Dracula: Pages from a Virgin´s Diary

Colour, BETA
Canada, 2002, 73 min
Section: Focus on Canadian Films
Oficiální stránky: www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?directoryname=drac

Synopsis

After numerous film adaptations, the vampire horror based on Bram Stoker’s classic gothic novel now sees an unusual rendition in the form of a filmed ballet. This melodramatic story, in which unchaste forces from beyond the grave threaten (and suck) a virgin’s innocence, depicts a passionate duel fought between two powers - supernatural (the blood-thirsty Count Dracula) and scientific (vampirologist van Helsing). The exalted drama with stunning choreography set to Mahler’s symphonies, in its expressionistic stylisation looks to F. W. Murnau’s famous silent film Nosferatu the Vampire (1922). "Blood" colour and monochromatism seep into the black-and-white conception, with silent titles supporting the expressive sound track. The effective sets reinforce the image of horror and anxiety conveyed in the dance, captured on film using original and inventive approaches.

About the director

Guy Maddin (1956, Winnipeg, Canada) studied economics at the University of Winnipeg and, before becoming a filmmaker, he worked as a bank clerk and decorator. After his directorial debut, the spooky family tale The Dead Father, he made a second film Tales From the Gimli Hospit, which became a cult hit. His subsequent lyrical love story set during the war Archangel (1990) was awarded in the USA as Experimental Film of the Year. His next film Careful opened the Festival of Festivals in Toronto 1993. The six-minute prelude The Heart of the World (2000) was used as the festival trailer at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997) was Maddin’s major big-budget film. The film Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary (2004), which captured Mark Godden’s direction of a performance by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, brought Maddin an Emmy.