I can’t tell whether director Luc Besson’s Dracula is slightly too long in the tooth (no pun intended) or if it just feels slightly less fun whenever Caleb Landry Jones isn’t on screen as Vlad. Either way, Besson’s vision of the iconic Bram Stoker novel is as enjoyable as it is rough around the edges, but Jones’ career-best work more than makes up for what Besson slightly fails to do with the material.
There are plenty of details from the novel missing from this film, but the basic structure and themes are intact. Just a refresher: when 15th-century prince Vlad (Jones) loses his princess Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu), he denounces God, unwittingly cursing himself for eternity. He is never to die, but never to be truly satisfied in his eternal life, even by the freshest blood. As relayed by him to solicitor Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), his story is one of despair followed by centuries of experimentation and seduction, all in the hopes of finding his Elisabeta, whom he cannot accept is truly gone. One woman he has turned into a vampire over the years, Maria (Matilda De Angelis), aids Vlad in seducing Mina (also Zoë Bleu), a woman engaged to be married to Jonathan, and who resembles Elisabeta perfectly. All the while, a priest (Christoph Waltz) takes the place of the Abraham Van Helsing character from the novel. He puts himself on a path of destiny to confront Vlad when he starts tracking down Maria following her escape from a mental hospital.
The best parts of the film are when Vlad is telling his life story, especially as Jones is absolutely devouring the scenery, even under the stellar very-old-age makeup. But despite Jones’ brilliant performance and look, the issues with Besson’s Dracula are still visual. A good chunk of this film is glaringly over-exposed, which has the effect of taking one out of scenes at several points. I found myself consistently comparing it to Robert Eggers’ recent Nosferatu, and while it’s not totally fair to compare films with completely different styles and color palettes, I do think it’s fair to say that vibrancy isn’t quite the wisest choice for gothic material. Where Eggers sands down the visual edges of his sets by rooting his films in darker hues, Besson can’t help but remind us that we are watching a movie. It’s not that it’s a terrible-looking film by any means, it’s just that it isn’t transportive.
However, Jones carries a lot of this film where it stumbles in other respects. Despite his gargoyle minions looking like stiff styrofoam brought to life, any scene anchored by Jones’ Vlad is just plain fun, and he has terrific chemistry with Bleu, both when she is his true beloved at the beginning and when she is the object of his uphill battle of affection towards the end. There are also times when the film is over-scored; its bells and whistles being literal audible bells and whistles that we simply don’t need. In this case too, Jones’ work drowns out the noise. I just wish his performance was allowed to sing even louder, because it is the reason to see this film. | George Napper
