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''Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary'' is a 2002
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Guy Maddin Guy Maddin (born February 28, 1956) is a Canadian screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer, and film editor of both features and short films, as well as an installation artist, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since completing his first film in ...
, budgeted at $1.7 million and produced for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a dance film documenting a performance by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet adapting
Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...
's novel ''
Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
''. Maddin elected to shoot the dance film in a fashion uncommon for such films, through close-ups and using jump cuts. Maddin also stayed close to the source material of Stoker's novel, emphasizing the xenophobia in the reactions of the main characters to Dracula (played by Zhang Wei-Qiang in Maddin's film). Work on the film deepened but also ended Maddin's collaboration with Deco Dawson, who was credited as "Editor and Associate Director". Maddin and Dawson had a falling out in the wake of the production and have not worked together again. Dawson nevertheless spoke kindly of Maddin's following feature, ''
The Saddest Music in the World ''The Saddest Music in the World'' is a 2003 Canadian film directed by Guy Maddin. Budgeted at $3.8-million and shot over 24 days, the film marks Maddin's first collaboration with actor Isabella Rossellini. Maddin and co-screenwriter George Toles ...
''. Like most of Maddin's films, ''Dracula, Pages from a Virgin's Diary'' is shot in the silent film tradition, complete with title cards and mimicking special effects of the era, such as tinted screen color, shadow play, and vaseline smeared on the camera lens to create a blurry effect. The film is not entirely monochromatic, since computer-generated special effects add bright, acidic colours to tint golden coins, green bank notes, and red blood.


Plot

In 1897, a visitor from the East, Count Dracula, arrives in London and is inadvertently invited into the home of Lucy Westenra. She is bitten by Dracula, and taken by his curse. Lucy's behavior becomes more erratic leading her to bite her fiancé. Lucy is immediately put under the care of Dr. Van Helsing. Van Helsing does blood tests on Lucy and declares "Vampyre!" as the source of the problem, and puts Lucy to bed adorned with garlic. That night, Renfield, a mental patient who lives in the asylum next to Lucy's home, escapes from confinement and Lucy's house is broken into by demons. Lucy's mother awakens in the commotion. Panicked by the demons, Lucy's mother opens the door and inadvertently re-invites Dracula into the house. Both Lucy and her mother are killed in this incident and a funeral procession takes place. The next day, Renfield is recaptured and placed back into the mental hospital. Bizarre incidents begin to occur around the city with newspapers headlines proclaiming a "Bloofer Lady" who has been murdering infants. Renfield is interrogated and confesses that Dracula has brought Lucy back from the dead committing these deeds and the solution to the problem lies in the graveyard. Van Helsing and Lucy's suitors go there and spy Dracula and the undead Lucy in a full romantic embrace. After Dracula leaves, Van Helsing declares, "We must destroy the false Lucy so the real one may live forever". When Van Helsing opens the Lucy's coffin, Lucy rises out and attacks the men. Lucy is eventually subdued by a piercing stab from Jonathan's long wooden stakes and a decapitation with a shovel by Van Helsing who then declares they must find and defeat the vampyre. Van Helsing and his men go to interrogate Renfield finding out that Dracula's next plan is to attack Lucy's best friend Mina. Mina, who is in a convent, aids her injured fiancé, Jonathon Harker. Harker had journeyed to Castle Dracula, where he had intended to finalize a land sale. Upon arriving, Harker was ravaged by three Brides of Dracula, who overpowered him. Harker eventually finalized the land deal for Dracula, and was imprisoned in the Castle. Harker escaped to the convent. In the convent, Mina finds Jonathon's diary and learns of his pleasures with the Brides of Dracula. With what she has discovered about Harker, Mina becomes progressively more sexually aggressive, which makes Harker nervous. He flees with the diary. Mina attempts to follow Harker but comes face to face with Dracula, who kidnaps her and takes her to Castle Dracula. In Castle Dracula, Dracula woos Mina, tempting her with offers of riches and eventually biting her on the neck, solidifying his curse. Harker, along with Van Helsing and his men, break into Dracula's castle and dispatch the Brides of Dracula with long wooden stakes. The men eventually stumble upon Mina and find the mark of Dracula's bite upon her. Attempting to root out Dracula, the men smash coffins and place Christian crosses in them. Dracula attacks the men. After the battle, Dracula and Mina are the only two left conscious. Mina scurries to a window with a cross and pulls it open to stun Dracula with the sunlight. The men regain consciousness, surround Dracula, and stab him with their stakes. The castle is demolished by Van Helsing's men and everyone departs. Dracula is left hanging motionless, impaled on a giant stake.


