amelia_petkova (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amelia_petkova) wrote2008-11-09 07:32 pm
amelia_petkova) wrote2008-11-09 07:32 pm
Entry tags:
I finally got to watch it!
A very nice person has posted the DVD of Dracula: Entre l'amour et la mort on YouTube. Now I finally get to see it, more than a year after buying the cast recording. The YouTube audio fizzles a bit but I'm just glad that it's finally posted!
I mostly had a great time watching it. I studied French in junior high but that was a long time ago. I remember a slew of random words, just enough to recognize that something is French if I hear it. Through knowledge of Dracula and paying attention I was more or less able to understand what was going on in each individual scene, though I would like to have known more how the overall story was connected. Does anybody know if there are translations of the songs (and perhaps dialogue) from French into English on the internet? I'm quite happy to listen to pretty music in any language but it's nice to know the meaning as well.
(The temptation find my old French books and notes is now very great. But no! I'm not allowing myself to look through other languages until my Spanish is better. No playing with French or Bulgarian or Welsh until I'm more fluent in Spanish!)
I wonder how they thought of having a scary puppet for the narrator? That was fun.
It's odd that the songs on the CD are in a different order than the stage production. I can't really think of any reason and it made things a bit confusing. I also noticed the abscence of dialogue. In the (American) musicals that I'm familiar with, the characters do a fair bit of talking between jumping into song every five minutes. Here, there's often a direct jump from one song to the next. Cultural difference, or just the way this production was organized?
For the setting up of the Dracula legend, I thought it interesting that Mina (her previous incarnation) was the one who lured Dracula into being a vampire. How's that for a surprise on the wedding night?
Mina's solo, "Urgence" (spelling?) is the only song that I still can't get into. I have to admit that I didn't really care what happened to Mina. All the other characters were more interesting. I also wasn't that interested in the psychedelic backgrounds and images imposed (right word?) over the background.
I liked the actress who played Lucy very much. She has a lovely voice; "Etranges etrangers" is still one of my favorite songs.
Odds and ends:
--As for the interpretation of Renfield being a drug addict: look, people. Renfield is going to be fucking nuts no matter what the production is.
--And then Jonathan and Dracula simultaneously staked each other (seriously, not an euphemism). What the hell?!
--To say that the costumes are interesting would be an understatement. Bruno Pelletier is very attractive but I still snickered quite a bit over his outfit. I haven't seen a male lead's trousers like that since Labyrinth.
I mostly had a great time watching it. I studied French in junior high but that was a long time ago. I remember a slew of random words, just enough to recognize that something is French if I hear it. Through knowledge of Dracula and paying attention I was more or less able to understand what was going on in each individual scene, though I would like to have known more how the overall story was connected. Does anybody know if there are translations of the songs (and perhaps dialogue) from French into English on the internet? I'm quite happy to listen to pretty music in any language but it's nice to know the meaning as well.
(The temptation find my old French books and notes is now very great. But no! I'm not allowing myself to look through other languages until my Spanish is better. No playing with French or Bulgarian or Welsh until I'm more fluent in Spanish!)
I wonder how they thought of having a scary puppet for the narrator? That was fun.
It's odd that the songs on the CD are in a different order than the stage production. I can't really think of any reason and it made things a bit confusing. I also noticed the abscence of dialogue. In the (American) musicals that I'm familiar with, the characters do a fair bit of talking between jumping into song every five minutes. Here, there's often a direct jump from one song to the next. Cultural difference, or just the way this production was organized?
For the setting up of the Dracula legend, I thought it interesting that Mina (her previous incarnation) was the one who lured Dracula into being a vampire. How's that for a surprise on the wedding night?
Mina's solo, "Urgence" (spelling?) is the only song that I still can't get into. I have to admit that I didn't really care what happened to Mina. All the other characters were more interesting. I also wasn't that interested in the psychedelic backgrounds and images imposed (right word?) over the background.
I liked the actress who played Lucy very much. She has a lovely voice; "Etranges etrangers" is still one of my favorite songs.
Odds and ends:
--As for the interpretation of Renfield being a drug addict: look, people. Renfield is going to be fucking nuts no matter what the production is.
--And then Jonathan and Dracula simultaneously staked each other (seriously, not an euphemism). What the hell?!
--To say that the costumes are interesting would be an understatement. Bruno Pelletier is very attractive but I still snickered quite a bit over his outfit. I haven't seen a male lead's trousers like that since Labyrinth.