Dracula (2020)
Bram Stoker was a business manager at Lyceum Theatre where he used to write short stories to supplement his income. The book 'Dracula' (Son of a Dragon) is by no means a pioneer work. Stories of that genre had been around since the 1880s. His book came out in 1897, but it was not a bestseller. In fact, in the last years of his life, Bram was so immersed in poverty that he had to live on charity. For sustenance, his widow had to auction off his notes of the novel for a little over £2. Then came an authorised silent German movie 'Nosferatu' based on the story. Stoker's widow sued the film company, after which this book gained popularity.
'The year without a summer', 1816, is often attributed to the genesis of the science fiction genre and Mary Shelley for writing "Frankenstein' when Lake Geneva froze over in summer, one of the party in Shelley's group, John Polidori, started writing a short story named 'Vampyres'.
My lecturers told me that Count Dracula's condition could be a dramatised narration of a sufferer of a real medical condition - acute intermittent porphyria. In a variant of this disease, the inflicted person, through genetic means, suffers from photosensitivity and chronic anaemia from rupturing of blood cell walls. Hence, Dracula has an eversion to sunlight and has suck on his victim's blood to stay alive. Garlic could be an agent that could trigger hemolysis.
Others propose that Dracula could have been inflicted with rabies or pellagra (Niacin, B3 deficiency). Folklore or medical condition, words get altered as it goes from ear to ear, and it gets magnified or exaggerated.
The legend of Dracula and vampires have been told and retold many times over. Naturally, to capture the fancy of the viewers (or readers), it has been altered and spiced up. In this particular offering, the name of the characters are mostly maintained, and the basic plot is kept, the storytellers had decided to bring the Count to the present-day when Demetre (his ship that was travelling to England burned down. Dracula was preserved in his Transylvania soil infused coffin on the ocean floor, only to be 'brought to life' by scientists 123 years later.
Professor Abraham Von Helsing, the nemesis of Dracula in the original story is now a Catholic Nun, Agatha Von Helsing, and in spirit as her granddaughter, a scientist.
An interesting offering. It is exciting to see how the story is twisted around to give it the compelling feel, yet centred around the same theme and infusing present-day environment to it.
(P.S. Dracula's fear of the Cross has nothing to do with the divine qualities of the Cross. It is the strong reflection of light upon it and the constant hint of death to the Count. The crucifixion is a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus to mankind, continually reminding him of his failure to be in the frontline of the battlefield as it was in his family tradition.)
Miniseries (Season1, Ep 1-3)
Bram Stoker was a business manager at Lyceum Theatre where he used to write short stories to supplement his income. The book 'Dracula' (Son of a Dragon) is by no means a pioneer work. Stories of that genre had been around since the 1880s. His book came out in 1897, but it was not a bestseller. In fact, in the last years of his life, Bram was so immersed in poverty that he had to live on charity. For sustenance, his widow had to auction off his notes of the novel for a little over £2. Then came an authorised silent German movie 'Nosferatu' based on the story. Stoker's widow sued the film company, after which this book gained popularity.
'The year without a summer', 1816, is often attributed to the genesis of the science fiction genre and Mary Shelley for writing "Frankenstein' when Lake Geneva froze over in summer, one of the party in Shelley's group, John Polidori, started writing a short story named 'Vampyres'.
My lecturers told me that Count Dracula's condition could be a dramatised narration of a sufferer of a real medical condition - acute intermittent porphyria. In a variant of this disease, the inflicted person, through genetic means, suffers from photosensitivity and chronic anaemia from rupturing of blood cell walls. Hence, Dracula has an eversion to sunlight and has suck on his victim's blood to stay alive. Garlic could be an agent that could trigger hemolysis.
Others propose that Dracula could have been inflicted with rabies or pellagra (Niacin, B3 deficiency). Folklore or medical condition, words get altered as it goes from ear to ear, and it gets magnified or exaggerated.
The legend of Dracula and vampires have been told and retold many times over. Naturally, to capture the fancy of the viewers (or readers), it has been altered and spiced up. In this particular offering, the name of the characters are mostly maintained, and the basic plot is kept, the storytellers had decided to bring the Count to the present-day when Demetre (his ship that was travelling to England burned down. Dracula was preserved in his Transylvania soil infused coffin on the ocean floor, only to be 'brought to life' by scientists 123 years later.
Professor Abraham Von Helsing, the nemesis of Dracula in the original story is now a Catholic Nun, Agatha Von Helsing, and in spirit as her granddaughter, a scientist.
An interesting offering. It is exciting to see how the story is twisted around to give it the compelling feel, yet centred around the same theme and infusing present-day environment to it.
(P.S. Dracula's fear of the Cross has nothing to do with the divine qualities of the Cross. It is the strong reflection of light upon it and the constant hint of death to the Count. The crucifixion is a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus to mankind, continually reminding him of his failure to be in the frontline of the battlefield as it was in his family tradition.)
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