Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film)

Bram Stoker's Dracula
File:Dracpos.jpg Promotional film poster
Directed by	Francis Ford Coppola
Written by	James V. Hart
Produced by	Francis Ford Coppola Fred Fuchs Charles Mulvehill
Starring	Gary Oldman Keanu Reeves Winona Ryder Sadie Frost Richard E Grant Anthony Hopkins
Cinematography	Michael Ballhaus
Edited by	Anna Goursand Glen Scantlebury Nicholas C. Smith
Music by	Wojciech Kilar
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	November 13, 1992
Running time	126 min
Country	United States
Languages	English Romanian
Budget	$40,000,000 (estimated)

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1992 horror romance film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It stars Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins and Winona Ryder. The score was composed by Wojciech Kilar and featured Annie Lennox. It was the 9th highest grossing film worldwide in 1992, making $215,862,692. It was the 15th highest grossing film in the U.S making $82,522,790. The film also won three Academy Awards in 1992.

Taglines:

• Love never dies.
• Beware. (Teaser Poster)

Plot summary

The film begins with a prologue, telling how Vlad III the Impaler defeated an "overwhelming" Turkish force invading his homeland in 1462 (see the Night Attack); but returned home to find his beloved wife Elisabeta dead. Having heard false reports of Vlad's death, she leapt from Dracula Castle. Dracula considered himself to be defending Christianity, so when told that her soul is eternally damned as a suicide, Dracula in a rage desecrates a chapel and renounces God, declaring he will rise from the grave to avenge her death with all the powers of darkness. The icons in the church cry blood and the candles drip it instead of wax, covering the floor around her corpse.

Four centuries later...

Jonathan Harker (Reeves), assistant real estate agent, travels to the mountains of Transylvania to arrange the transfer of Carfax Abbey in London, Count Dracula's (Oldman) newest real estate acquisition. Harker was sent because the previous agent, Renfield (Waits) had returned from Transylvania insane. The castle itself is a bizarre, unnatural place where shadows move by themselves and sometimes things (like drops of perfume) fall up. When the ancient-seeming count sees a picture of Harker's fiancée Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray (Ryder), he tells Harker to write to her, telling her that Harker will remain in Transylvania for one month.

Dracula imprisoned Harker, where he was enticed by Dracula's insatiable, beautiful, and bloodthirsty Brides. They systematically took his blood - never enough to kill him — but to keep him in a weakened state to prevent him from escaping the castle.

While Harker was being held prisoner, the count books passage on the ship Demeter to London. His purpose was not only to move into Carfax Abbey, but to meet Mina, who Dracula believes is the reincarnation of his wife.

When the Demeter arrives in London, the entire crew is dead. Since Dracula is in a box of his native earth and assumed to be cargo, he is delivered safely to the Abbey. Renfield becomes his servant and Lucy Westenra (Mina's best friend) his victim when she sleepwalks the night the Demeter arrives. Dracula ravishes her and drinks her blood. Dracula – now young and handsome again – gradually meets and charms Mina, but refuses to bite her. He also takes her dancing and when she drinks absinthe seems to begin remembering her past life.

File:Winonamina.jpg

Winona Ryder as Mina Harker

Dracula's nocturnal feedings from Lucy (Sadie Frost) have caused noticeable changes in her behavior and obvious deteriorating health. The three men who courted for her hand Quincey Morris (Campbell), Dr. John Seward (Grant) and Arthur Holmwood (Elwes) grow increasingly worried. Seward (whose asylum includes among its inmates Renfield) summons his old friend Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Hopkins). Van Helsing performs a blood transfusion with Arthur (Lucy's fiancee) then the other two men as donors. But he recognizes also that Lucy is the victim of a Vampire.

Harker escapes from Castle Dracula and makes his way to a convent from which he sends word to Mina. She leaves to join and marry him, leaving a note for her "Prince" (as Dracula had introduced himself) that she must never see him again. Grief-stricken and enraged, Dracula breaks into the Westenra house and kills Lucy, cursing her to be as he is; A blood-drinking monster, who must wander the Earth eternally seeking to satisfy an insatiable thirst.

