The Vampire Chronicles

Louis (Brad Pitt,) a vampire, tells his story to writer Daniel (Christian Slater) of his damnation into the ranks of vampires and his relationships with his maker, Lestat (Tom Cruise,) child vampire Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) and ancient coven-master Armand (Antonio Banderas.) His tale tells of seeking to die after the deaths of his wife and child, pursuing a reckless lifestyle. Lestat chooses to condemn him to becoming a vampire, rather than killing him and Louis mourns his life, hanging onto his humanity.

This adaption of the Anne Rice novel Interview with the Vamipre has a wonderful cadence, almost operatic in nature. The music is epic, and also appropriate to the time period when the setting is for the episode within the story. The story matches up with the music so perfectly, that the package flows well and the film is beautiful, poetic and lyrical; yes, even terror and revenge are played musically. And the players sculpted the personality of the piece with power and poise and grace and romance.

Particularly potent is the chemistry between Dunst's Claudia and Pitt's Louis. Their love is comprehensive: birth, death, hatred and passion. She's experienced beyond her years, portraying both the innocent and the ruthless and the ageless. She is terrifying, chilling and pathetic and you feel her love for Louis, as well as the hatred for his part in her making. And he, the unrequited lover, father and spurned is sorrowful, poetic and brooding. And he mourns for everything from her birth as one of the damned to her execution at the hands of the Paris coven. They are also both inconsolable for what Lestat has done in their making. And they both become bonded in their hatred of him that it becomes the basis of their love and faith in each other, and when they leave him to die, they become soul-mates and lovers. For that reason, when Louis finds someone else, in Armand, she is betrayed and their love is at an end; a beautiful, but pitiful love story portrayed stunningly, creating and sustaining my heartache.

The same musicality is not present in it's sequel. The opera dies in favor of heavy metal and the modern age, where ruffles and velvet are exchanged for leather pants and music videos.

The Vampire Lestat (Stuart Townsend) has slept for the better part of the 20th century, rising and becoming the lead singer in a rock band entitled, The Vampire Lestat. His lyrics, music videos and lifestyle reveal the secrets of his life and of his nature, daring the others like him to reveal themselves. But he's lonely, even surrounded by his entourage. Meanwhile Jesse, an freshman Talamascan (a student of the supernatural and paranormal) is curious about him, much to the disapproval of David, her teacher. The ancient vampires, including Maharet (Lena Olin) and Marius, Lestat's maker, are preparing to protect the world against the rising of Akasha (Aliyah,) the first vampire and her plans to smite the world and create it in her image, with Lestat ruling at her side while vampire covens everywhere are planning on killing Lestat at his first and only concert in Death Valley.

Time was not used well in developing Queen of the Damned. This one feels like a pastiche of special-feature caliber music videos and a television movie presented on NBC during the summer. And the fault does not lie with the players, or the music or the photography or anything in the mechanics of the package. In fact, it plays very well. It just needed more time to blend the two novels. It could have used, perhaps an extra half hour to forty-five minutes. The opera of the previous film is not here. The breathtaking beauty is not here. It's a massive music video, stylistic and sexy only. The story fails to drive a stake between the ribcage and sternum into my heart, breaking it.

Stuart Townsend does, however, tackle the character of Lestat to the letter. His seductiveness, arrogance, loneliness and brooding are all present here in Townsend, making him indeed attractive and draws me in alongside all the fans and victims in the film. For Cruise's performance, he displays a callousness and coldness as well as a desperation to keep Louis with him in his creation of Claudia. However, the attractive and seductive nature is sacrificed in order to cast him as the villain of the story. Vampires, by tradition, are seductive, attractive and mysterious, luring innocent blondes to their deaths while in lacy nightgowns. Cruise's Lestat lacks this traditional motif. Townsend's Lestat is sleek, sexy and mysterious, following in the line of Bram Stoker's Dracula and the Buffyverse villains Angelus, Darla, Drusilla and Spike. Regardless of shirking tradition, both Cruise and Townsend consume Lestat and imbibe him with feeling, strength and soul, providing a credible person convincing and believable. So, it is hard to choose whose face I'd rather see Lestat wear.

With consideration to the pair as a series, the two hardly relate in anything but the character of Lestat. This makes complete sense, however, due to the fact that he is the protagonist of The Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice. And, to be fair, Queen of the Damned does an all right combination of the stories in the novels the film is based upon (The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned). But in consideration to which one touches me, there's no contest: Interview with the Vampire triumphs.

****

IN: Brad Pitt

OUT: Stuart Townsend

Coming Soon: Shade