author.
The film picks up hundreds of years later, set against the European industrial era, a time where technology and modernization are spreading rapidly throughout Western society. Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) sets out from London to Eastern Europe to seal a deal on a real estate transaction with the estranged Count Dracula (Gary Oldman).
The film differs from Bram Stoker's novel primarily in its characterization of Count Dracula, in that the film both references the ancient figure Vlad the Impaler (the cruel prince who ruled what is now Romania during the 15th century) and portrays Dracula as a man who is tortured by the very demon he is, and the extent of his monstrosity.
It begins with Dracula setting out to fight in a ferocious war against the Turks, leaving behind his true love, Elizabeth. She is devastated and cannot bear the fact that he sets out to fight in the war. While he proves victorious in a graphic yet beautiful shot of all his victims impaled and hoisted upright by the spears that pierced their bodies, false word arrives to his bride that he was killed in battle.
In one of the most amazing shots, Elizabeth flings herself from the top of the castle to the river far below. Upon discovery of her death, a furious and heartbroken Dracula renounces God for the tragedy and wages a war against Him, swearing to become the master of all beasts and prince of darkness to avenge her damned soul and wait for her reincarnation so he can be reunited with her again. Thus begins the familiar version of the story written in the 19th century by the Irish author.
The film picks up hundreds of years later, set against the European industrial era, a time where technology and modernization are spreading rapidly throughout Western society. Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) sets out from London to Eastern Europe to seal a deal on a real estate transaction with the estranged Count Dracula (Gary Oldman).
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