But by now Van Helsing has learned precisely what is happening. He brings Arthur, Seward and Quincey to the family crypt where they see Lucy return to her tomb. She has fangs and a bloody mouth and seems to have been feeding off a small child. Horrified, Arthur drives a stake through her heart.

File:CurseOfTheUndead.gif

Sadie Frost as Lucy Westenra

When Harker (now with gray hair from his ordeal) returns with Mina, he is recruited to hunt down Dracula. He joins Van Helsing, Seward, Quincey and Arthur in going to Carfax Abbey to consecrate the boxes of soil there, making it impossible for Dracula to use them. But the Count sees them. Taking the form of a green mist, he goes to Seward's asylum and kills Renfield for his betrayal, then enters the bedchamber where Mina sleeps. At first barely awake she eagerly welcomes him, but he insists upon telling her the truth – he is dead, a hunted creature, the one who murdered her friend Lucy. But despite her rage at this, Mina still loves him. She begs to become like him, to be with him. He at first tries to resist, but she insists. When the group of Vampire Hunters burst into the bedroom, they find Mina drinking Dracula's blood from his chest. Assuming the form of a bat-like demon, Dracula faces off against them. He insists he was betrayed by God. Then, proclaiming "She is my Bride!" he retreats into the shadows and transforms again into a horde of rats that flee out the window.

File:'Young'Dracula.JPG

Gary Oldman as "Prince" Dracula.

Mina begins to change the same way Lucy had. Van Helsing hypnotizes her and learns via the connection between her and Dracula that the latter is returning to his home by ship. The five Hunters plan on trying to reach the port of Varna before him via train. But Dracula reads Mina's mind and gives them the slip. Finally, they split up. Van Helsing and Mina go directly to the Borgo Pass and the Castle, while the others try to stop the Gypsies transporting Dracula.

At night, encamped before the castle, Mina begins to change as the Brides hover nearby. Mina attempts to seduce Van Helsing and almost succeeds. She bares fangs, trying to bite him but he reacts by touching her forehead with a piece of Holy Wafer. This sears her flesh and snaps her out of it. The Brides try to attack, but cannot get too close because of Van Helsing's cross. Instead, they devour the horses. Next morning, a weary Van Helsing enters the castle, finds the Brides and kills them, tossing their severed heads off the edge of the Castle's gate, into the abyss below.

When the chase between the Hunters and the Gypsies carrying Dracula nears the Castle, Mina finds she doesn't need binoculars to see things far away. Dracula, sensing her presence, tells her what to do. Speaking Romanian, she summons a kind of blue flame from the earth around the castle (first seen when Harker arrived) which rises to the clouds and causes winds. This impedes the Hunters, but they press on. As the fight rages, racing against sunset, the carriage carrying Dracula pulls into the courtyard.

The sun sets soon after the last Gypsy dies. Dracula bursts out of his box as Harker cuts open his throat. Almost at the same moment, a mortally wounded Quincey drives his bowie knife into Dracula's chest. The vampire staggers, but Mina fends off the men with a rifle. She asks her husband "When my time comes, will you do the same to me?" He says "No," and allows her to follow Dracula into the castle. Quincey dies.

File:Garyelderlydracula.png

Gary Oldman as Count Dracula.

Inside, in the very chapel where he renounced God, Dracula lies wounded. He is aged again, and his face contorted to that of a demon. But Mina tries to pull the knife from his heart, and calls him "My love," kissing him. At the moment, the candles in the chapel light on their own. The desecrations Dracula committed on the altar repair. Dracula himself becomes young and his face that of a human being. He says to her "Give me peace," and she drives the knife all the way through his heart. Dracula dies. Mina pulls out the knife and beheads him, then with tearful eyes looks up.

The dome above her shows a fresco of Vlad and his wife ascending to heaven together.

Deviations from the novel

File:Vlad draculea.png

Gary Oldman as Vlad the Impaler.

