A movie is but a book you can watch. Emotions and ideas put forth by the writer cannot have the same effect when portrayed by an actor. To overcome this problem, directors must utilize several means of symbolism. One of them is the use of color. In literature, colors can be a powerful means of expressing an idea. In Interview with the Vampire, color was used in a way that few other forms of expression and symbolism were required. It set the mood for the scenes, and was backed only by the powerful dialog and music. The color, music, and acting in Interview with the Vampire come together to portray a powerful movie about vampiric life throughout eighteenth century New Orleans and Paris.
The movie unfolds like a lotus blossom. Melancholy voices sing in the background as the camera pans over the fading blue waters of the San Francisco bay. This sets a tone for the movie because blue is a color of immortality, and black a color of evil, shame and despair. Even before the title appears we can feel the grief, and yet sense the immortality of the vampire. The streets of San Francisco are crowded with individuals dressed in reds and blacks, reflecting the hostility and aggression of the city.
In a house on Diversadero street, a Vampire stands in a window staring blankly at the endless night. Louis is clad in a simple black suit as he prepares to tell the grievous story of his life over the past two-hundred years. The young man who will hear the story sits at a table in the center of the room. There is nothing innocent about Daniel, he sits dressed in a gray blue shirt and a black vest. He will sit through the vampire's story. Throughout Louis’ story Daniel becomes intrigued by the vampire's life. The gray tells of the immortality his soul will yearn for, and the blue tint the possibility of this occurring. Louis is ashamed of his vampiric nature, the black of his suit foretells the shame and despair he will feel when Daniel longs for the dark gift.
As Louis begins to tell his story, the music gives a sense of a new beginning. Louis has just lost his wife and child, and the colors of his clothes reflect the loss he feels. His pants are red, which symbolizes the grief and pain. The brown of his vest and jacket displays the spiritual death he has gone through; the loss of his wife and child has caused him to lose all faith. Red also means vitality, and brown means death to the world, foreshadowing Louis coming immortality, he is too strong to die, yet he will no longer be a part of humanity. Louis longs for a “release from the pain of living”; the vampire Lestat comes forth to give him this state of detachment. Lestat is clothed in dark blue and white, indicating his immortality and intellect, along with his seeming purity. Lestat eventually offers immortality to Louis, and through the music we can feel the seduction and the power of the offer. Louis longs for detachment, and Lestat offers this to him, a chance to overcome his pain and embark on a new life. Lestat also promises that death and sickness would never affect him again. The irony of it is that Louis is faced with death each evening when he kills. The promise also foreshadows that he will not be able to fully accept his new role in life.
When Louis finally agrees to take the dark gift, he is wearing green and brown. The brown again foretells of his separation from humanity. The green exhibits not only Louis naiveté because he cannot fully comprehend what is about to occur. It also foretells of the mental and emotional development that will occur when he is born to darkness. Green also represents a triumph over death, which Louis achieves by gaining immortality. Lestat is again dressed in immortal blue, but he also has silver embroidery on his jacket. Silver is a color that wards off demons. This draws Louis into a false sense of security. He thinks all will be at peace when the transformation takes place. The music draws you into the change as it starts off slow and then quickens with the intensity of the exchange of blood. A heart beat is heard in the background that draws you in to feel the powerful transformation. An owl is also present in the scene, a common literary reference to death.
As Louis sets out to commit his first kill, the music of the scene is joyous, upbeat, and it lures the audience and the characters into a false sense of security. At this point we see that Louis is beginning to acknowledge his vampire nature. He still wears brown and green, depicting his detachment and evolution into his new life. Louis now has blue stitching on his vest; his immortality is beginning to overtake him, if he can only accept it. Lestat is again dressed in eternal blues and grays, with touches of silver. Louis first victim, a waitress, is dressed in cream and brown. The cream shows her seeming purity, but because it is not white, we can interpret that she is not so innocent. The brown of her dress illustrates the sorrow that Louis will feel after he kills her. He is beginning to mourn over the loss of his humanity. Each time he takes a life, it destroys a part of him.
Upon returning to the plantation we are introduced to Louis’ maid, Yvette. She is clothed in a yellow dress, indicating her intuition and wisdom. Later she realizes that there is something wrong with Louis and his friend Lestat. With her wisdom, she tries to console Louis, but it is to late. The cloth around Yvette’s head is red, symbolizing the last remnants of Louis mortal life. Once she dies, Louis leaves the plantation, and his past life behind. When Yvette enters, the music begins and heightens, as an organ grinds out definite notes in the background. This shows the growing passion Louis has as he yearns to take Yvette’s life. Louis became a vampire to gain a release from the senseless deaths in humanity, yet ironically he must take human life every night of his existence.
