Vampires have always been something of a guilty pleasure of mine sense I can remember. What donâ(TM)t you like about them? They take centuries old myths revolving the Catholic faith and makes them pure horror, they have immortal life, and they are the true lords of night. But,… More
Vampires have always been something of a guilty pleasure of mine sense I can remember. What donâ(TM)t you like about them? They take centuries old myths revolving the Catholic faith and makes them pure horror, they have immortal life, and they are the true lords of night. But, overtime, the vampire image has been destroyed, distraught, and bastardize so much that vampires turned from complete creatures of terror into humanâ(TM)s ultimate wet dreams by wanting to make the vampires sexually appealing. I am sorry, but that is not how I want my vampires to be. But, there are some exceptions to this. One of which is the novel by Anne Rice known as: Interview With The Vampire. Being her first novel, it is something of a complete shock of pure and wonderous imagination as we get a first hand glimpse into the life of a vampire through the eyes of Louis (portrayed in the film by Brad Pitt) and his 200 year life of horror as he sees, feels, and experiences idea that we can only imagine. The novel was a giant success that created, what I call, the third wave of vampire fiction, basically being the new Dracula in terms of how successful and how much it is embedded into pop culture. My first experience with this film was when I was first introduced to vampires when I was younger. Due to a sudden rush of vampire love across the world, vampires were brought back to life in the minds of people and became the subject of much love and commercial success as people tried to catch on to the world of vampires. I was and still am one of those people that feel in love with vampires. But what made me become the fan that I am on these creatures was this one movie. While watching this film, I felt something of a new era of my life opening up and an entire new world being explored. Just, the visual aspects of this film are brought to life in such a wonderous way that you become entranced in the pure beauty of this tale. And entranced I was as this became one of the finest films on the subjects of real vampires that I have ever seen. My heart was captivated by this film and still when I watch it or listen to the score, I feel the world of new wonder open up. I love this film, but while I love it, there are a few aspects that I will discuss that I do not particularly care for. But more on that later. Letâ(TM)s get down to the details. The first will have to be the direction of Neil Jordan. Being well known for his work on â~The Crying Gameâ(TM), I did not know what to expect with this film. But, to my surprise, Jordan treats the original source material with pure respect and honesty as he makes two centuriesâ(TM) worth of history and crams it all into a two hour film. The only complaint I have is that the pacing he has with this film is rather slow at times and that is something of a bummer to me. I like films that keep a steady pace and makes you be interested. This film has the interesting part right. But the pace, not so much. Like all films, the second time around it is faster, but I would of liked it if it was more faster and more speedy. Next the acting. Okay, if you are a mega fan of actors/ actresses that were huge and popular in the 1990â(TM)s, then this is your film all the way. So, I might as well get down to the five main actors. First off is Brad Pitt. Now, I am not that much of a Brad Pitt fan. Yeah, later on down the road he gave a monumental performance in Quentin Tarantinoâ(TM)s INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, but other then that, I never really cared for him. But with this one film, I am ready to say that I love him as an actor. The character of Louis is tragic in the sense that he has had an entire world of misfortune happen to him and he tries to live on, but he does so in a way that is unimaginable towards anyone. It is with his acting, how he is able to get across the feel of experiencing things like drinking blood for the first time, the creation of a child vampire, that makes this movie work. Next for Tom Cruise. Now, I adore Tom Cruiseâ(TM)s acting from his performance in Ridley Scottâ(TM)s LEGEND to his performance in Stanley Kubrickâ(TM)s EYES WIDE SHUT. He is a fine actor and, unlike Anne Rice when she first heard, I was open to him being in this role. When he portrayed the vampire Lestat, he literally stole the entire film. This movie is meant to be about Louis, but Lestat just makes everything about him and you start to care about this anti-hero as he lives out his life. With Cruiseâ(TM)s acting, he gives a wonderful performance and one that is memorable. Very much well done. The next person to mention was a then very much unknown Kristen Dunst as the vampire child Claudia. Now, let me explain something about this character. She is an eternal child, but has the aging mind of a woman. She is a complex, emotionally angered character that, at first, never understand what she is due to how young she was when she first became a vampire. Once she finds out, she becomes one of the most interesting and most furious of characters that I have seen in a vampire film that is a vampire. Dunst was at a very young age to play this young vampire, and she does so with wonderous ability. This film is a testimony to the fact that she can act. Next on the list is Antonio Banderas who portrays Armand: The Oldest Vampire In The World. While appearing in the second half of the film, Banderas does give a performance that I wish could have been expanded more. Banderas is a fine actor, and it is something of a shame that he is not put into more use in this film. But for the parts he is in for, he is great. Lastly, the only other actor is the interviewer: Christian Slater. Slater, I think, had the most difficult role in this entire film not because of who the character is (appears for only twenty minutes spread through out the film), but because of who was suppose to play his character. Originally, teen icon River Phoenix was slated to portray the interviewer, but due to his untimely death, Slater was brought in. For the most part, he does his job how it needed to be done, but I would of liked it if he was able to show off more of his acting abilities. Now we head for the script. One thing that fans of novels hate is when their favorite novels are adapted into film due to how much is changed. While this filmâ(TM)s script does differ from her novel, Anne Rice does write the script to her novel in a rather interesting way. I do like how she changed some of the key parts in the story to fit the film, but there are some certain details I wished she would of kept in. Ms. Rice is a fabulous writer, and this being her only screen play, she does show a lot of talent. But, one has to wonder what would of happened if someone else was to have adapted the screen play? Would it still keep Riceâ(TM)s tone or would it have been shattered? Finally the score. I love film scores to no end and this film can be credited as to being one of the films that started my love for filmâ(TM)s music. From the opening choir piece that is haunting yet beautiful to a wonderful cover of the Rolling Stoneâ(TM)s song Sympathy For The Devil (covered by a then good Guns N Roses), this score just creates the dark atmosphere and the feeling of loneliness that the film tries to have and it works. But the one piece that needs to be mentioned is the opening piece Libera Me. There is a way to tell if a film will be good and that has to be how great the first piece of music is at setting the tone. Hearing the dark, a tad bit depressing piano and the voices of children that are featured in that piece of music, it just creates a world unlike any other. Now, the score was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, but lost out to The Lion King that year. Pity. For the visuals in this film, it is simply outstanding. Even more when the film is set in Paris and we see the underground vampire cults that are there. What makes this so note worthy is just how magnificent it looks. The time spent on those sets to create them must have taken back breaking amounts of work, and for the effect it has, I say it was worth it. That is the thing about this film: it is all about effect and story. Effect of how we feel about the characters. Effect about the music. Effect about the sets. The effect level on this film is high and it is then easy to understand why this film is considered great. The plot, also, is something of a wonder. Just the imagination it took to create this world is just magnificent and still is today when we are bombarded with countless knock off vampires that are just disgraceful. Overall, this is probably one of the last great vampire films ever made and an ultimate introduction into the wonderful world of vampires that can only be created by Anne Rice.
