Figuratively, bc I sent my signed copy to its proper owner, but I have the e-reader version OPEN. Notes are being taken.
Don’t expect me to rail against it, what I’m looking for is good stuff. Anything from vampire physiology to clever dialogue, to good characterization, really, I am keeping an open mind and looking for the silver lining ❤
BUT, I do want to make a masterpost of links to ppl’s reviews, so please comment/reblog/
message me
w/ links so I can put together and share the most comprehensive masterpost.
Dude it’s not about the art quality! Don’t do it for the notes. Do it for yourself. You might be being too hard on yourself, you may find your style not as “good” as someone else’s but that doesn’t make it Hella Bad™! It’s Hella Yours.
As with all the arts, like writing, music, drawing, etc., we all have to start at a place of less skill than we can earn over time. For me, humor can supersede technical ability. Applying humor and choosing the right expressions can be just as difficult as the technical ability, and to my taste, can be better than a really pretty portrait.
This is not the best drawing but it’s totes lolworthy:
Ppl might not Like/Reblog your stuff but it’s always great to see someone’s archive and see how they’ve improved over time.
Claudia probably had to practice for years to draw so well, and that should have been a clue to her dads that she was much older inside than she looked, bc few children would be able to draw this skillfull, especially w/o a live model in front of them well she had a dead one but she wasn’t looking at it:
“… two wet shriveled things that had been alive, mother and daughter in one another’s arms, the murdered pair on the kitchen floor. But these two lying under the gentle rain were Madeleine and Claudia, … the hand that clutched at the child was whole like a mummy’s hand. But the child, the ancient one, my Claudia, was ashes.”
– Louis de Pointe du Lac, Interview with the Vampire
I ranted about this at length once, and realized it might be worth excising that particular section from my recaps and letting it stand on its own.
SO LET ME TELL YOU A THING.
“Not only does Banderas give one hell of a performance, clearly entranced by Louis and convinced his ruthlessness is an acceptable means to an end (and then Louis dumps him immediately and Banderas’ crushed look that WHOOPS OVERESTIMATED just destroyed me). It’s really genuine, maybe the movie’s best after Cruise and Dunst, and at least half his dialogue is lifted without change from the books. But all that gets overlooked, because he doesn’t look like a teenager. And there’s a certain fairness to that – Armand’s body adds a dimension to his interactions with others as much as Claudia’s does. But now let me give you a hot dose of context.
In 1994, it was still a pretty common argument to conflate homosexuality with pedophilia, particularly with gay men. THINK OF THE CHILDREN, Y’ALL. The movie already had to deal with the Claudia/Louis relationship, which only tenuously steps the worst landmines of creepiness, as we discussed, by avoiding physicality and giving mentally grown Claudia all the power. So, the filmmakers maybe didn’t want to stack, on top of that stack of gunpowder, a relationship with yet another underage character, particularly one that so played into existing stereotypes.
Then there’s the fact that, by virtue of the script, Louis’ feelings for Armand are a lot more explicitly tender and obvious than his relationship with Lestat. Back then, it was a big deal if you asked an actor to, gasp, play gay. Heavens forfend. But Banderas, in addition to being a handsome fellow and a marketable star, had also appeared in Philadelphia in 1993 (aka the movie where the Noble Gay dying nobly from AIDS is nice enough to teach A Straight to be a better person before he croaks). While their scenes were scrubbed of basically any intimacy, he was playing Tom Hanks’ lover, and apparently that was proximal enough to The Gay that he was an okay dude to ask. And then he fucking killed it with the material he was given it, in spite of the fact that the majority of his scenes were opposite the totally catatonic Pitt (who has made no bones about how much he haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated being in this movie). He’s a champ, and a treasure, come at me.
The part of me that loves this movie as its own movie is so into Antonio, too. The reasons you stated are part of it, but as an aesthetic decision as well I really love him as this like Dark Exotic European Vampire. It works as a jarring contrast to the world Louis had lived in with Lestat, and even as a movie ploy it’s such a dynamic visual. And goddamnit his gold eyes flashing in the firelight. He’s just a real VAMPIREY VAMPIRE. It’s obviously a departure from the novel but it works so well on its own.
I also think it works because the movie was never a series. If we’d gotten into the other stories it would’ve started mangling Armand’s character too much, but we don’t get to know him very personally here so it’s fine.
The scenes with Armand are my favorite in the whole movie. They feel so magnetic to me, and I appreciate more than I can ever explain that they gave that much screen time to these conversations. It nails the tone of the novels so well and is so so so important to keep.
I’m gonna cry! Thank you @vraik, for articulating this so thoroughly and adding so much more to my dusty old #Defending Antonio tag. It was most likely a deliberate choice to diverge from canon on Armand’s appearance, but much of the character is still preserved and shines through Antonio’s performance.
And @monstersinthecosmos makes an excellent point about how great his scenes are and what Antonio does bring to the table physically. His Tall Dark Exotic European look is in direct contrast with Lestat, who looks like Blonde Ambition Barbie in comparison.
Can we all keep this in mind for the upcoming adaptations? Whoever is cast, please give them a chance to do their jobs, which is ACTING. Even if the character does not fit your headcanon remotely. Let’s be considerate and keep in mind that some things are possible to explore in fiction that cannot yet, if ever, be shown in film/TV.
No, I’m not planning on going anywhere without a big flowery announcement, trust me! I’ve been in this fandom for 20+ years and on tumblr since July 2013, I’m stuck here for the long haul, it seems.
(If I ever mysteriously disappear, I’ll give my online whereabouts to @annabellioncourt and @merciful-death to share with you all.)
I-want-my-IWTV 