A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
‘Dracula the Messiah’ is a quartet of films which together form an epic adaptation, four years in the making, of Bram Stoker's novel. We are screening the first part.
Dark, original and truly disturbing, ‘A Voice Crying in the Wilderness’ is located in that part of the psyche where mankind revolts against God and death.
Gregory Motton’s four films, totalling more than six hours of screen time, constitute the most substantial adaptation of the 200-plus that have been made since 1922 and is perhaps one of the closest in spirit and detail to Stoker’s story.
Moreover, the development of the theme of a rebellion against God and death puts this film in its own right into the Gothic and darkly romantic mood from which the book itself came. Part one starts with Dracula's death in 1475 (featuring some dialogue in Old High German!) and tells the story of Lilith (Åslög Von Roos), a prostitute summoning up the appearance of Dracula; then Jonathan Harker's (Brendan Kjellberg-Motton) journey and visit to Dracula's castle. This is an innovative approach to the classic Dracula themes, shot in striking black-and-white. (Trivia; Von Roos, who is herself ancestrally related to Vlad the Impaler, speaks all her dialogue in Swedish and backwards!)
Gregory Motton is a playwright, filmmaker, author and translator. His plays have been widely performed in Britain and abroad, including the Royal Court, Comédie Française, Theatre de l’Odeon and Malmö Stadsteater. They include ‘Cat and Mouse (Sheep)’, ‘Gengis Amongst the Pygmies’ and ‘The World's Biggest Diamond’.
We are pleased to welcome writer/director Gregory Motton to introduce his film and give a Q&A after the screening.