DRACULA - Pages from a Virgin's Diary

Exceedingly curious on paper, Guy Maddin's latest feature is a giddily addictive jawdropper in the form of a ballet adaptation shot for Canadian television by a director with little apparent interest in dance or, for that matter, television. Teeming with Gothic Victorianisms, it might also be the most faithful screen version of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel to date, ramping up the racial/immigration anxiety as well as the famously prohibitive sexuality. More than merely a dance film, Dracula is an authentic Expressionist silent feature shot in (often tinted) black and white, approaching the genre using 21stcentury technology (courtesy of digital effects, smuggled into almost every frame), but through early 20thcentury lenses. With expertly choreographed dancing reflected in mirrors, shrouded by plumes of fog, sped up, slowed down, and shot on Super 8 and 16mm, Dracula feels at times like Michael Jackson's Thriller crossed with Carl Dreyer's Vampyr. It would be easy to refer to its aesthetic as musicvideo based, but much like videos have evolved by stealing cinematographic and editing techniques from film, particularly the avantgarde, Maddin discovers a new kind of cinema by reclaiming these innovations. In Maddin's most consistently rewarding film to date, he delivers a stake to the clogged heart of what passes for contemporary cinema. Maddin: `I admit to groping about in darkness for most of this happy project.' (M.P.)