Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula
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| Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Joe Chappelle |
| Produced by | Avram 'Butch' Kaplan |
| Written by | Thomas Baum |
| Starring | Rudolf Martin, Jane March, Christopher Brand Peter Weller, Michael Sutton, Roger Daltrey |
| Release date(s) | 2000 |
| Running time | 91 mins |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula is a film made in 2000. It is about Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula tells the story of Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble, and a patriot who fights the occupation forces of the Turks. The King of Hungary (Roger Daltry) becomes Vlad's ally and, with his support, Vlad and his men attack the occupying Turks and turncoat Romanian nobles, reclaiming the throne of Romania.
Lidia discovers what Vlad does to the bodies of his enemies and she is horrified. When Lidia has a child, Vlad takes control of the boy, and banishes her to a nunnery. Then, Vlad's brother Radu arrives at the head of a large Turkish invasion force.
[edit] Quotes
Vlad Dracula: Bruno, have I told not you I am indestructible?
Radu: You are going to kill me, aren't you?
Vlad Dracula: You are a traitor to your people. You betrayed our father!
Radu: I never betrayed our father! Besides, if it weren't for me, you'd still be in that Turk prison.
Vlad Dracula: You had that much influence over the Sultan? Even as a boy?
Radu: Especially as a boy.
Vlad Dracula: No...no...please! Lidia, come walk with me!
Lidia: I will always walk with you.
[kisses her cross, then jumps]
Radu: Why aren't you afraid? Why aren't you begging for your life, like any other man?!
Father Stefan: Because he's not like ANY OTHER MAN! And I knew it the moment he was delivered unto this world.
[to Dracula] Father Stefan: God save me, had I one moment alone with you, I would have strangled you in your crib.
Vlad Dracula: You...you murdered my father!
Father Stefan: Because were your father unable to pay the Sultan's ransom...
Vlad Dracula: ...I'd be put to death.
Father Stefan: Our God has said to the prophets there would come an antichrist who would promise peace but deliver an apocalypse.
Vlad Dracula: My fight was never with God...it was with you...all of you!
Father Stefan: And that is why you are doomed, Vlad. Because you fight all of us. You fight your own blood, your own people, and your own church. Because you are an antichrist, and you are doomed.
[edit] Cast
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Vlad the Impaler | Rudolf Martin |
| Lidia | Jane March |
| Bruno | Christopher Brand |
| Father Stefan | Peter Weller |
| King Janos | Roger Daltrey |
| Radu | Michael Sutton |
[edit] Historical inaccuracies/errors
- Vlad is depicted without the moustache typically associated with him from mediaeval portraits.
- The historical figures of John Hunyadi and Matthias Corvinus are combined into one fictional king of Hungary called Janos.
- Vlad addresses the Sultan holding him and Radu captive as Mehmed. In reality, the Sultan who took the boys was Murad II. Vlad later waged a military campaign against Murad's son, Mehmed II, who was several months younger than Vlad.
- There was no single Castle Dracul as depicted in the film. Vlad was born in Transylvania, but it was in the town of Sighisoara. Transylvania was not a region of Vlad's domain as implied in the film; Vlad ruled over Wallachia, and Transylvania was a province of Hungary. Vlad was never based in Transylvania; the closest similarity to the Castle Dracul featured in the film is Poienari Castle in Wallachia.
- No mention is made of the fact that Vlad was made a puppet ruler of Wallachia by the Turks in 1448.
- Vlad is seen assassinating "Prince Carl", who apparently took over after the death of Vlad II Dracul. The Prince preceding Vlad's 1456-62 reign was Vladislav II, who had also reigned from 1447-48.
- Vlad's first wife, Lidia (whose name is not recorded in history), actually killed herself because she did not want to be captured by the Turks following the Night Attack.
- Radu died a year before he is shown killing Vlad.
