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Film: Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Year: 1994
Director: Neil Jordan
Writer: Anne Rice
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas
Review:
This was a film that I remember watching when it first hit the movie channels back in the 90’s. I think I’ve only watched it all the way through a couple of times. It was one that thought that if I saw it was on, I’d jump in and watch it. I’ve read this novel that it is based on, as well as others from the series as well. There is such a deep, rich mythology here that makes me enjoy this story. I should point out that my most recent watch was at the Gateway Film Center for their vampire winter series.
Synopsis: a vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness and hunger.
We start with Louis (Brad Pitt) in a room with Malloy (Christian Slater). He is a writer and this is an interview that Louis wanted to do. He reveals in the first minute or so that he is a vampire. This shocks Malloy who at first doesn’t believe, but Louis shows his abilities to prove it. He then starts telling his story.
It takes us back to 1791 Louisiana. We learn that Louis lost his wife and child during birth. He is in a deep depression and looking to die. That brings him in contact with Lestat (Tom Cruise). He gives him what he wants but makes him an offer of a dark gift. Louis doesn’t fully understand what that means but accepts. He is made into a vampire.
We then see Louis sink into an even greater depression as he tries to cling to his humanity. This brings him to the decision to feed on Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). Lestat forces Louis to make her into a vampire. When he can’t, but also doesn’t want her to die, Lestat changes her for him. This creates a little family of sorts for a time, until they grow to see the monster that Lestat is. Claudia tries to rid themselves of him. They then flee to Europe in search of others of their kind.
They finally do in Paris, where they find vampires who are much older. One of them mimics Louis, Santiago (Stephen Rea). This leads him to Armand (Antonio Banderas), one who is even older than Lestat. The problem is that there are rules that these vampires from America have violated and the punishment is severe.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I wanted to go a little bit vague in my review, because this packs in quite a bit. As I stated, I read the novel and this film runs for two hours. The interesting thing is having the writer of the novel, Anne Rice, be the one who penned the screenplay. I thought she did well condensing things down while getting the heart of her book. Something that struck me with is that these vampires are what Twilight was going for and failed. Rice envisions them to be pansexual and just in love with beauty. It is interesting that they downplay it here as this is a theme she revisits throughout the series. This captures that being changed makes you the most beautiful version of yourself. I can respect that.
Another aspect of this story that I love is taking a timeless creature like the vampire and showing them living through different eras. This film has Louis as a slave owner. His slaves believe there is an evil spirit around them and they’re right. This causes them to lose the plantation. We see them dealing with the plague in New Orleans, which to be honest, I didn’t know this disease struck there. I’m not shocked though either. We then see them moving through Europe as well. There is an intriguing duality from the vampires that Armand and Santiago are with. There is a decadent and being of an old world. This will move into my next point, which is why Armand falls in love with Louis.
Having someone as depressed as Louis is great for this story. He is of a new world. He doesn’t want to feed on the humans that are around him. He is clinging to his humanity, even though he’s a creature. He isn’t of royalty like Lestat was before he was turned and he wasn’t a boy lover to the rich like Armand or even a child who doesn’t understand like Claudia. He is from a world where he knows better and he is stuck in that mind-set. It would make sense he would seek out a human to tell his story to like he does.
From here, I think I should shift to the acting of the film which I think is excellent. Pitt brings pain to his look to bring this role to life. He conveys things with his eyes, even though they are altered due to being a vampire. I could still see so much pain in them. He did a great job and you can see how good of an actor he is. I have to say that Cruise is amazing in bringing such arrogance to Lestat. Having read other novels in the line, you realize he isn’t as bad a character as he is in this novel, which is interesting. I think from the point of view of this film, it is dead on and the performance is wonderful. Dunst is so young here, but her performance is great. After she’s been turned, she channels an older feeling through her character which is crazy due to her age. Seeing the rage is quite believable. I do want to commend Rea, Banderas, Slater and the rest of the performances as well as they rounded out the acting as well.
All that is left then to go into is filmmaking. I’ll start with the effects. I always forget that Stan Winston was behind them. I love the look of the vampires here. When you turn, you become the most beautiful version of yourself and this captures that. I like that when they’re lacking blood do they look pallid and sickly. The eyes are using contacts or at least that’s what I’m assuming, which are quite gorgeous and creepy at the same time. There are monstrous looking moments that I was down with. I do know there are probably computer effects moments, but no issues. This has great cinematography and sets to capture the feel of the past. That helps make this feel even more grand. Things are framed well, which helps with the effects as well. I also thought the soundtrack fit what was needed.
In conclusion, this is a film that I’ve thought was good the first time I saw it and it still holds up. There’s a lot here with deeper meanings which I appreciate it. I like moving through the eras through the eyes of a vampire and seeing how they survive as well as adapt. It isn’t an exciting story so keep that in mind. The acting is amazing and carries it. This is well made well with solid cinematography to capture the settings. The effects are good, which I expect from Winston attached. I must warn you that this is a two-hour long run time. It moves at a good pace though so that helps. This won’t be a vampire film for everyone. I do love the take that we get here though.
My Rating: 8.5 out of 10