Bram Stoker's Dracula

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1992 horror film and romance film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It starred Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins and Winona Ryder. The score was composed by Wojciech Kilar.

Tagline: Love never dies.

Plot summary

Jonathan Harker (Reeves), assistant real estate agent, travels to the mountains of Transylvania to arrange a real estate deal with Count Dracula (Oldman), who lives in a castle. When the count sees a picture of Harker's fiancee Mina Murray (Ryder), he tells Harker to write to her, saying that he will stay on for a month longer. He then imprisons Harker in his castle, where he is nearly killed by Dracula's insatiable, bloodthirsty brides. While Harker is locked up in the castle, the count travels to London to meet Mina, who is the reincarnation of his wife, a Romanian princess who committed suicide four centuries earlier.

Dracula travels to London and gradually works his spell on Mina, coming ever closer to seducing her. However, he meets opposition from Harker, who escapes, and Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Hopkins), who knows Dracula is a vampire and also knows how to defeat him.

Deviations from the novel and reality

Because of the trademarked title "Dracula," Coppola had to opt for the alternative title Bram Stoker's Dracula. Despite the suggestion of the title, the cinematic production has differences from Stoker's version. Notable among these is a subplot which suggests that Mina Harker is the reincarnation of Dracula's great love, a suggestion absent from the original story. The Count's relationship with Mina is different from its portrayal in the novel, in which Dracula met her late in the story after he had killed Lucy Westenra and Mina had joined the vampire's enemies. Both the novel and the movie version suggest that Dracula is none other than the notorious Vlad Ţepeş ("The Impaler"), a Romanian prince legendary for his cruelty, the connection with the medieval figure is much more emphasized in the film than in the novel. In the novel, there is no mention of how the Count became a vampire, and little mention is made of the historical Dracula aside of a brief reference to his persistent campaigns against the Turks (which, according to Dracula expert Dr Elizabeth Miller, is due to the fact that Stoker probably didn't know anything else about him ^*). The movie actually starts with Vlad's wife committing suicide, because she believes that he had been killed during one of these wars. Vlad is insane with grief due not only to the loss, but also to the supposed eternal condemnation of his wife's soul; he renounces God and takes an unholy vow to avenge her, thus gaining eternal life as a force of darkness.

In contrast to the movie, the historical Vlad Ţepeş married twice. The first wife did commit suicide, but it was not because she grieved his death, but rather because their castle was under siege and she believed that there was no escape. In addition, Vlad remarried afterwards.

Awards and other notables

The film went on to win three technical Academy Awards, including Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Sound Effects Editing.

The film's closing theme song "Love Song for a Vampire" is written and performed by Annie Lennox.

The film also spawned a video game adaptation for the Super Nintendo, NES, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, and Sega CD .

Cast

Gary Oldman (Dracula)
Winona Ryder (Mina Murray/Elisabeta)
Anthony Hopkins (Professor Abraham Van Helsing; also Cesare the priest damning Elisabeta's soul, and voiceover of the captain of the Demeter)
Keanu Reeves (Jonathan Harker)
Richard E. Grant (Dr. Jack Seward)
Cary Elwes (Lord Arthur Holmwood)
Billy Campbell (Quincey P. Morris)
Sadie Frost (Lucy Westenra)
Tom Waits (R.M. Renfield)
Monica Bellucci (Dracula's Bride)

Goofs

During Lucy's party sequence, Dr. Seward (Richard E. Grant) arrives and bumbles around before sitting on Quincey Morris' hat. Look closey, as when Seward first sits down, Quincey is still wearing the hat.