Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Vampire Lestat

Author(s): James Somerton
Location: Canada

“The Vampire Lestat: The Vampire Chronicles"

Directed By: David Cronenberg
Written By: David Cronenberg & Christopher Rice
Based on the Novel By: Anne Rice
Produced By: David Geffen
Score By: Elliot Goldenthal

Principal Cast:

Jonathan Rhys Myers as Lestat DeLioncourt
Eric Knudsen as Armand
Gaspard Ulliel as Nicholas De Lenfent
Ralph Fiennes as Magnus
Peter O’Toole as David Talbot
Louis Mandylor as Marius

Tagline: "Welcome To His World"

Synopsis: I am the Vampire Lestat. Born near Auvergne, France in the year 1760, I was brought up in a wealthy family but, as the youngest, I stood to inherit nothing. So I had nothing to hold me back when I fled to Paris at the age of sixteen and took lodging with a young musician named Nicholas De Lenfent. We lived and loved together but his love soon drifted to a young woman and he faded from my mortal life. I felt lost, as if I could never find myself again. But someone else found me. His name was Magnus and he introduced himself as Vampire. I knew only of vampires in ancient legends but with a single crisp movement and a terrifying pain in my throat, I knew that the legends were true.

Magnus made me a vampire but then broke a rule I would later learn of. He did not stay with his fledgling but destroyed himself with the rays of the sun. I was left alone in an ever-expanding world of kingdoms and colonies. Europe was my playground and I searched many decades for others like me. But it quickly becomes clear that vampires know how to keep themselves hidden. Except one… who was more than happy to introduce himself to me. Armand, a vampire over two hundred years older than myself who looked ten years younger. He was a child vampire from Russia who had since created his own covenant. He told me of his creator Marius, an ancient Roman vampire who was keeper to the mother and father. He taught me the ways of the vampire but soon fled to France and left me alone. Frustrated, I abandoned Europe for America. Here was a new world of luxury, irresistible mortals that would nearly lead to my death, and a secret society called The Talamasca.

The Talamasca, who fancy themselves physic detectives, hunted me for a century. Luckily for me, they became overwhelmed by the Mayfair Witches of New Orleans and left me be. I slept for most of the twentieth century until I was awoken by the publication of an interview with a fledgling I bore in Louisiana. Now, the new millennium beckons me. Sleep well.

What the press would say:

“The Vampire Lestat” is a supernatural epic like no other. Directed by David Cronenberg, the film is dark and brooding, it’s opening scene (an sweeping aerial shot of New Orleans) takes us through gothic graveyards with Elliot Goldenthal’s score in the background. We are taken directly into Lestat’s Home in the French Quarter with the words “I am the Vampire Lestat; The Brat Prince of the vampires”. And what a brat he is! Lestat has got to be one of the most self-absorbed narrators I have ever seen on film. All he wants to do is talk about himself. It works though. By the end of the film you completely understand why Lestat is so full of himself. A character like this would have been hard to pull off for most actors but Jonathan Rhys Myers pulls it off wonderfully. He puts on a flawless French accent as Lestat and wears the clothes of an 18th century nobleman with proper pride. His evolution as a character (from the nearly suicidal preteen, to the love obsessed young man, to the lost vampire, and finally to the brat prince) is one of the most extraordinary I have seen in a film recently. A revelation in the film is Erik Knudsen, whose portrayal of the sexually ambiguous, child vampire Armand is one of the most disturbing performances in a movie this year. Armand, who was accidentally turned into a vampire while being raped by one, leads Lestat on a journey through vampire-dom and teaches him the ropes. But as quickly as he appears, he vanishes and isn’t seen again in the film. Myers is given the opportunity to act opposite some great actors (such as Gaspard Ulliel as his teenaged love interest, and Ralph Fiennes as his heartless creator) but none of which compare to his scenes with Peter O’Toole, who plays the obsessive David Talbot; a member of the Talamasca whose only wish is to die but his religious believes stop him just short of suicide. Lestat is at his most despicable when he turns Talbot into a vampire, forcing him to remain in his nearly one hundred year old body for all eternity. O’Toole’s performance is magnificent but Jonathan Rhys Myers is perfect as Lestat. He does such horrible things and then, in voice over, explains to us why he did it and, in most cases, we agree with him. This is also a testament to the writing. The screenplay, written by David Cronenberg and Best-selling Author Christopher Rice, forces the audience to sympathise with this ultimate outsider. Based on the classic novel by Anne Rice, “The Vampire Lestat” takes us on an extreme ride that, with the direction of David Cronenberg, is made all the more extreme. You leave the theatre thinking that maybe vampires really do dwell among us, if we were only smart enough to see them. Lestat is the ultimate human vampire; he is flawed in so many ways but he can’t see it. In his eyes, the vampire Lestat is perfect. And, as far as vampire movies go, “The Vampire Lestat” is perfect as well.

POSSIBLE NOMINATIONS

Best Picture
Best Director – David Cronenberg
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Actor – Cillian Murphy
Best Supporting Actor – Peter O’Toole

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