A truly superb display of Acting, Directing and Writing!

Rating: 9/10 (26 April 2003)

Having read the novel Interview with the Vampire by the spectacular Anne Rice before searching out the film and watching it I have to admit that I was a little sceptical over the choice of actors. As I had thoroughly enjoyed the unique character, Lestat de Lioncourt when written down on paper I had already considered the difficulty that the director might have had to face when casting someone for the part.
I had not seen any of Tom Cruise's films before this; however, I was completely aware of his expert acting skills but this did not stop me from doubting his performance as the illustrious 'Brat Prince'. Lestat has such energy as a character, a wicked demeanour and sarcastic nature, but somehow one can not help falling for him- how would an actor such as Cruise carry off such a deep role?
Louis de Pointe du Lac is the miserable and 'weak' fledgling of the Vampire Lestat and is said to be the most human of all Vampires. His mortal-pitying, self-hating attitude was another profile that I was unsure would be carried out to its full potential; however I doubted Brad Pitt less than I had Tom Cruise; I knew that Pitt's soft voice and strong appearance would fit snugly into Louis' character.
Already aware that Anne Rice had written the screenplay herself I was ready to accept anything that differed from the book. A little more romance was added to the film with the death of Louis' child and wife; in the book it had been the death of his brother that had caused him to withdraw into himself and I was willing to accept this as a much more sensitive side to the story.
From the moment that Brad Pitt appeared on the screen I had fallen for his portrayal of Louis, he had everything about him to a tee, even the way in which he held himself in which he looked about his surroundings and treated other people were completely accurate. I had to bite my lip and apologise profusely for my doubting his performance.
And to add to my complete awe and satisfaction, I had already fallen for the Lestat that I saw before me on the television screen. I laughed at his sarcasm, his mood swings, happiness and the way in which Cruise portrayed Lestat's high maintenance attitude. To watch Cruise on the screen was as much fun as reading about Lestat in the novel.
All of the characters that Anne Rice has come up with throughout the Vampire Chronicles keep within themselves something that would be a challenge when put onto the big screen. However, Claudia, the young Vampiress belonging to Louis and Lestat meant the involvement of a child actor- a side to film that is rarely explored. Kirsten Dunst was chosen to play this part and at the age of twelve, only two years younger than myself when I watched the film, she carried off the part with maturity and as much understanding as was possible.
The only character with whom I was not impressed was that of Armand, whilst Antonio Banderas acted superbly the character had been cast too old. Armand was 'made' at roughly the age of 17 (I believe) and the age that they had worked him into the screenplay at seemed much older than that. He was much darker than I had ever imagined the character would be and seemed less careless than that of the fun loving, red head Russian that I had read of.
Whilst the last paragraph could be construed as the wishful thinking of a huge Anne Rice fan I believe in as much accuracy as possible when it comes to film adaptations and am sure that the pure immortality and beauty of Vampires might have been displayed to a much further degree if Armand had been cast with just a little more thought.
Overall this film was positively fantastic. It was bright and colourful, dark and mysterious, gruesome and terrible. This film was full of its own magic and it left in my mind the enticing beauty of immortality, the seductiveness of the way in which a Louis and Lestat viewed the world and the timeless story of the Vampire from the ideas of a truly inspirational woman; Anne Rice.