Never tire of "four hundred years"

Jason 2022-04-22 07:01:04

The never-tired "Dracula 1994" is Francis Ford Coppola's work, and it's more faithful to the original than Coppola's ubiquitous homage to Herzog's 1931 version. The eerie Romanian mountains and old forests, the gloomy castles and Gary Oldman's red robe embroidered with dragon patterns, Coppola is looking for a breakthrough in the inheritance. There is no happy ending like the 31-year version, in which Mina falls in love with Dracula and doesn't regret her choice. Although Count Dracula was killed in the end, he also reached a compromise with God at the moment of his death. Gary Oldman's superb acting skills are at their best. His vampires are sometimes fierce and sometimes tender, and Dracula's contradictory characters are just right.

Vampire movies are an anomaly in the history of cinema. Since Bram Stroker wrote his novel Dracula in 1897, the dark theme of vampires has captivated generations of directors.

The prototype of the vampire should be the devil in the Bible. In Coppola's Dracula 400 (Dracula 1994), Count Dracula says, "I have been rewarded for defending the church with my life... From now on I will use the power of darkness, I will drink blood And be born." Vampires have a series of typical characteristics of the devil, such as evil but very tempting, intelligent but deviant, fragile but powerful. The rebellious consciousness that humans experienced in their adolescence was overwhelmed by mainstream values, but vampires dramatized this consciousness again, reflecting an "evil" self.

"Eternal life" is another paradox of vampire character. Humans search in vain for immortality, which vampires can easily possess, but at a high cost. Evil cannot die, and the only way to survive is to keep killing life. Vampires also fell into the trap of "undead". The world is changing before their eyes, time is passing, and others are no longer in good looks, but they will not change. Gradually wisdom becomes a burden, in exchange for a fear of infinity. Slowly, after becoming numb to the transformation of time and space, the word "Zeitgeist" no longer made sense to them. In Interview with the Vampire, Armand said to Louie: You are immortal but have a human soul... You reflect this era, you are my link to the outside world (link).

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Extended Reading

Dracula quotes

  • Van Helsing: We have learned much. Dracula fears us. He fears time. For if he does not, why does he hurry so.

  • [last lines]

    Mina: [narrating] There, in the presence of God, I understood at last how love could release us all from the power of darkness. Our love is stronger than death.

    Dracula: Give me peace.

    Mina: [impales him with the sword, then kisses him, then beheads him]