After 28 years, Interview with the Vampire written by Anne Rice has once again been adapted for theatrical release. With Rice’s passing, her son’s involvement in the production, actors of color in the lead roles, this artwork has once again evoked the imagination of audiences.
Why adapt?
Unlike the movie, which follows the setting of the original book, the TV series changes the time of the story, the race of the protagonist, and the identity of the characters, addressing issues that may not have been taken seriously before, with a closer to 2022 perspective. The first is the issue of race. The two main characters, Louis and Claudia, are played by two black actor and actress, Jacob Anderson and Bailey Bass, rather than white. The year 1791 in the original book, the era of the plantation economy and black slavery, does not apply to develop the story, because a black person cannot have power in that era. Thus, Louis has to deal not only with his human-turned-vampire identity but also with the predicament and discrimination he faces as a person of color. This means that the richness of Louis’ character has been expanded, while also alluding to the racism that is still happening today. Homosexuality is another topic. When the film (1994) was released, there were complaints about the deletion of the dialogue in which Louis and Lestat were gay couples, and the series (2022) clearly takes that issue seriously. Whether it’s image or sound, the TV series directly shows the identity of the LGBTQ group, including love, kissing, sex, etc. Vampires don’t have to be gay, but in 2022, if they are, they should be seen and acknowledged. Therefore, race and homosexuality have become the two most important topics in TV series. Perhaps the question “why adapt” can be answered in the first episode of Louis’ own words “the passage of time and the frailties that accompany it have provided me perspective”.
Character setting?
Due to the excellent looks and performances of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in the movie, the TV version had to be compared with the movie. Although it will be a little unfamiliar to face Anderson at first, it will only last for ten minutes, because Anderson will conquer the audience with his superb performance and interpretation of Louis, proving that the crew chose him is a right decision. Anderson and Sam Reid’s interpretation of Louis and Lestat are very good. Either performance or appearance, the tension between the two has every reason to make the audience believe that they are Louis and Lestat. But Bailey Bass’s Claudia often gives a sense of maturity that goes beyond the character’s setting. The most obvious adaptation of Claudia is her character motivation. In the movie, Croatia’s anger, irritability, and flight all stem from the separation of his mental age and body. She wants to be a woman (in fact she is), a woman with desire, sex, and a normal life, but the child’s body limits her life as a woman (e.g., underdevelopment of sex organs and breasts), so she hates Louis and Lestat for transforming her when she was a child. The characters in the film are motivated by Claudia’s pain as a woman, while the TV series attributes her behavioral motivation to a rebellious teenager-her resistance is the rebellion of a troubled girl against her parents. Besides, her first love that should have been beautiful ended in killing, and her sex life that should have been enjoyed got a rude response (the TV series implicitly mentions Claudia’s first sexual relationship most likely happened under Bruce’s coercion), and her dairy keeps her secretes, and her running away from home became the only way for her to grow up. The setting of the image of Claudia turns a woman’s pain into that of a troubled teenage girl, weakening the character to some extent and ignoring the desires and needs of a woman.
Storytelling?
AMC Networks has announced that a second season was in the works before the first season aired. At the end of the first season, the story stops at Louis and Claudia’s plan to kill Lestat, which also happens halfway through the film and novel. In brief, the first episode focuses on building the character of Louis as a human, the second on Louis’ completed transformation, the third on Louis’ conflicted self-perception, the fourth on Claudia’s appearance, the fifth on Claudia growing up and turning against her family, the sixth on Lestat and Louis’ reconciliation, and the seventh on the vampire family’s intention to leave New Orleans. The capacity of the episodes to expand the storytelling, giving the characters plenty of time to shape themselves, which helps the story develop. However, it is also easy to lose focus, and the whole story becomes a dramatic love triangle – Claudia and Leicester’s Louis fight. So, why did Louis ask Daniel to record his life for more than 100 years? This is the beginning of everything in Interview with the Vampire. The distaste for immortality is the answer given by the film and its motivation for Louis. As of now, the line between Louis and Daniel has no other answer except to show how wealthy and wealthy Louis is, which may need to be given in the next season.
An immortal universe will be established by AMC networks who has purchased the intellectual copyright of many Rice works, which is worthy of the audience’s expectation.
If you are interested in Interview with the Vampire, you can visit the official website (https://www.amc-presskits.com/epk/interview-with-the-vampire/season-1/index.php) or listen to the AMC+ Interview with the Vampire podcast (the official companion podcast to AMC’s adaptation
–Yiwen Shi
