Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

Having learned a little bit about what might be like to be a vampire, through my readings, and in a fictitious sense, finally I have had the chance to see what the movie ‘Interview with the vampire' was like. As I kept watching it, I found myself liking it more and more. It had a very intelligent story, a great cast and gory scenes where human blood was the main menu for our blood-thirsty characters. Vampires might be complex people, but in this movie they are also intriguing and fascinating creatures.

The undead are among us and livelier than ever, in this spellbinding screen adaptation of Anne Rice's best seller. Louis is lured by the charismatic vampire Lestat into the immortality of the damned, then tormented by an unalterable fact of vampire life: to survive, he must kill. Interview with the Vampire offers enough thrills, shocks and fiendish fun to last a lifetime... and beyond. What a sheer delight it was to watch this movie. Now you might find that comment a little bit hard to understand, considering the topic that the movie is covering, but I found myself really consumed by the story of the film. Based on Anne Rice's best selling novel, the story is brought extremely well to the screen by the screenwriter, director, cinematographer, and the actors. Director Neil Jordan did a fine job in creating an eerie kind of existence for the vampires in the movie and also does justice to an incredible story.

The screenplay was written by Anne Rice, and I am certain that she would have put all the vital aspects of her book within the screenplay. The part I love about the story the most, is the way the we get it told by one of the main characters, Louis Pointe du lac, as he is being interviewed by a reporter (Christian Slater). It is also interesting to see a vampire story that shows how important it is that these people really need a family to feel happy, not unlike us mortals, is it?

The cast of this film is also of the finest quality. Tom Cruise proves why he is such a great actor in his role of Lestat de Lioncourt. He is a really impressive vampire, with his character's subtle humour a real highlight. Lestat makes a vampire out of Louis Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt), who is as equally as good as Cruise. I really like how his character shows that he is extremely uncomfortable in the immortal phase of being a ‘vampire'. The way Pitt tells the story was really interesting. I am glad I have found roles that Cruise and Pitt were good in, as I have had mixed feelings towards both of them as actors in the past. Their performances in this film have in some way vindicated themselves to me.

Yet the actor that was the best from my prospective is the very young Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). She is a real revelation as the old vampire that never ages. I mean however young Dunst was when she played this role, she did a remarkable job in such a complex role. She reminds very much of what Haley Joel Osment was like in ‘The Sixth Sense'. Having had a mixed opinion about her career in the last 12 months or so, it is great to see that she got it off to a good start. I also liked the vampire Armand (Antonio Banderas), and although he had a small role, he was still very affective.

The people behind the scenes of ‘IWTV' also need to be commended. The make-up department, headed by Stan Winston (with Michelle Burke) did a remarkable job with the actors playing vampires in the film. Cruise, Pitt and Dunst all were enhanced by make-up, which made them look all so wicked and evil. The cinematographer, Philippe Rousselot and production designer, Dante Ferretti, both did amazing jobs in this film. The look of the story being retold was terrific, as it had the feel of something like ‘Sleepy Hollow'. This was due mainly to the way the camera looked at the many things, especially the way these vampires act in the world with normal humans, and how depressing it could be, to be a vampire.

I believe that Anne Rice's book ‘Interview with the vampire' would have to be a great read and I might try and get around to reading it. I especially like the conclusion to this movie, as it is not only satisfying, but surprising as well. It is well done to all involved with this film and it has become part of my growing movie collection.