Cast

* Zhang Wei-Qiang as
Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
*
Tara Birtwhistle The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...
as Lucy Westenra *David Moroni as Dr. Van Helsing *CindyMarie Small as Mina *Johnny Wright as
Jonathan Harker Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. His journey to Transylvania and encounter with the vampire Count Dracula and his Brides at Castle Dracula consti ...
*Stephane Leonard as Arthur Holmwood *Matthew Johnson as
Jack Seward John Neil Seward Jr. (October 11, 1924 – November 10, 2010) was a World War II veteran who was assigned to military intelligence in 1941 because of his knowledge of Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an is ...
*Keir Knight as
Quincy Morris Quincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic novel ''Dracula''. In the novel He is a rich young American from Texas, and one of the three men who propose to Lucy Westenra. Quincey is friends with her other two suito ...
*Brent Neale as Renfield *Stephanie Ballard as Mrs. Westernra


Release

Originally a television feature, ''Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary'' was released theatrically in 2003 due to outstanding critical reception.''Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary''. Dir. Guy Maddin. Zeitgeist, 2004. DVD. ''Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary'' was released on home video by Zeitgeist in 2004, with an audio commentary by Maddin. The film is also included on the DVD boxed set ''The Quintessential Guy Maddin: 5 Films from the Heart of Winnipeg'' released by Zeitgeist Video, alongside '' Archangel'', '' Careful'', ''
Twilight of the Ice Nymphs ''Twilight of the Ice Nymphs'' is a 1997 fantasy romance film directed by Guy Maddin. The screenplay was written by George Toles and inspired by the novel '' Pan'' (1894) by Knut Hamsun, with an additional literary touchstones being the short stor ...
'', and ''
Cowards Bend the Knee ''Cowards Bend the Knee'' (also known as ''The Blue Hands'') is a 2003 film by Guy Maddin. Maddin directed ''Cowards Bend the Knee'' while in pre-production on ''The Saddest Music in the World'', shooting entirely on Super-8mm film with a budget o ...
''.


Awards

* International Emmy for arts programming (2002) * First prize (Prague D'Or) at the Golden Prague Television Festival (2002) *
Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...
for Best Canadian Performing Arts Show (2002) * Gemini Award for Best Direction (2002) *
Festival de Cine de Sitges The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy film, fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world ...
Award for Best Film * Directors Guild of Canada nomination for DGC Craft Award – Guy Maddin * Blizzard Award for Best Art Direction – Deanne Rohde, Ricardo Alms


Critical reception

The film had a limited theatrical release, but received critical acclaim, holding a score of 84 based on 19 reviews at Metacritic, and an 87% approval rating based on 60 reviews at Rotten Tomatoes. ''Variety'' noted that "the camerawork shows the film's will to reinvent rather than blindly adopt silent film conventions" and ''Film Threat'' wrote that "Maddin's exceptional achievement should inspire others to take risks and challenge their audiences – if only more would have the courage to let the Art rather than the balance sheet lead their work."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, calling Maddin "Canada's poet laureate of cinematic weirdness" and noted that "So many films are more or less alike that it's jolting to see a film that deals with a familiar story, but looks like no other. Jonathan Rosenbaum took the film as the opportunity to praise Maddin's oeuvre in general, stating that "Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin's work testifies to the notion that the past knows more than the present and that silent cinema is a richer, dreamier, sexier, and more resonant medium than what we’re accustomed to seeing in the multiplexes ... he belongs in the tradition of such obsessional, poetic tale spinners and studio craftsmen as Erich von Stroheim, F.W. Murnau, Josef von Sternberg, Jacques Tourneur, and Michael Powell, who bend public materials towards private ends, taking us along for a feverish theme-park ride." The film was also well-received as a ''Dracula'' adaptation. Matt Brunson wrote that "Not since Francis Coppola's sharp take on ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' has there been a vampire flick as deliriously off the wall as Guy Maddin's" and Horror.com's Staci Layne wrote that "This is a fresh and surreally beautiful balletic interpretation of Bram Stoker's immortal novel, like nothing I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of Dracula movies!)." Rosenbaum noted that
even though addin claimshe was bored by the Stoker novel, he was intrigued by the elements involving male problems with sexuality — including jealousy, rivalry, and paranoia, especially in relation to race, nationality, and ethnicity. This is apparent at the outset of the film, when graphic images of blood spilling across Europe are accompanied by such intertitles as "East Coast of England 1897," "Immigrants!" "Others!" "From Other Lands," "From the East!" and "From the Sea!" Maddin makes this theme even more nuanced by having Dracula played by a Chinese-Canadian, Zhang Wei-Qiang, who periodically evokes the late French-Italian New Wave actor Pierre Clementi. This reading of the novel may, as critic Mark Peranson has suggested, be more faithful than any other we've had to date."


See also

* Vampire films


References


External links

* * * * *
Official Site

Royal Winnipeg Ballet Site
{{Guy Maddin 2002 horror films Canadian silent films Canadian vampire films Dracula films Films based on adaptations Films based on multiple works Films set in 1897 Films directed by Guy Maddin Gothic horror films Films shot in Winnipeg Silent films in color 2002 films International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming winners Films set in castles 2000s Canadian films