This list is not exhaustive, but intended to convey a sense of the differences between the film and the novel:

• Dracula is explicitly identified with Vlad Ţepeş ("The Impaler") and given a specific backstory as to how he came to be a vampire. (In the novel, it is implied that he was transformed at the Scholomance).
• Dracula has no reflection, but he does cast a shadow in the movie, which seems to have some physical weight and often moves about on its own.
• Dracula and his brides speak Romanian to each other rather than English.
• When Mina follows a sleepwalking Lucy, she finds her actually having intercourse with Dracula as he feeds upon her. In the novel, Mina just follows Lucy during her sleepwalking without any intercourse between Lucy and Dracula taking place.
• Mina, represented as the reincarnation of Dracula's first wife, falls in love with him, and prevents the others from killing him in the end. She herself delivers the killing blow, at his request.
• Dracula kills Lucy at least partially out of revenge for Mina having left him to marry Harker.
• The characters of Mrs. Westenra and Lord Godalming (Arthur's father) are omitted in the film, and Mr. Hawkins (Jonathan's boss and father figure) is never seen again after an early appearance in the movie.

Deviations from history

• Dracula's dragon crest or sigil is entirely original (although the historical "Order of the Dragon" did use a dragon as their symbol). Likewise, his red wolf armor does not resemble anything from history.
• In the movie, Vlad's wife commits suicide because she believes that he has been killed in battle. The historical Vlad Ţepeş married twice. His first wife did commit suicide, but it was not because she grieved his death; their castle was under siege and, believing that there was no escape, she took her own life.
• Later on in the film, Dracula tells Mina that Elisabeta threw herself into the river which is now called Argeş, which he claims means "River of the Princess" in Romanian. The river named after Dracula's wife is in reality called Râul Doamnei ("the Lady's River"), and is a minor tributary of the Argeş.
• In the movie, Dracula is speaking Romanian while in Stoker's book he claims to be a Székely, meaning he would have spoken Hungarian. Although a deviation from the novel, it is the movie that is closer to reality as the historical Vlad Dracula was Romanian, not Székely. However, Dracula tells Harker that "Attila's blood flows in these veins", and later introduces himself to Mina as "Prince Vlad of Székely" (incorrectly identified in the DVD subtitles as "Saichait").
• Dracula is said to be a prince of Transylvania, when in reality Vlad was prince of Wallachia. The real princes of Transylvania at this time would have been Nicholas of Ujlak and John Pongracz.
• Blood transfusion was not quite as radical an idea in 1897 as the film implies. Successful blood transfusion with humans dates back to the 1840s.
• The costuming is often stylized to the point of no longer fitting into period.

Deleted scenes

There were an estimated 38 cuts from the movie before it was released theatrically. The large sum of cuts took place after test audiences reacted negatively to the original version. Recently, there have been copies of an uncut version circulating on eBay. Called the "Director's Cut," this version features 10-15 minutes more footage than the current 122-minute version. Much of the deleted footage and dialogue can be seen and heard in the theatrical trailer. Photos of deleted and alternate footage can be seen in the official movie book, trading cards, and comic series. There have been rumors of a Special Edition DVD for years that will contain all the deleted footage. According to the Internet Movie Database, a new 'Making Of' documentary is being released in October 2007. It is possible that a special edition could be released this year.

On the official American Zeotrope Website, that a New Enhanced Edition is to be realeased on both DVD and Blu-Ray in Fall of 2007. It's release date is presumed to be on October 7, 2007. It will most likely include the new Documentary The Blood is Life, as well as Commentary (by Director Coppola), deleted scenes, and more.

Television edit

In 1997, an edited version of the film was broadcast on the FOX network. This version cuts out the character of Renfield entirely. Other edits and changes are the introduction of the Brides who are clothed in rags as opposed to their seductive nude scene in the theatrical version. It also cuts out Dracula giving them the infant to feast on; instead Dracula converses with them about finding love. Scenes of Lucy's introduction have been re-dubbed due to her quirky remarks and the illustrations in the Arabian Nights book have been blacked out. Also a part of Mina and Lucy’s later conversation in the garden as well as shots of the vessel Varna and Dracula howling as the wolf creature have been taken out completely.

