Love Never Dies Francis Ford Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula to create a modern masterpiece. It follows the tortured journey of the devastatingly seductive Transylvanian Prince (Gary Oldman) as he moves from Eastern Europe to 19th century London in search of his long lost Elisabeta who is reincarnated as the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder)...
Coppola's Dracula is a mesmerising piece of work. Bram Stoker's novel has never been faithfully adapted to the screen, but this film comes the closest and also goes an extra mile. The story is all there, some elements drawn out (Harker's stay at the castle) and others wonderfully condensed in montage (Dracula's ship voyage). But Coppola's Dracula is less of a monster and more of a tragic character. The director starts the film by linking the historical Dracula with the vampire and gives him a love interest in a wife that kills herself in the film's prologue. She is played by Winona Ryder, who later plays Mina, the fiancée of Jonathan Harker (played by Keanu Reeves). Dracula sees in Mina the reincarnation of his dead wife and the film therefore adds a love story within the framework of the novel's plot, making this the driving force in some of the encounters the two characters also have in the novel. This, and a visualisation of the sexual metaphors from the novel, make the story more appealing for a movie audience. The art direction is spectacular and Coppola's camerawork has never been so flashy and adventurous. Performances are solid and, in some cases, purposefully camp and histrionic. Gary Oldman should indeed go down in history as the best screen Dracula. Only Keanu Reeves fails to deliver as Harker when he has any dialogue. Coppola himself regretted his casting decision in retrospect, explaining he did it for box office appeal. Indeed, Dracula is a flawed masterpiece due to this mistake and the unneveness of some secenes in the first half of the film. The second half is masterful.
We will publish your review of Dracula (Oldman) on DVD within a few days as long as it meets our guidelines.
None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Francis Ford Coppola's big budget version of Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel. Victorian London provides the stalking ground for the lovelorn Transylvanian Prince Vlad (Gary Oldman), feeding off human blood as he seeks out the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder), a reincarnation of his lost love Elisabeta. Mina is also courted by gentleman estate agent Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves), whose chum Doctor Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) wants to put an end to this vampire business once and for all.
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy
