Casting Call: Dracula
Last time I cast Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Tonight, I will share my cast for a movie based on Dracula.
C.S. Lewis said that a myth is a story everyone has heard of, even if they can't remember reading it. By that definition, Dracula is most certainly a modern myth. And yet, adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel tend to fall short of the original masterpiece. Basically, they suck.
I'm not a purist, and I realize that part of its being a myth is its retelling and recreation. But it should still be good. Bela Lugosi wasn't bad, but films have come so far, and the 1992 version was an absolute travesty. Keanu Reeves with a British accent? Gary Oldman deserved a much better movie.
The Christopher Lee Hammer Dracula films were the first to set the story back in its original setting. In so doing, they changed the meaning of the story. At the time they were made, the Victorian era was seen as a backward, patriarchal system that was to be overcome. Enter Dracula, a suave seducer who frees women from this world and introduces them to sensuality. The common interpretation of Dracula as a story about repressed sexuality did not appear until after "Horror of Dracula" was released.
In Stoker's novel, Dracula is an ancient evil who is opposed by utterly modern men. And women. The group of friends who oppose Dracula use trains (a recent invention), victrolas, and typewriters. While the image of the female secretary has become stereotypical, when typewriters were invented, they were seen as a tool for female liberation. Suddenly, women who could type were welcome into the male dominated workforce. Mina not only types all of the journals, but she memorizes the train schedules and eventually puts them in contact with Dracula. In fact, the most fatal error the group commits is leaving Mina out of their confidences because she's a woman. Dracula is about men and women as equals opposing ancient evil that seeks to kill, not seduce.
My "Dracula" would be set in the early 1900s, but would establish the historical context in a way that portrays the progressive nature of the heroes who are still willing to rely on faith as the only way to overcome evil.
C.S. Lewis said that a myth is a story everyone has heard of, even if they can't remember reading it. By that definition, Dracula is most certainly a modern myth. And yet, adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel tend to fall short of the original masterpiece. Basically, they suck.
I'm not a purist, and I realize that part of its being a myth is its retelling and recreation. But it should still be good. Bela Lugosi wasn't bad, but films have come so far, and the 1992 version was an absolute travesty. Keanu Reeves with a British accent? Gary Oldman deserved a much better movie.
The Christopher Lee Hammer Dracula films were the first to set the story back in its original setting. In so doing, they changed the meaning of the story. At the time they were made, the Victorian era was seen as a backward, patriarchal system that was to be overcome. Enter Dracula, a suave seducer who frees women from this world and introduces them to sensuality. The common interpretation of Dracula as a story about repressed sexuality did not appear until after "Horror of Dracula" was released.
In Stoker's novel, Dracula is an ancient evil who is opposed by utterly modern men. And women. The group of friends who oppose Dracula use trains (a recent invention), victrolas, and typewriters. While the image of the female secretary has become stereotypical, when typewriters were invented, they were seen as a tool for female liberation. Suddenly, women who could type were welcome into the male dominated workforce. Mina not only types all of the journals, but she memorizes the train schedules and eventually puts them in contact with Dracula. In fact, the most fatal error the group commits is leaving Mina out of their confidences because she's a woman. Dracula is about men and women as equals opposing ancient evil that seeks to kill, not seduce.
My "Dracula" would be set in the early 1900s, but would establish the historical context in a way that portrays the progressive nature of the heroes who are still willing to rely on faith as the only way to overcome evil.
posted by Unknown @ 9/02/2005 11:16:00 PM
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