"Dracula" by Bram Stoker
"You are but mortal woman. Time is now to be dreaded - since once he put that mark upon your throat."
Vampire love story always fascinates me, ever since I was introduced to the 'supernatural' world. I can't remember who gave me the pocket version of Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was still in elementary school. I asked my father to translate it for me. There are images (like, when Jonathan shaves and Count Dracula was behind him but he couldn't see his reflection on the mirror, when Count Dracula bit Lucy, when Count Dracula kidnapped Mina, and so on), and seems like my father only told me a few part of the story through those images. Growing up and having my English improved, I read it all by myself and... I fell in love with the story.
It is bloody, of course, and sadistic. Since I only read the pocket version, there was no details about how Dracula killed his victims. I remember I was in this bookstore and had the original novel in my hand, but the cover was too sexy and I was too afraid to ask my parents to buy it. And yes, because I was too young at the moment. And apparently the Sailor Moon comic books were more tempting so I decided to buy a few volumes.
The movie adaptation with the same title, directed by Francis Ford Coppola back in 1992, pretty much translate everything I imagined when I read it. Well, Keanu Reeves was looking a bit frivolous but Gary Oldman was so damn good. And the cinematography was great, there was a scene where Sadie Frost, who played Lucy, was sleepwalking in her red dress, walking out of her room to the garden maze in winds and rain. It was creepy, but beautiful. And that's just the perfect description for the entire movie.
For me, it is such an endearment to see a monster, like those vampires, willing to risk everything for the one they love. Even from the Bram Stoker version, Count Dracula decided to take the dark path for the unbearable tragic event of which her loved one, Elisabeta, jumped off of a cliff after hearing a false news. The informant told her that Dracula was slaughtered during the bloody Holy War. The scene from the movie showed how brutal the war was. Dracula actually wasn't dead - in fact he seemed to gain victory, but when he came back to the castle, he only found the body of his wife. Depressed and disappointed, a saint man that he was, he started to curse God for not protecting his wife. That's when he started to choose the wrong way. Drinking the blood of the living to show his protest to God. And for some reason he can infect it to other people too. You know, it's like when Satan was banished from heaven for being too arrogant and he started to 'infect' the others to follow his way. At least that's what I see.
"Dracula" by Bram Stoker
But then, back again, we can't forget the fact that it was all because of love. That's why Dracula showed a different side of his when he met Mina, the fiancee of his hostage, Jonathan. He first saw a photo of Mina from Jonathan's locket, and immediately recognise the resemblance of her with his late wife Elisabeta. Well I don't know how a man's feel for losing a loved one in that hurtful way and how much he misses her after all of the centuries he's been living in. But I do know how it feels when I really miss someone I haven't seen for a very long time and the feeling of joy when I see something reminds me of him/her. Maybe that's how Dracula felt. But with the monster living inside him for a fairly long time, he would never let anyone get in his way of getting Mina, his alleged 'reincarnation of lost love'. And that was by killing.
He finally got to see Mina. Feeling nostalgic, and they had an interaction, which somehow assured him more that she's 'the one'. His meeting with Mina brought back his old nature, a sweet loving man. Isn't it amazing that one girl could change a man's nature so easily? And of course the chemistry between Oldman and Winona Ryder on the movie was so passionate and it was pretty hyperventilating, you know. Back to the story, even though there was no way to change Dracula back to human, Mina did the right thing for cutting his head off, to end the never ending killing and his misery of love itself.
What I'm trying to point out is that a man as cruel and vicious as Dracula, was just this man falling so deeply in love - and that he actually will do anything for his loved one. This is the contradiction that fascinates me, that makes me forget everything disgusting I read and watch. I can put aside those things and easily grab the essence. Bleeding to love someone. And somehow it happens. And metaphorically, it's true.
And this is why I'm always excited for any vampire love stories. I love the first "Twilight" book - no kidding. It was beautifully written. A predator can't read the mind of his prey, somehow makes him comfortable yet challenged - because he can only keep on guessing. He knows how vulnerable and fragile she is, but somehow that leads him to be so protective of her, instead of making her an easy prey. He doesn't want her to get hurt, and that's when he finally find a reason to live for, let's say, one more century. It's such a shame the movie failed to depict everything. Yes, everything - every single thing of it. And then there's "Let The Right One In" - an accidental love story when the strong meets the weak, and that they actually learn something meaningful from each other. At the end, she might intended to keep him forever as an accomplice to get her dinner everytime she's hungry, or she might not. But looking at the dark and cruel world he lives in, I don't think he minds at all. He might still live in the dark and cruel world he used to, but as long as she's around, that's all matters for him.
Yes, I'm still looking for more beautiful vampire love stories. If you have any, simply write it out on the comments section!
xoxo