After his first kill, Louis is coaxed into venturing to New Orleans with Lestat. Louis is still confused about the role he must fill in his new life. He fights to accept it, and we see this in the colors he wears to a ball. Louis’ jacket is a blue green color, as he becomes alert to his need to accept immortality and expand on his new life. Louis’ vest is red with gold interlay, again gold stands for immortality; we see his struggle between vampirism and the pain and confusion he feels. Lestat is still dressed in his ever confident and immortal blue and gold. Lestat attempts to expose Louis to some of his powers, but he is too afraid to let go and discover. Louis is directed towards an older woman and a young man, both of whom are evil. We see that she has something to hide by examining the bright yellow of her dress, a color standing for secrecy and treachery. The young man with her is dressed in a bright orange red frock showing his external happiness, and his internal pain and guilt. Louis refuses to feed on the woman and instead kills her two innocent white poodles, demonstrating that he would feel less pain and more satisfaction if he were to give in to the vampire inside him.
Slaves begin to understand what is happening. Bodies are dragged from the Mississippi as a definite drum beats in the background, mourning the lost heart beats. Louis cannot stand the conflict any longer. He no longer wears blue, his outfit is white and brown, indicating his refusal for acceptance as he hangs on to mortality. Brown is also the color of the devil; Louis believes that they “belong in hell” as children of Satan, and he continues to punish himself. Lestat leaves the house in a fury. The music is fast, matching the gallop of the horse. He rides through a large bonfire, the music is menacing, and it seems to turn as he turns his horse around and stares blankly at the slaves. Louis is pining in his house, when Yvette enters to console him. She is still wearing intuitive yellow, but now the collar of her dress is white, and much larger than before, embodying her innocence. Louis cannot fight the vampire in himself any longer as he attacks her. The music starts when she begins to die. It is again a passionate, but menacing organ. They fall to the ground as Louis attempts the stifle her screams. A large platter of red crawfish drops to the floor, as if Louis were spilling guilt for taking Yvette’s life. The music takes on a life of its own as the slaves surround the house. The pace quickens while Louis burns down the plantation. We feel the anger and disgust as the music keeps going, gaining in speed and pitch.
With the plantation gone, Louis and Lestat move to the French quarter of New Orleans. In his desperation, Lestat tortures two prostitutes in the desire of waking the vampire inside Louis. Lestat hopes that Louis will feel remorse for the pain the girl is undergoing, and that Louis’ eternal need for blood will cause him to take the girls life. Louis is clad in satanic brown and developmental green, representing his refusal to recognize his desire. We do see a hint of gold on his vest, foreshadowing that in the future, his need to take human life may emerge. Lestat is dressed in seemingly innocent white as he lures the girls into trusting him. The girl that is tortured is wearing a green dress, and she has red curly hair. The green of her dress represents her naiveté, along with her evil (she has murdered many sailors and stolen their money). Lestat threatens to make her a vampire, but Louis will not allow him. The color of her hair foreshadows the appearance of their future companion. Louis is disgusted with Lestat and demands him to end her life. In his rage he knocks a vase of red roses off the mantle, again displaying Louis overflowing guilt.
Louis leaves the rooms, and the music gives you a feel for his growing pain. He walks alone through the rainy night until he comes upon a crying child. Her mother has died of the plague, and is wearing gray, the color associated with the death of the body. The child cries to Louis, and the power of his need for human blood finally over takes, him and he feeds on her. When Louis comes upon her in the abandoned house the music is soft and child like, bearing a certain innocence. The girl is dressed in a simple yet deceptive cream dress. We assume because she is a child she is innocent, but the cream color displays that there is evil in her heart. While Louis feeds on her the music becomes dark, as she suffers. Lestat enters, and the music takes a turn, then it ends. Lestat is proud that Louis has allowed the passion to overtake him, and he commends him. Louis is ashamed and flees the room. The music quickens and we see Lestat gaze after him through the pouring rain, showing the vulnerability, and the pity that he feels. Lestat is wearing a green vest, illustrating that since he has made Louis, he is also evolving mentally and emotionally.
Lestat comes upon Louis in a drain below the city. Louis sits surrounded by an endless number of tiny rat corpses. Lestat consoles Louis by telling him that “Evil is a point of view. God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under god are as we are. None so like him...as ourselves.” Louis has been punishing himself for being evil, but Lestat tells him that it does not have to be that way. On his jacket Lestat has gold stitching, and gold can stand for the highest state of spiritual development. Throughout the movie Lestat has not told Louis anything that would help him become comfortable with being a vampire, yet with this statement we see that he does have this knowledge, and intuition. After hearing this, Louis no longer feeds on small animals, and he gives into the vampiric hunger inside him.
