Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary poster & wallpaper

Brent Neale, CindyMarie Small, David Moroni

A cinematic transposition of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Interpretation of Bram Stoker's classic vampire yarn from stage to screen.

Flixster Users

72% liked it

2,003 ratings

Critics

86% liked it

58 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 15 min.

Directed by: Guy Maddin

Release Date: May 14, 2003

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DVD Release Date: April 27, 2004

Stats: 98 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (98)

  • ebs90
    April 1, 2009
    ebs90
    Guy Maddin directed this extraodinary interpretation of Bram Stoker's Dracula by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Several episodes of the original story are narrated lineally with dance and the help of intertitles. Consider this is a 73 minute adaptation of a very, very long and comple...( read more)x book. Do not be very demanding in what faithfulness to the source is concerned.
    The ballet is set to the 1st and 2nd Symphonies by Gustav Mahler.

    Maddin's Dracula is ethereal, evocative, suggestive, sensual, humorous, and beautiful. Now that vampires are so fashionable and that countless interpretations, re-imaginings, derivatives of the famous story have been done and seen, this particular adaptation stands out. It stays, of course, on the classical side of the spectrum, boasting beautiful sets and costumes and staying true to a certain sobriety that ran through the original story. However, any pretension of gravity is pretty much overshadowed by Maddin's liberal use of color, black and white, iris transitions, distortion, light, and shadow. "Dracula" is eye-catching to say the least, and that also speaks for the attractive of the dancers' performance. How one can stay focused on them is marvelous, especially with how meticulous ballet often is, considering all the visual distractions. I don't know if all the actors were dancers, even those who did not do much dancing, but I can say their performances were perfectly dramatic and haunting.

    Watching Dracula unaware of its technical specifications, one could be misled into thinking this film was made in the 1920s: it uses techniques typical of that era. It's expressionistic and self-aware and knowingly elegant. But it is distinctly free-spirited in that it revels in its own ambiguity; this, I suppose, comes free with the vampire package. To work suggestion and ambiguity in a vampire film is to do it right. Vampyrism is, by itself, loaded with symbolism and darkness. Guy Maddin honors this tradition, while adding some personal touches...

    The film begins with Lucy Westenra's nightmare about immigrants. Come on, it's funny. Maddin underlines the xenophobia in Bram Stoker's book. Yet this is not a satire; he's simply poiting out something. Another addition is one very protagonic role played by money. Perhaps he is suggesting greed is no different than vampyrism.

    Finally, the casting choices were excellent. Lucy was just adequately wicked and looked like a complete bitch throughout; as it turns out, that's about right. I don't believe there was a single miscast. Zhang Weiqiang as Dracula was spot-on. In such a peculiar film, in which so many things fight for the spotlight -be it artistic direction, music, cinematography- Dracula had to be a highlight, and what better way than by casting an Asian dancer? Not only that, but he is great. His Dracula is not caricaturesque or over-the-top, it's a perfectly elegant, vicious, lustful young man. With fangs. A scene-stealer.

    What I liked best about this film is that it didn't intend to over-emphasize the sexual undertones. In fact, by using such a delicate technique as ballet, these aspects are highlighted in the classiest and most elevated way. Pages from a Virgin's Diary may, therefore, not be for everyone. But it's an undeniably ambitious and original project and an artistic achievement. And now I can't wait to see what else Guy Maddin can do...
  • guttersnipe28
    November 16, 2006
    guttersnipe28
    An inventive treat, Pages... is the classic novel presented as a silent movie ballet. It is acted entirely with ballet performers and filmed using techniques employed usually in silent films. This combination of factors gives the film a rather unique feel, a merging of classic fo...( read more)rmula with postmodern styling. This time Dracula is played by an Asian actor, giving him a new feel entirely, perhaps playing to sense of racism in Stoker's book and when put in tandem with his hypnotic dancing, affords the piece a deeply dark sense of eroticism. The only colour in the piece comes from the intertitles and occaisonal flashes that pierce the monochrome, such as red blood, and Dracula spilling gold coins from a wound. Not recommended for everyone, obviously, but worth it for anyone looking for a new spin on the dark sexual fable.
  • littlecharmer1959
    July 28, 2008
    littlecharmer1959
    Bram Stoker's Dracula interpreted by the Royal Winnepeg ballet. The combination of the dance and Maddin's unique touches such as the intertitles and small bursts of colour make this beautiful visually.
  • maclud
    July 23, 2009
    maclud
    I wanted to watch this for a pretty long time after seeing just a few pics years ago... but argg... how dissapointing... guess its just another movie for cinema students only..or I m maybe just too stupid.
  • Soundsofmadness
    April 10, 2009
    Soundsofmadness
    No thanks - Not interested
  • DoctorXQuinzel
    November 8, 2008
    DoctorXQuinzel
    Interesting take on Dracula. It's very artsy. I liked the overall mood of the film was very nice.
  • eclectickimmer
    October 12, 2008
    eclectickimmer
    Starring Wei-Qiang Zhang
  • NoirChick
    August 25, 2008
    NoirChick
    Good film by Guy Maddin, though not for all tastes, lol.
  • hugonar
    November 1, 2007
    hugonar
    Not interested. I generally avoid horror movies.
  • MovieGuruDude72
    October 30, 2007
    MovieGuruDude72
    Dracula ballet? Now THAT is true horror.

View All Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary Reviews

Critic Reviews

January 29, 2004
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

A dance version that gorgeously captures the Royal Winnepeg Ballet's artistry while razzing the xenophobia and carnal hysteria underpinning Bram Stoker's story. full review

July 4, 2003
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The film is poetic and erotic, creepy and melodramatic, overwrought and sometimes mocking, as if F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) had a long-lost musical version. full review

View more Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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