FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by: Guy Maddin. Produced by: Vonnie Von Helmolt. Based on: Mark Godden's ballet Dracula, adapted from the Bram Stoker novel. Director of Photography: Paul Suderman. Edited by: deco dawson. Music by: Gustav Mahler. Released by: Zeitgeist. Country of Origin: Canada. 75 min. Not Rated. With: Zhang Wei-Qiang, Tara Birtwhistle, David Moroni, CindyMarie Small & Johnny Wright. DVD Features: Commentary by director Guy Maddin. Behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews of Maddin, producer Vonnie Von Helmolt & choreographer Mark Godden. Video piece on the construction of the sets. Radio interviews with Maddin and Von Helmolt. Photo Gallery.
In bringing the Royal Winnipeg Ballet version of
Dracula to screen, Guy Maddin set out to remain
faithful to Bram Stoker’s novel. Using intertitles
taken from the text and fully exploring the erotic
relationships, he achieves his goal.
But beyond the classic
gothic horror story, Maddin also examines the notion
of otherness and what it means to be a monster.
This point of view allows Maddin to get political -
critiquing British xenophobia and fear of Eastern
European immigrants. A lover of silent films,
Maddin shot the film in black and white, though
he swathes some
scenes in muted colors, like olive green and
purple. The camera moves gracefully around the
dancers, making mesmerizing silent cinema out of filmed
ballet. The characters are expressive and
wonderfully melodramatic, the dancing is exquisite
and the setting magical. Although Dracula: Pages
From a Virgin’s Diary, is very much an art film, it
has a sense of humor and a self-awareness that keeps
it from being heavy-handed. The suitors of the doomed Lucy (Birtwhistle) are goofy men of
the times. A coquette, she can’t decide which one to marry. She writes in her
diary, “Why can’t a
woman marry three men?”
DVD Extras: The DVD offers a rare
glance into the mind of an
art film auteur. With humor and admiration
for his cast, Maddin comments on the
editing, use of color and lighting, and the
challenges of filming ballet. The other extras, informative and entertaining, give the
viewer a further look at the production, letting us
in on some secrets - like the use of aluminum
foil and foam to create the Gaudí-esque
lair where Dracula brings his victims. Caitlin Shamberg, former programming associate for the Mill Valley Film Festival
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