Best movie ever made

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2001)

I can't say I read the book before seeing this film, but the movie based off of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" has inspired me to, and not only did I read the book, but I actually have the whole series now and am awaiting her future writings.
Interview with the Vampire takes you into the world of Louis de Pointe du Lac, a two hundred year old vampire who tells the tale of his eternal life of hunger, betrayal, love, and suffering. The general mood of the movie is quite depressing, but this doesn't take you off guard, as the plot immediately sets in as soon as it starts, so make sure you're prepared from the beginning. Almost all of the movie is set in the late 1700s, then continues on a bit further, then briefly goes over the events throughout the nineteenth century. A note beforehand: This movie has some gore... it's not all about feeding on helpless victims or special effects, but about the first hour may seem very gory for some people, but this doesn't last long at all, so don't for one second start to think this is what the movie's all about.
**SPOILER WARNING**: Anyway, the immortal Louis (Brad Pitt) tells of his life as a vampire and his own personal hell. These vampires are beyond amazing- they are not just bloodsucking creatures, and feel as they felt as humans. This captivating tale takes you back to 1791, where Louis has turned suicidal what with the recent deaths of his wife and infant son. He roams to taverns, drunk, picking fights, with an invitation open to anyone to end his life. Soon a vampire, by the name of Lestat (Tom Cruise) offers Louis a life without pain, one that cannot end. Ever. Louis accepts, not really knowing what he's getting into, and so therefore Lestat transforms him into a vampire. Immediately the movie's theme mood is set: Louis is distressed. He despises his vampiric ways (You'll find out MUCH more about this if you read the book) and hates to kill more than anything. As explained in the novel, he was extremely sensitive about death due to his family's death, and simply could not take a human life. When he did kill, he felt awful and throughout his time with Lestat went bitter. As the movie continues- and you're praying for poor Louis to be happy- fights start breaking out between him and his maker, who only wants Louis to share his love of human blood and immortal power.
Then, one night, when Louis' hunger was unbearable, he drank from a little girl named Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) and Lestat appeared... then, as a gift (as said in the book, but in the movie it's more brutal) Lestat makes her as one of them. Thankfully, the scenery changes, and there are a number of funny scenes- Claudia's clumsiness and Lestat's inevitable impatience- then, of course, Claudia started asking questions. After all, she was made immortal in such a small body and seeing all the older and larger women, she grew distraught and closer to Louis. In an unforgettable scene, she throws all her dolls out of a trunk and Lestat sees she hid a dead mortal in there... then, in a fury, she screams at Lestat and Louis, demanding answers, and then cuts her hair and runs into her room, only to scream even more hysterically when she sees it has all grown back in a matter of seconds. From here on, she is as Louis is, and then the plotting begins.
Let me add that this took me totally by surprise when I first saw the movie. Claudia had come to hate Lestat so much that she hints of killing him- and then does. Sweetly, she makes peace with him and leads him to two 'drunk' boys, who are actually dead, but filled with a poison that keeps their blood warm. As a rule, vampires can't drink dead blood or they'll go down into death with their victim. And so did Lestat... and in another breathtaking scene, he drinks from one of the boys and starts gasping for breath, thrashing around on the room and yelling for Louis, but by the time Louis arrives, Claudia has just cut Lestat's throat, and the two watch- Louis in shock, Claudia only smiling- as Lestat chokes on his blood and shrivels down on the floor, dead. The two fledgings then drop Lestat's body into the swamp, figuring the blood put an end to him. The two make plans for Paris, both wanting to seek out others of 'their kind' as Claudia put it, and then, on the night of their leave, they hear someone at the door. In a heart pumping scene, Louis opens it and sees no one is there. In a long moment of silence, he looks around strangely, and then turns around in confusion, when suddenly Lestat jumps up and shoves Louis against the wall, his hand around his throat. Louis then slams the door on Lestat's hand, making him back off into the street.
He picks up Claudia and the two run up the stairs. Entering a room, they stop in fear as music from the piano suddenly starts playing, and they see Lestat is there, alive and well... but, not exactly. The makeup in this scene is excellent. "Claudia... you've been a very, VERY naughty little girl.." He then attempts to harm Claudia, and with a thrust of his arm, Louis throws a lantern on Lestat, aflaming him. The two escape and barely make the ship, watching from afar the burning city of New Orleans. Another cheerful section of the movie is set in as the two arrive in Paris. "We were alive again," Louis says. The scenes of Paris are also breathtaking... then the part with Armand comes.
