Dracula Film Analysis – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Entertaining
Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
The story is this: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the earth in sorrow over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who might be the return of his lost love. By cruel fate, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style
Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he willingly includes providing funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, as well as comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
