"INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE" Turns 30 (RETRO REVIEW)

What if you truly could interview a being that was not human? To find out the turmoils, the pain, as well as the upsides of their strengths and powers? This is what occurred to late author Anne Rice when she was unknown and unpublished. Written as a short story originally, she eventually revisited the story that became one of the most iconic stories within the vampiric world of all time. Approximately twenty years after the novel was published, director Neil Jordan sought to put the story on the big screen, with Rice to write the screenplay. 

Told in the point of view of Louis (Brad Pitt), he recalls the last 200 years of his past life in an interview with Malloy (Christian Slater), discussing love, loss, betrayal, and mainly, his friend and enemy, Lestat (Tom Cruise). 

To capture Lestat, director Neil Jordan honed in on Tom Cruise for the role after a few meetings, thinking he was perfect. Already a major star by this point, Jordan saw similarities between a vampire and a movie star - both are somewhat shielded by natural light, the public light in reality, and both live on eternally. Rice famously would not accept Cruise at first for the role of Lestat, as this character was very personal to her, and she couldn’t foresee bringing him to life. Once the film wrapped, she bit her tongue, and took back her words, praising him once the film was released in theaters. 

In an interview, Cruise recalls figuring out Lestat, stating he had to read the novel carefully, as the clues were between the words progressed by Louis, not by Lestat. He was able to figure out his maliciousness as well as his humor, which shined through the camera onto the big screen. Some memorable moments are when Louis succumbs to his hunger by killing a young girl, and Lestat begins dancing with her long-dead mother’s body in celebration. Despite the tragedy, fans couldn’t help but succumb to the dark and twisted humor. Another is scolding their young vampire daughter, Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) for murdering her piano teacher, as this was forbidden “in the house”, and yet, they pushed the body aside and continued the lesson like it was any other night. Let’s also night not forget the frightening scene on the night Lestat returns after Claudia betrays him. 

As memorable as Cruise was, fans surely can’t forget Brad Pitt and the young and up-and-coming actress Kirsten Dunst as Louis and Claudia. Pitt resonated his sorrowful character in a way that resembled the gothic statues surrounding them in a New Orleans cemetery, tortured by his new ways of life. It’s truly tragic when he seeks out looking for answers in the Old World and only finds himself alone in Paris. Dunst was amazing as the feisty Claudia, portrayed immediately as a natural killer, and yet, a young daughter in need of love and guidance. As a then twelve-year-old, she was able to resonate the mind of a forty-year-old woman trapped in a child’s body that would never change. 

The sets and costumes were immaculate, capturing 1700’s New Orleans, and 1800’s Paris. Rice recalls in an interview with Larry David how she was pleased to see her novel come to life. There is a beautiful mixture of colors throughout the film, mainly when the trio are together in America, which is ironic, as Claudia begins to turn on Lestat, feeling trapped as a child under his thumb. When she and Louis are free and travel to Paris, the colors seem much darker with Armand (Antonio Banderas) and his army of theater vampires, hiding in plain sight above in the public eye, but living in the crypts down below. The situation takes an even darker turn when it’s learned that those vampires have a much stricter set of rules for survival. 

Vampires for the most part have always been portrayed as sexy and lustful, Pitt and Cruise being no exception to this rule. They brought all the senses to the surface - the beauty, the blood, the anger, and their tragic changes throughout history. It wasn’t a different set of rules that fans were used to, and yet, this film brought something new to the public, somewhat more relatable, honing in on the family dynamic within a vampire world, from the dating process to living together, expanding a family, and dealing with the dramas that ensue when family members simply don’t get along. Granted, this is a much more exacerbated version of these life tribulations, and it still rings true 30 years later, and will be sure to continue for years to come. 

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