A lot of people don't like Antonio Banderas as Armand. I agree. Armand is supposed to have a cherub face, but 'play the devil' inside, him only living up to 16 years of mortal life, but 500 as a vampire. Instead, the Armand in the movie has an evil expression... and the age not even appropriate for his character. Here, Louis so sadly seeks out the answers of their kind; what they are, where they come from, when Armand answers the best he can, when really they're both just falling in love with each other. Claudia immediately senses this, picking up a message from Santonio, Armand's evil side kick, and assumes Louis is going to leave her... and with thinking that, she demands Louis make a dollmaker from one of her favorite shops, by the name Sybelle, immortal. Louis desperately denies him ever leaving her, but still ends up making Sybelle immortal, in one of the most emotional and powerful scenes in the movie. And as soon as this resentful deed is done, Armand's vampires (from the Theatre Des Vampires) come and take them to the theatre. Santonio then orders Sybelle and Claudia executed, and Louis to be shut up in a coffin for eternity. They want to punish them because Santonio thinks Louis killed his maker, and also, though not known to Louis ever before, children are NOT allowed to be made vampires.
Unfortunately, the killing of Claudia and Sybelle is successful- with regretful Armand shutting himself up in a room while the three screamed for him beforehand- but he gets Louis out right away, who then discovers the bodies of the two vampires, and then- in one of my favorite scenes- slowly walks out of the room and turns to the vampires, with the most powerful glow in his eyes, full of hatred. And for a good reason. That night, he returns, and burns the Theatre Des Vampires to the ground, killing all of them except Armand, who then saves Louis from the daylight, as he wasn't exactly keeping track of time while destroying all of his enemies. The two are then together, but not for long. In an emotional scene, Louis confronts him, and of how he could have stopped them, and with that, leaves Armand.
This is the part that kills you. The music from the beginning comes back- "Medley", the theme song, which is extremely sad- and as it was as his last days of mortality, when he longed to die, the mood is the exact same but worse. By now anyone watching the film feels his pain terribly, and he talks about what he did after that, recklessly traveling from country to country. "But the world was a tomb to me; a graveyard full of broken statues, and each of those statues resembled her face." He then tells of how the technological miracle, film, let him see the sunrise for the first time in 200 years. The movie is definitely concluding, but not before Lestat pops up again. Coming out of the theater, Louis catches the scent of death as he walks into a graveyard... but it wasn't coming from the graves. He continues to walk and then finds Lestat, weak, dry, his back to him, talking in a small voice. The reunion isn't too long... in a touching moment, Louis comforts Lestat when he fearfully cowers when a pilot comes over them, and then, pretty much Lestat telling him of how he can be like he was in the old days, Louis simply says "I have to go" and leaves him there. He then goes on to say he lives on, night after night, feeding on those who cross his path. The scene comes back to the setting of the first, where Louis has just told this all to an eager reporter (Christian Slater) by the name of Daniel. Daniel then comes to say that he's not dead, and with a sudden outburst, Louis comes and threatens him, scaring Daniel away. He runs out of the building and into his car, racing along the street. Daniel then starts to calm down, joking to himself a little, when suddenly Lestat comes up behind him and sinks his fangs into his neck. Daniel screams out as the car swerves madly on a fast moving highway, and then, Lestat, regaining the wheel, hears Louis' tape playing. "Have you heard enough? I've had to listen to that... for centuries!" Lestat sneers, then turning it back to the radio. "Don't be afraid. I'm going to give you the choice...I, never had."
He then looks at Daniel and starts laughing mockingly, which, is a very funny ending, as it reminds you of his cockiness in the beginning of the movie. It ends with an upbeat tune of 'Guns and Roses', the singer actually telling about his immortality when the credits come on. This, truly, is a classic.
The movie goes through three stages: Louis becoming a Vampire- His meeting Lestat and learning the ways of a vampire, the suffering even more intense and neverending. Falling in Love- A part of the movie where it's actually funny and somewhat high spirited, how he fell in love with Claudia, still mixed in with a vampiric sense of evil. And then... the happiness ends. Surviving it All- Conclusion to the movie, where it's back to where it was in the beginning, only far worse. The last scene is great and it sets the mood for the other Anne Rice books, and the upcoming sequel of this movie, 'Queen of the Damned' due out in October, starring Aaliyah (none of the IWTV cast).
If you can understand English, you should see this movie. I love it! If you want more info email me. It truly is a classic.