Bram Stoker's Dracula // 1992 // Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Whew!
4.5 ⭐️.
I love October. The smell of falling leaves everywhere. The sweaters that come out. Pumpkins. Vamp season. 🧛 So it was time for a rewatch of the early 90s version of Dracula, of course.
A few things that stood out to me. First: Lucy and Mina's relationship. Ahhh, I know, the movie's obsession with hyper-s3xualizing anyone and everyone that breathes in the same three feet of each other is deliberate, because what's a vampire movie without a little bit of that? How are we supposed to know Lucy's a bold, new-age lady ("lady," as the script can't seem to decide if she's actually young teen or a woman of marriageable age) if it's not explicitly shown how she's got a string of men she flirts with, is constantly a picture of wanton undress after being bitten, and is the only one to tease and guide her friend through prenuptial worries about marital duties?
Naturally I don't expect a movie made in the early nineties, drawing on nearly every detail (including epistolary narration, yay!) of the original nineteenth-century story, to be a shining example of the deep bonds of female companionship. Alas, the Bechdel test did not exist in 1897 lol.
Misogyny did, though, of course. Lucy's behavior right off the bat is so brazen compared to Mina, reserved as she is; Winona Ryder's portrayal of that ideal, "untouched," hesitant woman is so good (aside from that accent...oof)! Mina's eventual descent into patterns Lucy once exhibited, which ultimately led to her demise, is markedly different because of the pacing. Dracula was able to sink his teeth into Lucy (pun intended) right away, yet had to take his time--enjoying a traditional courtship, even as an affair--with Mina, being the shyer, purer half of the duo, as Coppola shows us when she initially rejects him just trying to ask for directions (twice!).
The women are hot and cold, one burning fast and the other slow, both capable of passionate love, but in different forms: Lucy's unusual encounter with bestiality, confident flirtation, excitement for marriage. Meanwhile, the story crams Mina into a neat-as-a-picture box of anxiety and purity as she hides instead of socializing like Lucy at a party.
I think it was most fascinating how well scenes like that showed exactly the themes Stoker's novel carries, a big one being the societally "acceptable" way to enter adulthood. Lucy attempts to show Mina how to talk to men, many at once, and how to manipulate them as their hostess. None of them are able to save her from succumbing to vampirism, though, yet all accompanied Johnathan to save Mina before she could meet the same fate.
What gives? Why should hiding behind a curtain, watching Lucy, a friend close enough to be a lover (as the film would have us believe...and I do) save her life? Is it meant to tell us that waiting for the time time, and the right person, is what young women are meant to do, under the threat of death and corruption lest they act accordingly? Does it ask if we should collectively allow "fallen" women to be made examples of? I don't know. The intense feelings of desperation surrounding sickbeds (Victorian obsession with consumption, anyone?) conveyed by this film made it seem as if the effort to save women from vampirism (re: s3xual freedom or corruption) was the most important thing the men could do during their time on God's green Earth.
I'm getting a little too subjective. Am I still talking about the film? Anyway. Such creative use of the set, though, and references to older vampire films were really on point (soooo much shadow play), and the dramatic (and wonderfully campy at times) costumery as storytelling was delightful. The bright, silky blood-red of Dracula's robe is a visual shock against the deep neutral tones of the castle scenes and his bloodless skin. When Harker falls into the clutches of Dracula's vampire women, it is in a silk-covered chamber, a perfect picture of irony as it is a ridiculously lavish place, where Dracula first claims Harker as his (Coppola said oh we're not gonna forget those more homoerotic overtones, don't worry, you're welcome lol) and does not let the vampire women take his life. Notably, it's decorated in a manner that reminds us of the west's obsession with orientalism as an aesthetic when Dracula was first written. It's beautiful but only imitates something that's imagined. But that's how we get a sorta-reverse-harem type of situation Harker has to escape, after which Keanu Reeves finds himself in the care of nuns (the cross motif is strong with this film), and has greyer hair, symbolizing how his time as a moral human being amongst the undead (re: the s3xually immoral, as Stoker might say?) has corrupted a natural process like aging by speeding it up by decades. An important question: are Harker and Mina good foils to Dracula and Lucy? The primary difference between them is wealth, so does that mean class is a determinant for how loose a person's morals are? Lucy and Dracula are indulgent, finely-dressed, etc. On the other hand, Mina and Johnathan are poorer; both are workers. Their clothes are not as flashy (until Mina meets Dracula, whose own attire is extremely choice for nineteenth-century London, of course).
Ah, to have such finely emphasized details in movies these days.
Finally, Mina's cool-toned, detailed outfits prior to meeting Dracula (that one red dress, you know the one) are beautiful; Lucy's extravagant wardrobe highlights her wealth, and that white wedding ensemble is unforgettable. I also did have a laugh at the Texan getup (the fringe jacket!!)--everything is a treat for the eye, even icky, arrogant Van Helsing (who is played by Hopkins perfectly) in his big hat and overcoat that signify his true nature as a hunter.
I'm going to probably watch a few more vampire movies this month. Next year I'll likely rewatch this one again. This is not a cohesive review. I'm just having fun. Maybe ranting. Venting? I don't know the difference. I didn't write this much for school assignments sometimes lol. :) And yes I went back and forth between using Johnathan's first and last names; whatever. ✌️
