To the editors:
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To the casual filmgoer (or critic)–weaned on bland Hollywood formula, conditioned to being a passive spectator–it’s understandable that such an eclectic film should leave them feeling bewildered. But can’t they appreciate a good joke? Coppola and his crew put one over on the Hollywood bigwigs: This is one of the wildest anomalies in the history of American commercial cinema–a $50 million avant-garde movie. The conceit was enough to keep me grinning throughout the bumpy narrative.
Despite its mixmaster messiness, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has more imagination and filmmaking bravura than many of the nice and neat movies currently being trotted out for Oscar’s blessing. It would be nice if Francis Coppola could recapture the master storyteller’s voice of his Godfather and Conversation days. Until then, however, we should applaud his genuine glee in at least trying to astonish us.
