Rent Interview with the Vampire on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Anne Rice
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, Thandiwe Newton, Helen McCrory
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.
Verdict
It's a depiction of a vampire not as a villain, super-human, or sociopath, but as conflicted between his morals and his urges. He's a tragic figure caught in an eternal prison. It's based on a book and feels truncated as is typically the case. Having recently watched the first season of the series, that tells this story so much better, aided by additional time. By the series very existence, this is only a teaser as to what this story rightfully should be. I like what this does for the genre. It was a unique take on the lore, but it's been bested.
It depends.
Review
Having recently started watching the series based on the same book, I felt the desire to revisit the movie. The first season is great, easily surpassing my evaluation of a movie. It's difficult to compress a book into just one movie. Almost immediately the movie seems to move too quickly. It's difficult not to compare the movie to the series. In the movie things happen while in the series one event follows the next; a direct result of choices made. That's the problem with compacting the story. We lose nuance. Books have too much information to fit into a movie.
The story is book ended by Louis (Brad Pitt) telling a journalist his story, an unbelievably long life because he's a vampire. The despondent Louis was transformed into a vampire and given eternity by Lestat (Tom Cruise). Louis tries to reconcile his desire for blood with his guilt of taking life. He doesn't want to kill, but the urge is strong. Lestat is ambivalent, seeing the blood lust as a byproduct of the riches he's gained. Louis and Lestat are a comparison of guilt and hedonism.
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| Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt play Lestate, Louie |
Vampirism links them, and we wonder if in time Louis will embrace the life like Lestat. Lestat kills with no remorse, unapologetic. To satisfy Louis due to the loss of his family, Lestat creates a vampire child, providing him another companion for eternity. It's a rash decision with plenty of consequences.
This depicts a vampire not as a monster in a horror movie but conflicted and struggling with living forever and trying to find peace. Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) was turned into a vampire as a child, permanently trapped at that life stage. I wonder if everything is paused when you're turned. Is Louis trapped in a melancholy mood, finding everything unfulfilling and empty because that was his mindset when he was turned? Maybe certain people thrive as vampires while others barely survive. Louis is a victim of Lestat. He's not the first, and he won't be the last.
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| Brad Pitt plays Louis |
While skeptical at first, the journalist begins to believe and he's eager to be turned. We don't know why, though he claims it's to see so much of the world and have the time to do it. It's just as plausible he wants the power and privilege being timeless provides. That's the contrast with Louis. Louis never wanted to be eternal, suffering with this 'gift.' It's not the vampire we're used to seeing. At the end of the interview Louis is irritated that the journalist doesn't realize the curse eternity can be. He's just countered how pop culture has presented vampires, but it's lost on his audience.
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