INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
A film review by Nizam Ahmed
Copyright 1995 Nizam Ahmed
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES. It doesn't exactly trip off the tongue, does it? Why the extraneous subtitle was added I guess we will never know. What we do know is that this film is shortly to get its video release here in the UK.
We all know about Anne Rice's horror as she realized her dark, sexually ambiguous hero Lestat from her novels was to be played by Tom Cruise, but it's hard to see what all the fuss is about. Despite having his name in lights above the movie poster, Cruise is nothing more than a supporting role. Brad Pitt plays Louis, the focus of the film. as he recalls his centuries-old, unaging life to an interviewer (Christian Slater). He tells of his creation by another vampire, Lestat, their life as they set up home together, his own creation of a vampire "daughter" Claudia and his search in Paris for Lestat's creator. The story encompasses hundreds of years, and ends in the present day.
The whole structure of this film is S-L-O-W. You really do get the feeling that 300 years have passed when you leave the cinema! Every camera shot, every scene is done majestically, taking in the sumptuous sets, the fabulous scenery. You can sense the sadness and despair that immortal creatures would face, unable to die as everything around them changes. But this is also the main flaw of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE--if good production values are not what makes a film for you, it's boring.
Brad Pitt is apparently a "sex symbol." Throughout this film, he looks and acts more like Neil from THE YOUNG ONES. He can't carry the weight of the film alone, so it is up to the others to support him. Cruise is good. His strange manic energy fits his role, but a ludicrous sequence which reminded me of a bad monster movie, with Cruise coming back to life after multiple killings, ruined a good character role. Walking and talking with a body looking like charcoal is a real credibility-loser. Of the others, Kirsten Dunst who plays Claudia is annoying, although that's probably how she was scripted, and Antonio Banderas (Armand) is just another good-looking young actor recruited to grab the punters.
In fact, the whole thing reeks of marketing: "Hey, let's get three hunks together and cast them as vampires!" "We could get Neil Jordan to direct and maybe pick up an Oscar or two!" "Yeah, that would boost attendances, wouldn't it?" "Quick! Let's get a best selling novel and adapt it." Any artistry that may have existed in this production is muted by the sheer commercialism of it. In the end, you fail to see what it's trying to be. A horror? Not really. A drama? Nah. A romance maybe? Hard to say. Looks great, shame about the story.
Overall Rating: 60 %
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