+ intro by award-winning writer and broadcaster Christopher Frayling, in celebration of his upcoming book Vampire Cinema (Wednesday 19 October only)
Coppola’s version of Stoker’s novel – determinedly different from conventional vampire movies – revels in cinematic trickery and illusionism even as it turns up the feverish eroticism in Dracula’s relationship with Mina Harker, whom he believes is the reincarnation of his late wife. Oldman, in a part decidedly different from his customary realist roles, handles the fantasy and flamboyance with seductive aplomb.
bfi.org.uk
Francis Ford Coppola and scriptwriter James V. Hart have, as the credit that opens the film, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, suggests, indeed gone back to Stoker. In terms of inclusion of incidents and characters, there is more left of the novel here than in any previous film versions with the possible exception of the 1970 Spanish El Conde Dracula (Jesús Franco). To the now well-trod lines of Jonathan Harker’s visit to Transylvania and Dracula’s coming to England to wreak havoc on Harker’s friends and relatives are added elements that have only occasionally appeared in previous versions (the character of the Texan, Quincy P. Morris; the pursuit of Dracula back to Transylvania finally to ensnare him). The one substantial new element added to this, a prologue explaining how Vlad the Impaler became Dracula, gives a particular inflection to the story, but remains true to the project; it is well known that Vlad was an inspiration to Stoker.
Coppola’s Dracula flings itself at all this narrative material, emerging like a music video directed by Dario Argento. As in a video, narrativity comes at you in snatches, more a suggestion of connected incidents across a welter of vivid imagery than a fully presented plot. As in Argento’s Suspiria, say, or some other post-’60s horror movies like Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, narrative, and with it the pleasures of tease and suspense, are unimportant; it’s the maelstrom of sensation that matters. This means that the story may be hard to follow if you either haven’t read Stoker’s Dracula or have a less than total recall of it (I remembered who Renfield and Quincey were, but it goes so fast that I had a hard time figuring out how and why at the end Mina gets to Transylvania before her menfolk).
As to the feeling, Coppola has certainly achieved something distinctive. Always one of cinema’s great colourists, he has here come up with a symphony in engulfing red and black. The prologue is shot in near-silhouette, black on red, setting the colour key signature for the film. Early sequences in Victorian England are anaemically coloured, gradually to be swallowed by red and black, vermillion and pitch, blood and the night. I am not the first to have reached for ‘engorgement’ as a word to describe the film. It’s not just the redness of the blood swelling the film’s climaxes, but the fullness of the image, bursting to the edge of the frame with thick colour and dense visual texture. Most remarkably, it’s in the vampires’ costuming, most voluminous when they are most needy. They look bloated with lust, and yet move then with greatest speed and ease, gliding not walking, as if motored by the desperate urgency of desire. When Lucy has become a vampire, she is dressed entirely in white, with bridal lace and fold upon fold of silk, and her face too is pale as death; yet her shrouded body rears up so turgidly, the lace ruffs round her neck are puffed like a monstrous lizard, even her cheeks seem fuller. Even without the red, she is the embodiment of engorgement.
The possibilities are endless, and Coppola and Hart know a good few of them. You want the attraction and terror of sexuality, the attraction of the terror of sexuality? Here it is, in Dracula’s metamorphosis from glowering bearded prince to cadaverous old goat to fin-de-siècle dandy, and in the wolf/ape thing that takes Lucy in the night. You want, more specifically, male fears of female sexuality? Here is the engorged, uncontrollable libidinous preference of Mina and Lucy for Gary Oldman’s dandy Dracula over Keanu Reeves’ sensitive but proper Jonathan. Or AIDS is a possibility, flung in here in a few lines ominously connecting sex, blood and disease. There’s even a vegetarian reading, in a cut that has the audience groaning as at a bad pun and which is borrowed from The Hunger, where Van Helsing’s dismemberment of Lucy’s head is followed straight on by him carving with relish into a side of rare beef.
