Recently, I watched the 2025 Luc Besson version of “Dracula” and while I found it entertaining enough with moments of inspiration and I thought it was very well made, I felt it lacked a solid foundation for Dracula’s vampirism (God damned Dracula for renouncing Him) and I’m afraid I found it inconsistent in tone and pacing. It was also rather dependent on coincidence, which M. Besson tried to pass off as style with humour. Perhaps most surprisingly, I found the whole somewhat derivative. The film’s focus on lovelorn grief and longing as the motivation for Dracula’s reign of terror and selfish abuse of others to ensure his continued existence is not new. This theme was explored in the 2006 French-Canadian musical “Dracula, entre l’amour et la mort” (between love and death) starring Bruno Pelletier and seeing the Besson film reminded me I wrote up some notes on the musical which I present below:
Reflections on the
French-Canadian musical
“Dracula – entre l’amour et la mort”
Written by Richard Ouzounian, Roger Tabra and Simon Leclerc
Starring Bruno Pelletier, Sylvain Cossette,
Daniel Boucher,
and Andrée Watters
The following notes are reflections on the 2006 musical staged in Quebec, a liberal interpretation of the classic Dracula tale where the characters, or certain aspects of the characters, are used to promote the storyline and themes developed by the creators of the show.
Personally, I have never been keen on horror per se and have never really understood the appeal of Dracula, beyond that of an effectively scary figure in horror films. However, on doing a little research I discovered that Bram Stoker’s original story is regarded as representing a turning away from myth and superstition to modernity and science, yet questioning whether science can truly explain everything adequately. It may also have Christian significance as the cross and goodness are used against this creature of evil.
In the context of the French-Canadian show, Dracula is a warrior. He is a courageous but perhaps overly ambitious Prince who is loved yet feared by his people. Offered the hand of the young sister of the King of Hungary in marriage, Dracula immediately falls in love with her, but Elhemina has a dark secret, and to win her, Dracula must suffer eternal damnation, living as a vampire from the blood of others.
Dracula is a strong man and leader, not afraid to impose his will on others, but he can be carried away by ambition and power, leading to acts of cruelty. Such excesses may be tempered and redirected by love, but Dracula finds a “wrong” and selfish love which leads to eternal damnation, despair and pessimism. Tragically (for Dracula), Elhemina is assassinated, leaving Dracula to face an eternity of pain, despair and death alone, but he swears to find his love again.
After centuries of survival, and twisted by personal frustration and self-centred despair, Dracula has come to hold man and morality in contempt. His extensive experience has given him a unique overview and he has seen so much cruelty and destruction that he sees little hope for the world. In his eyes, mankind deserves no compassion – it is a matter of survival and he selfishly uses others, like the rest of mankind as he sees it, to ensure his own continued existence, but even he needs a purpose to go on – that of finding the reincarnation of his beloved Elhemina, the one thing that gives him hope.
While the world’s (and man’s) problems are recognised by Jonathan (a principled journalist), his idealistic close friend Mina, the humanitarian Van Helsing and his daughter Lucy, they remain more positive than Dracula and are willing to seek some way to resolve these problems and seek happiness where there is unhappiness.
Dracula and Mina (the reincarnation of Elhemina) meet and are attracted to one another. Will Mina’s thoughtful, humane and optimistic attitude allow Dracula to see life and its possibilities differently, or will Mina be drawn to Dracula’s dark and indulgent life?
Here, Dracula may well represent man and the horrors of which he is capable if his will is given free rein and he believes in nothing but himself.
Love, however, may lead to thought, consideration and respect for others.
Dracula embarks on a mission to gain Mina’s love, ultimately forcing all the characters to question themselves and what they believe in – right or wrong, good or bad, humanity and caring or self-indulgence and survival. Something or nothing.
Will Mina choose Jonathan or Dracula?
This version of the story really caused me to see Dracula in a new light – as something more than just a terrifying figure of horror, and representative of mankind’s descent into selfish survival, believing in nothing but himself.
It is worth mentioning that religion is not promoted as a response to Dracula. Idealism and belief or faith in humanity and hope, yes, but faith in a particular system of belief is avoided – perhaps in order to avoid causing offence, but also, perhaps, suggesting the authors’ wish to present a broader alternative based on compassion and humanity to offer hope for the future.
Although it has received considerable acclaim, the show has also been criticised for “reducing Dracula to a figure of evil in a corrupt world”, but surely that is exactly what he had already become. Here, we delve a little more deeply to find a strong but corruptible man who descends into despair and negativity as the result of experience and love, but who eventually appears to recognise, again through love, the potential for humanity, thus reflecting man’s potential for good in spite of his past, and the importance of hope in achieving it.
Might Elhemina’s reincarnation as the humanitarian Mina represent the development of mankind’s general adoption of a more caring, tolerant and compassionate approach to life and society?
Love and respect appear to cause Dracula to rethink the entire direction of his life. He is faced with a choice – to maintain his self-centred position or adopt a new stance. To persist in believing in nothing and seeing others as a means of maintaining his own existence, or adopt a more humanitarian, even existential, approach, respecting the rights of others and recognising qualities and aspects of life whose very existence he had come to deny.
Love has a way of causing us to see things differently….
As for the show itself, I thought it was worth all the time and effort invested in its production. The show has a valid universal theme, just as pertinent today as when created by Bram Stoker, though clearly there has been some attempt to modernise it to accommodate modern sensibilities and problems. The fundamental idea of dealing with man’s abandonment of principle, morality and faith to become self-serving and amoral, concerned only with his own survival, yet discovering other possibilities through love and respect, is always relevant and of interest.
The music and songs are lovely and haunting and the performances are strong, especially Bruno Pelletier who has a quite remarkable voice and stage presence. I would go so far as to say he is my favourite singer.
However, I do think there was a certain lack of clarity in the narrative framework, with character exposition, motivation and inner feelings not sufficiently well drawn in places.
If we are to admire Dracula’s final sacrifice, I
suggest it would have been even more affecting if Dracula had clearly
intimated, through a simple sign of regret such as a pause to bow his head or a
longing look at Mina with a heavy sigh, his understanding that Mina has a mind
and life of her own which he must respect, and that all his waiting and pain
had been for nothing. This might have been made even more touching had Dracula
shown some remorse for wasting others’ lives for his own benefit. This is
implied at one point, without any real reason being given and “Temple de Satan”
certainly further hints at this, but if we are truly to feel pity for the
character, it should be made clear that throughout it all he remained driven by
his love for Mina/Elhemina. Thus, when he is rejected by Mina, the audience
would be able to feel sympathy, even for him.
My thanks for taking the time to read this article. I hope you found it of some value.
Stuart Fernie (stuartfernie@yahoo.co.uk)
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