Every year around this time Dublin city gets littered with posters and bunting to celebrate one single book that is said to wholly represent and encapsulate the city. Dublin: One City, One Book is now in its fourth year and this initiative of Dublin City Council is designed to encourage as many people as possible in the city to read the same book for the month of April. This April will see the city draped in black, red and white posters illuminating the city’s thoroughfares to advertise the book Dracula which is this year’s book of choice for the initiative. To coincide with all this reading there shall be plenty of other activities throughout the city to keep the blood-sucking masses entertained including exhibitions, walks, talks, children’s events and Ghostbus tours. And if all that reading gets too tiring then there is a whole host of cinematic treats at the IFI too.
Few books have captured the imagination of so many filmmakers as Bram Stoker’s Dracula. First published in 1897 Dracula has been brought to the screen more than almost any other literary character with hundreds of adaptations, sequels, spin-offs and parodies to his name. Early Draculas stayed true to Stoker’s vision of a patriarchal Eastern European count and this character was a key figure in the development of the horror genre. The Dracula Weekend at the IFI will begin after dark on Friday 17th April with a screening of the earliest adaptation of Stoker’s book, with the film Nosferatu (1922) with live accompaniment from 3epkano, a renowned musical collective specialising in producing original soundtracks for cinema. There will also be an opportunity to see two other iconic pre-1960 Draculas; Bela Lugosi in Tod Browning’s 1931 version and Hammer Studio’s 1958 version with Christopher Lee. More modern adaptations of the book have thrown up some surprising versions as the Dracula figure became more detached from Stoker’s original. The IFI will be showing the Blaxploitation classic Blacula (1972) and Countess Dracula (1971), a version that conclusively demonstrates that female screen vampires can easily rival their male counterparts in bloodthirstiness.
In recent years the vampire has become something of a teen sensation, recast as a tormented romantic figure as likely to fall in love with a young attractive and pale woman as drain their blood. One recent example is the Swedish teen masterpiece Let The Right One In (2008) that is on release in April at the IFI before it is remade in the US, and that featured in the recent Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, as well as Twilight (2008), based on the phenomenally popular teen-lit series.
Perhaps the highlight of the bloodcurdling horrorfest will be Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) which will be screened outdoors in Meeting House Square earlier on in the month on 5th April. There will also be a panel discussion exploring the sexuality, romance and myth of Dracula on Film and a talk from Dracula critic and novelist Kim Newman.
FULL LISTINGS:
Dracula Outdoor Screening
APRIL 5 (8.30pm)
BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1992; Directed by Francis Ford Coppola) Please note that this screening will be held in Meeting House Square. Admission is free.
IFI Dracula Weekend
17th-19th April
APRIL 17 (9pm)
NOSFERATU (NOSFERATU, EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUENS) (1922; directed by F.W. Murnau)
With live musical accompaniment by 3epkano
APRIL 19 (11.15am) PANEL DISCUSSION: ‘DRACULA ON FILM’
APRIL 19 (1pm)
COUNTESS DRACULA (1971; directed by Peter Sasdy)
APRIL 19 (2.45pm) ‘DRACULA AS A SCREEN CHARACTER’: TALK BY KIM NEWMAN
APRIL 19 (4pm) BLACULA (1972; directed by William Crain)
APRIL 18 (11am)
TWILIGHT (2008; directed by Catherine Hardwicke)
APRIL 18 (1.15pm) DRACULA (1931; directed by Tod Browning)
APRIL 18 (2.45pm) DRACULA (1958; directed by Terence Fisher)
All events can be booked in person at the IFI or online
at www.ifi.ie or by phone on 01-4978242. Further information on the initiative can be found at www.dublinonecityonebook.ie
Words by Jade O’Callaghan