Richard Dyer, Sight and Sound, January 1993
BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
©: Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
Production Companies: American Zoetrope, Osiris Films
Presented by: Columbia Pictures
Executive Producers: Michael Apted, Robert O’Connor
Produced by: Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Fuchs, Charles Mulvehill
Co-producers: James V. Hart, John Veitch
Associate Producer: Susie Landau
Production Accountants: Kenneth J. Ryan, James Turner, Mike Revell
Production Co-ordinator: Pat Chapman
Unit Production Manager: Patricia Churchill
American Zoetrope Technical Supervisor: Kim Aubry
Research: Anahid Nazarian
2nd Unit Director: Roman Coppola
1st Assistant Director: Peter Giuliano
2nd Assistant Director: Kate Davey
Miniature Unit Assistant Director: Dan Coffie
Script Supervisor: Wilma Garscadden-Gahret
2nd Unit Script Supervisor: Mary M. Patton
Casting: Victoria Thomas
Additional Casting: Rick Montgomery, Dan Parada, Dixie Webster
Screenplay by: James V. Hart
Based on the novel by: Bram Stoker
Director of Photography: Michael Ballhaus
2nd Unit Director of Photography: Steve Yaconelli
Miniature Unit Director of Photography: Bill Neil
Camera Operator: David M. Dunlap
1st Assistant Camera: Florian Ballhaus
2nd Assistant Camera: Jeffrey Thorin
Key Grip: J. Patrick Daily
Still Photographer: Ralph Nelson
Visual Effects: Roman Coppola
Visual Effects Supervisor: Alison Savitch
Special Visual Effects by: Fantasy II Film Effects, Matte World Digital, Colossal Pictures
Additional Visual Effects by: 4-Ward Productions, VCE Inc
Edited by: Nicholas C. Smith, Glen Scantlebury, Anne Goursaud
American Zoetrope Associated Editor Montage: Gus Carpenter
1st Assistant Film Editor: John Spence
Production Designer: Thomas Sanders
Design Collaboration: Eiko Ishioka
Art Director: Andrew Precht
Senior Set Designer: Joseph Hodges
Set Decorator: Garrett Lewis
Project Conceptualist: Jim Steranko
Illustrators: Peter A. Ramsey, Mentor Huebner, Mike Mignola
Property Masters: Ray Mercer, Trisha B. Gallaher
Costumes Designed by: Eiko Ishioka
Dracula’s Armour Manifactured by: Global Effects
Make-up/Hair Designed by: Michèle Burke
Head Make-up Artist: Michèle Burke
Special Make-up FX Created/Applied by: Greg Cannom
Head Hairstylist: Mari Bloom
Hairstylist: Josée Normand
Mr Oldman’s Hairstylist/Wigmaker: Stuart Artingstall
Title Design: Gary Gutierrez
Opticals by: Cinema Research Corporation
Colour/Prints by: Technicolor
Music Composed by: Wojciech Kilar
Orchestra Conducted by: Anton Coppola
Music Performed by: Los Angeles Master Chorale
Special Vocal Performances: Diamanda Galás
Orchestrations: Wojciech Kilar
Music Edited by: Katherine Quittner
Sound Designer: Leslie Shatz
Production Mixer: Robert Janiger
Boom Operator: George W. Scott
Supervising Sound Editors: Tom C. McCarthy, David E. Stone
Technical Design: Christopher Gilman
Historical Consultant: Leonard Wolf
Stunt Co-ordinator: Billy Burton
Filmed at: Sony Pictures Studios, Universal Studios Hollywood
Cast
Gary Oldman (Count Dracula)
Winona Ryder (Elisabeta/Mina Murray)
Anthony Hopkins (Cesare/Professor Abraham Van Helsing/voice of captain of the Demeter)
Keanu Reeves (Jonathan Harker)
Richard E. Grant (Doctor Jack Seward)
Cary Elwes (Lord Arthur Holmwood)
Bill Campbell (Quincey P. Morris)
Sadie Frost (Lucy Westenra)
Tom Waits (R.M. Renfield)
Monica Bellucci, Mihaela Bercu, Florina Kendrick (brides of Dracula)
Jay Robinson (Mr Hawkins)
I.M. Hobson (Hobbs)
Laurie Franks (Lucy’s maid)
Maud Winchester (downstairs maid)
Octavian Cadia (deacon)
Robert Getz (priest)
Dagmar Stanec (Sister Agatha)
Eniko Oss (Sister Sylva)
Nancy Linehan Charles (older woman)
Tatiana von Furstenberg (younger woman)
Jules Sylvester, Hubert Wells (zoo keepers)
Daniel Newman (news hawker)
Honey Lauren, Judi Diamond (peep show girls)
Robert Buckingham (husband)
Cully Fredricksen (Van Helsing’s assistant)
USA 1992©
127 mins
IN DREAMS ARE MONSTERS
Nosferatu (Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens)
