The mid-1990s were a great time for moody, angsty goths. The Cure was active, Lux Interior was still around, and Morrissey hadn't yet transformed into a total idiot. Manic Panic hair dye was everywhere, Tim Burton was making his best films, and The Crow was in theaters. And for the more melodramatic, theater-loving goths, there were big costume dramas like Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992 and Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire in 1994. Interview, based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel, was also a significant box office success, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Remember that 1994 was already a big year for film (Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Forrest Gump, The Mask, Speed, and True Lies all came out), so Interview with the Vampire was another huge hit to add to that list.
But, naturally, there were many Anne Rice purists who, even before the film's release, believed that The Interview would fail to adequately capture the spirit of the source material. This time, Rice did not participate in the film's production in any capacity. Furthermore, many objected to the casting of Tom Cruise as the infamous vampire Lestat. Cruise, a charming, handsome, archetypal movie star, seemed unable to cope with the terror and aggressive melancholy of a character like Lestat, the skeptics seemed to claim.
Many of Rice's fans wondered what she thought of the film as a whole. Sure, it was a success and made Rice even more famous than before, but did she think Interview with the Vampire was a good film? Luckily for us, Rice once published a detailed message on the Children of Darkness website, laying out her thoughts on the film in meticulous detail.
In short? She really liked it.
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Anne Rice wrote an essay about the film Interview with the Vampire.
Lestat with Claudia around his neck in Interview with the Vampire - Warner Bros.
In her letter, Anne Rice explained very frankly that she had no involvement in the production of Interview with the Vampire and was not involved at all in its development. She also shared the same concerns about Tom Cruise as many of her fans. Rice also suggested that her public criticism discouraged Warner Bros. from inviting her to see early versions of the film. Here's what she wrote:
«"I never saw any rough cuts of IWTV; I never saw any clips. I never went to a single screening. It wasn't until David Geffen himself took an unusual risk and sent me a VHS tape of the film that I saw it. And I approached that tape with a deep fear of being hurt, crushed, disappointed, destroyed by the finished work.".
But Rice fell in love with the film. "When I saw it on VHS," she wrote, "I immediately declared my love for it, saying I loved it." She even took out ads in trade publications declaring her love for the film and its unqualified approval. "It was so eccentric, so extreme, so strange," she wrote—and those are words of high praise.
Rice thoroughly dissected the film, examining each element individually. She touched on everything from the strengths and weaknesses of the cast to Neil Jordan's direction, production design, and cinematography. Rice particularly praised Brad Pitt as Louis and Kirsten Dunst as Claudia, calling her performance "superb and flawless." She even made a digression about the nature of beauty. Rice can't be accused of lacking thoroughness.
Most notably, however, Rice was thrilled with Cruz as Lestat.
Anne Rice likes almost everything about Interview with the Vampire.
Daniel sits with Lou at a table in Interview with the Vampire - Warner Bros.
Anne Rice's doubts about Tom Cruise's performance in Interview with the Vampire were instantly dispelled the moment she saw it. Rice wrote:
«From the moment Tom appeared, he was Lestat to me. He possessed immense physical and mental strength; he was rebellious, yet always unscrupulous; he was incredibly handsome, yet he was drawn to cruelty. His incredible beauty was blinding, but the polished craft of his performance, his flawless immersion in the character of Lestat, his ability to deliver quite bold, poetic lines with seeming ease and conviction were captivating and inspiring. The guy is magnificent.».
It's all pretty straightforward. Rice then went on to lavish praise on Antonio Banderas (who played the vampire Armand), Stephen Rea, who played Santiago, and Christian Slater, who played the interviewer who gives the film its title. Regarding the rest of the supporting cast, Rice declared them "all impeccable, in my opinion." She added that the production design was also impeccable: "The whole visual style of the film was perfection. It captured the twilight, the grime, the fragile, handcrafted luxury and the refined aspirations of the 18th and 19th centuries; it captured the dirt on the hems of the clothes.".
Neil Jordan cast Cruise because he was a big star who, he said, needed to remain hidden. Jordan saw parallels between Lestat and Cruise.
Admittedly, Rice wrote an entire section, titled "Quibbles," where she found fault with the film. For example, she didn't understand why ancient vampires ate so sloppily, and she believed the film could have been more child-friendly if it had fewer sexual scenes.
But these were, she noted, merely quibbles. Overall, Rice thought Interview with the Vampire was a magnificent film.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.