Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Coppola goes for the jugular with unsubtle, overlong adaptation

7/26/2015

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Coppola goes for the jugular with unsubtle, overlong adaptation

♥♥

An alluring, highly detailed, gothic poster for Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula

QUICK REVIEW:

A count from Transylvania gets a young gentleman visitor in his castle, because he wants to purchase properties in London. He later arrives to the great city in a coffin and begins biting women there.

I wish master filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now (1979)) had made a really good Dracula, but I don't think he has. The film is written by James V. Hart (Muppet Treasure Island (1996)), adapting Bram Stoker's (The Mystery of the Sea (1902)) legendary 1897 novel.
With few exceptions, the film stays loyal to Stoker's novel. The greatest difference is that the film in no way pursues the art of suggestion, and that turns out to be a big shame in my mind. Coppola's Dracula is also too long, and I also surmise that it must be even harder to engage with for audiences who haven't read Stoker's novel.
More than one of the film's castings seem distinctive or odd, and some just don't work. Two do, however, stand out as well-integrated: Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight (2008)) as the count, and Keanu Reeves (John Wick (2014)) as the innocent Mr. Harker. Although the latter's performance in Dracula has been widely criticized and ridiculed, especially his attempt at a British accent in the part, I quite enjoy him in the film, which certainly doesn't fail because of him.

Related reviews:

Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
Francis Ford Coppola: Apocalypse Now (1979) redux version - The horror of war
Dementia 13/The Haunted and the Hunted (1963) - Coppola's gothic AIP castle horror

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 215.8 mil. $
= Big hit
[Bram Stoker's Dracula became an impressively big hit both at home and abroad: It opened strong to a 30.5 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it grossed 82.5 mil. $ (38 % of the total gross) and won three Oscars: Best Costumes, Makeup and Sound Design. It was also nominated for Best Art Direction. It was the 15th highest grossing film in North America of the year and the 9th worldwide.]

What do you think of Bram Stoker's Dracula?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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7/26/2015

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Coppola goes for the jugular with unsubtle, overlong adaptation

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