Mon 17 Oct 20:50; Sun 13 Nov 15:50 (+ intro by Silent Film Curator Bryony Dixon); Sat 19 Nov 14:10
Frankenstein
Tue 18 Oct 20:50; Fri 28 Oct 18:20; Tue 8 Nov 18:20; Sun 27 Nov 13:00
The Skeleton Key
Wed 19 Oct 18:00; Mon 14 Nov 20:45
Meet the Monsters: A Season Introduction
Thu 20 Oct 19:30 BFI YouTube
I Walked With a Zombie
Thu 20 Oct 20:40; Tue 1 Nov 18:10
Creature from the Black Lagoon (3D)
Sat 22 Oct 18:15 (+ pre-recorded intro by Mallory O’Meara, award winning and bestselling author of ‘The Lady from the Black Lagoon’); Sat 29 Oct 11:40; Tue 1 Nov 20:50
In Dreams Are Monsters Quiz
Sun 23 Oct 19:00-22:00 Blue Room
Kuroneko (Yabu no naka no kuroneko)
Tue 25 Oct 20:45; Mon 31 Oct 21:00; Fri 18 Nov 18:15
The Fly
Wed 26 Oct 21:00
La Llorona
Thu 27 Oct 20:30; Mon 7 Nov 21:00
Celluloid Screams and Live Cinema UK presents: Ghostwatch + Q&A
Fri 28 Oct 20:20
Viy
Fri 28 Oct 20:45; Tue 8 Nov 20:50
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Sat 29 Oct 18:30; Wed 30 Nov 20:50
Candyman
Sat 29 Oct 20:45; Thu 17 Nov 20:50 (+ intro)
Nightbreed – Director’s Cut
Sun 30 Oct 15:10 (+ intro); Sat 12 Nov 20:35
28 Days Later
Mon 31 Oct 18:00 (+ Q&A with director Danny Boyle); Sat 26 Nov 20:45
Us
Tue 1 Nov 20:40; Sat 19 Nov 15:10; Tue 29 Nov 20:40
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Wed 2 Nov 18:10; Sat 26 Nov 20:40
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
Wed 2 Nov 20:45; Sat 19 Nov 20:45
Blacula
Thu 3 Nov 20:55; Sat 26 Nov 13:00
Cronos
Fri 4 Nov 18:30; Sat 19 Nov 12:10; Sun 20 Nov 18:30
Fright Night
Fri 4 Nov 20:50; Tue 22 Nov 20:40 (+ intro)
Possession
Sat 5 Nov 20:20 (+ intro by author Kier-La Janisse); Sun 27 Nov 15:30
Ganja & Hess
Mon 7 Nov 18:00; Sat 26 Nov 15:20
Inferno
Wed 9 Nov 20:40; Sat 26 Nov 18:20
The Entity
Fri 11 Nov 17:55; Tue 15 Nov 20:30
Def by Temptation
Wed 16 Nov 18:10 (+ intro); Sat 26 Nov 18:10
Jennifer’s Body
Sun 20 Nov 15:15; Mon 21 Nov 18:00; Fri 25 Nov 20:45
Pontypool
Mon 21 Nov 20:30; Sun 27 Nov 12:20
Under the Shadow
Wed 23 Nov 20:40; Tue 29 Nov 18:10
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Thu 24 Nov 20:40; Mon 28 Nov 18:10
Pet Sematary
Fri 25 Nov 18:15; Mon 28 Nov 20:40
Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras)
Sun 27 Nov 18:10; Wed 30 Nov 20:25
IN DREAMS ARE MONSTERS EVENTS
City Lit at BFI: Screen Horrors – Screen Monsters
Thu 20 Oct – Thu 15 Dec 18:30-20:30
Beyond Nollywood World Premiere: Inside Life + Q&A with director Clarence A Peters
Sat 29 Oct 14:00
Matchbox Cine presents House of Psychotic Women
Sat 5 Nov 17:50
Son of Ingagi + Panel Discussion
Wed 9 Nov 18:10
Live Commentary with Evolution of Horror, Brain Rot and The Final Girls
Sat 19 Nov 18:00
Big Monster Energy
Tue 22 Nov 18:30
BFI SOUTHBANK
Welcome to the home of great film and TV, with three cinemas and a studio, a world-class library, regular exhibitions and a pioneering Mediatheque with 1000s of free titles for you to explore. Browse special-edition merchandise in the BFI Shop.We're also pleased to offer you a unique new space, the BFI Riverfront – with unrivalled riverside views of Waterloo Bridge and beyond, a delicious seasonal menu, plus a stylish balcony bar for cocktails or special events. Come and enjoy a pre-cinema dinner or a drink on the balcony as the sun goes down.
BECOME A BFI MEMBER
Enjoy a great package of film benefits including priority booking at BFI Southbank and BFI Festivals. Join today at bfi.org.uk/join
BFI PLAYER
We are always open online on BFI Player where you can watch the best new, cult & classic cinema on demand. Showcasing hand-picked landmark British and independent titles, films are available to watch in three distinct ways: Subscription, Rentals & Free to view.
See something different today on player.bfi.org.uk
Join the BFI mailing list for regular programme updates. Not yet registered? Create a new account at www.bfi.org.uk/signup
Programme notes and credits compiled by the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
Questions/comments? Contact the Programme Notes team by email