Think of the monstrous ego of the vampire. He thinks himself so important that he is willing to live forever, even under the dreary conditions imposed by his vampirism. Avoiding the sun, sleeping in coffins, feared by all, he nurses his resentments. In "Bram Stoker's Dracula,"" the film by Francis Ford Coppola, the vampire shakes his fist at heaven and vows to wait forever for the return of the woman he loves. .
The film is inspired by the original Bram Stoker novel, "Dracula-. The novel gets right into the story and starts with Jonathon Harker already on his way to the Counts dwellings. Throughout his journey there is fear shown by peasants when the Counts name and home is mentioned and in the carriage ride to his castle Harker has many encounters with the supernatural. Even when he meets the Count, everything about him is strange and mysterious. .
The part when Harker arrives at the castle is described like a typical gothic setting. Dark night, huge empty castle. Menacing shadows, and doors seemingly swinging open of their own accord. The imagery used leading up to this is that of dread and throughout the novel, the notion that Dracula is monstrous and evil is held and it is clearly good versus evil. In the film "Bram Stoker's Dracula- it begins with the tragic story of Vlad the Impaler, who went off to fight the Crusades and returned to find that his beloved wife, hearing he was dead, had killed herself. And not just killed herself, but hurled herself from a parapet to a stony doom far below, in one of many spectacular shots which visually emphasise the horror of this story. The use of slow saddening and flat music persuades the viewer to feel sympathy towards him and see some justice in the way he pursues Mina.
Vlad cannot see the justice in his fate. He embraces Satan and vampirism and waits in his castle for centuries for the return of his dead bride and when he sees a photograph of Harker's fiancée Mina he knows his wait has been rewarded at last and sets out to seduce her.