The first attack of Lucy is shortened in the televised version. It cuts out some footage of Lucy walking around the maze and Mina calling and searching for her. Dubbed in is Mina calling Lucy several times more. Also cut is when Mina sees Dracula appearing to be raping Lucy. Instead it seems that he just bites her throat. Also Lucy's clothes aren't torn. In several scenes Lucy has violent fits, causing her chemise to fall open displaying one or both of her breasts. But this never happens in the televised version in which she is portrayed with chemise intact due to digital paint and clever editing. Lucy's destruction is only hinted at and heard, but never shown.

Several scenes regarding Van Helsing have been re-moved, and his exorcism of Carrafax Abbey has been trimmed. Shots of Mina drinking from Dracula's heart are shortened. The seduction of Van Helsing, and the destruction of the brides are kept intact. Towards the ending the final shot of the sword piercing Dracula has been trimmed to eliminate blood flow.

In 2002, American Movie Classics showed another edited version of the film, this one shown with all edits as mentioned above, but with other small minor cuts and added footage. They include:

• The character of Renfield is in this version, and plays a crucial part.
• More dialogue between Jonathan and Mr. Hawkins in the opening scenes.
• A scene of Dracula looking mournfully at Jonathan in the castle.
• Lucy's attack including the footage of her in the garden sleepwalking. The only cut being her nightgown whistling in the wind, and of Dracula's apparent rape.
• Added moans after Dracula first bites Lucy.
• The Van-Helsing introductory scenes are kept.
• In the final battle the knife slashing Dracula's throat has been trimmed by a few seconds to not show the graphic blood.
• The be-heading of Dracula by Mina has been altered. A scene that shows her looking at the dead Dracula with the knife protruding from his heart has been added, and then it cuts to her be-heading him. The camera is then focused on her as she stares upward cutting out the scene of Dracula's head falling.

In addition to these cuts, this version was presented without commercial interruption.

Trivia

• The movie's opening takes place in 1462 with the Ottoman Turks invading Wallachia (see the Night Attack). The remainder of the movie takes place in the year 1897.
• Cary Elwes later appeared in the film Shadow of the Vampire about the making of the first filmed version of this novel, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens.
• Tom Waits actually made Dracula's snarls and growls in ADR.
• The priest in the prologue who declares Dracula's wife to be "damned" was played by Anthony Hopkins.
• In the scene where Dracula meets Mina on the streets of London, the two walk past a placard about a production of Hamlet at the Lyceum Theatre. Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, was once the manager of the Lyceum and his employer, Henry Irving, was famous for portraying Hamlet.
• One of the Brides was actually born in Transylvania and served as a dialogue coach for several of the actors and her fellow Brides.
• Another Bride is played by Italian actress Monica Bellucci. She had been a model until then, and this was her first appearance on the screen.
• Sadie Frost dyed her hair red to appear different from her co-star Winona Ryder.
• In the scene where Dracula offers Mina Absinthe, she talks about Transylvania being "A land beyond a great, vast forest". This line was written because "Transylvania", in Latin means "Land beyond the forest".
• The "blood" throughout the film was actually red jelly.
• The robe that Dracula wears in the final scene is inspired by Gustav Klimt's painting "The Kiss"
• There were 38 cuts prior to its theatrical release.
• In one scene, John Seward squashes Quincey Morris's hat by sitting on it. However, in the previous scene, Quincey was holding his hat in his hands when Seward sat down. In another scene, Renfield bites the right side of Seward's neck, but the actor who portrays Seward grasps the left side.

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.
• Merchandising for the film included a board game, a pinball game, and video game adaptations for the Super Nintendo, NES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, and Sega CD.
• A four-issue comic book adaptation and 100 collectible cards based on the movie were released by the Topps company (known for originating the Mars Attacks franchise). The art for the comic was provided by Mike Mignola, the creator of the comic book and later movie character Hellboy.

External links

• Bram Stoker's Dracula at IMDb
• Bram Stoker's Dracula at Rotten Tomatoes