Dracula, Pages From A Virgin's Diary Movie Review:


Experimental Canadian filmmaker Maddin has a go at Dracula with the help of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Mark Godden's staging of the Bram Stoker classic. The result is fantastic--strange and bold and unlike anything you've ever seen. The entire story is here, told without dialog (although there are titles and intertitles) using the expressive faces and bodies of the cast.

The story starts with the virginal Lucy (Birtwhistle) and her suitors ... and of course her mysterious late-night vampyr visitor (Wei-Qang). When she starts acting a bit odd, Dr Van Helsing (Moroni) is called and he follows the scent to the young Mina (Small), who has tracked her fiance (Wright) to the Castle Dracula.

The ballet itself is simply gorgeous, staged and designed with real passion and artistry, blending old and new and injecting plenty of wit as well. And Maddin films it like it's an ancient silent film--grainy, colour-tinted monochrome with spots of red blood (and other things). The sets are fantastic, as is the sumptuous Mahler score, and Godden's choreography is electric.

All of this combines to make the film feel like a timeless classic--mesmerising and magical, with sexy gargoyles and floating death dances, a hint of sadomasochism here, a breath of camp comedy there. Yes, it's all rather violent and gruesome, but it's also romantic and, ultimately, unforgettable.

Rich Cline

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