The child did not die, and Lestat brings her to there room to make them another companion. The white dress that she wears symbolizes the death from her mortal life and birth into immortality. The music of an organ is innocent, but there is a sinister violin playing deep notes in the background. Lestat has named the girl Claudia, and as he gives her his blood, a drum is heard pounding out there mixing heart beats. The intensity of the moment increases as the organ deepens. While she undergoes the transformation it grows and becomes an even single pitch. When she opens her eyes, and asks for more blood the music becomes sinister, but contented. The first time she slays a victim, the woman is wearing a red and white dress. These are the colors of the devil, portraying that Claudia will not have the problems Louis has had with fully accepting the dark gift. Claudia has curly red hair, showing the connection between her and the first girl that Lestat threatened to turn into a vampire. After she makes her kill, there is no music. This makes you focus on the disgust that Louis feels following Claudia’s transformation. You also feel Claudia’s confusion more clearly. She is only six years old and is unsure as to what has taken place and where her mother is.
Claudia fully accepts her vampiric tendencies from the beginning. The first dress that is made for her is a deep immortal blue. The blue also displays the knowledge and intelligence that Claudia possesses. Because her appearance is that of a child’s, Louis and Lestat treat her as one and do not recognize her intelligence. In the beginning Claudia shares a coffin with Louis. Later she wishes for her own, and she is bought a white coffin, large enough for a child. Claudia chooses white because it stands for purity. The irony is that Claudia appears to be a pure and innocent child, but is really an evil and sinister vampire. The white also symbolizes her loss of mortality. Her loss is not as great as Louis’, because she was so young when she was made and does not remember her mortality, but she does wonder what being human was like.
The vampires live together in seeming harmony for thirty years. One evening they are out wandering the town, when Claudia spots a young woman bathing herself. She wishes to be like her, but because she is a vampire she will never change from her childlike state. The dress that she is wearing is green, showing her need to grow up. Several evenings later Lestat brings her a new doll for her birthday. The doll is dressed in an immortal blue. These two colors, blue and green, stand for her need to grow up, but her contentment in immortality. Claudia questions Lestat as to why he is always dressing her like a doll, and doing her hair like a doll. He avoids the situation, and tells her to throw out her old dolls. Lestat is like a parent and can not let go and realize that Claudia is growing up. She still has the body of a six year old, but she has the maturity and intellect of a thirty year old woman.
She lashes out at Lestat and begins to throw her dolls around the room. The rotting corpse of the young woman they saw several days earlier is laying under the dolls. The music becomes a fast staccato, and you can feel Claudia’s furry, and irrationality. She runs from the room and grabs scissors to cut her hair so that she can change. Almost immediately her hair grows back. She becomes irrational, and begins to demand to know how she became this way. Lestat refuses to tell her, and she storms out of the house. The music becomes a slow realization that she will never change. Louis points to an old woman down on the street and tells her that she “will never grow old, and you will never die." Claudia slowly begins to comprehend that as long as she is with Lestat he will never let her grow past her mortal form.
A number of evenings later Claudia goes to Louis telling him that they have to leave Lestat. The irony is that she is plotting to kill Lestat, yet she is a wearing a pure, and simple white night gown. The music is a loud sorrowful sound, full of apparent feelings of regret. After she tells Louis that she does not hate him for what has happened, the music is full of love, and realization of what they need. Life away from Lestat. Because of her childlike innocence, Lestat can not comprehend what she is capable of. She seduces him into taking her gift of forgiveness, two apparently drunk young men. When Lestat begins to feast he realizes that she has poisoned the bodies. Claudia is wearing bright pink, showing her aggression and strength, and her cape is green, embodying her idea that once Lestat is dead, she can attain the growth that she needs. The ribbons of her cape are also violet, illustrating her hidden intelligence and knowledge. Lestat is again wearing blue. This foreshadows that Claudia will not totally kill him, but only injure him enough so that it will take time for him to recover. Claudia cuts his throat and leaves him to bleed on the carpet. Louis hears Lestat’s cries and comes to see what has happened. He is wearing devilish brown pants and a red vest, representing the pain that he will feel when he sees Lestat dying. They wrap Lestat in a pure white sheet, and leave his body in a swamp to rot.
Now that Lestat is dead Louis and Claudia plan to venture to Europe to seek out other immortals. On the evening that they leave, Claudia is dressed in blue and green. This may indicate her immortality, and need to grow, but also her hope that they will encounter other immortals in Europe. Louis is wearing browns, but now they display the happiness, and warmth that he feels with Claudia. Claudia sits playing the piano while Louis finishes packing the apartment, giving one the sense that everything is at peace. This tranquillity is shattered when the awful shrill of the door bell is heard from down stairs. Louis ventures down because he assumes that it is the carriage. When he opens the door there is dead silence, and no one is around. Suddenly from out of no where a hand flies up, and Lestat tries to grab Louis. He struggles free and grabs Claudia. They run upstairs but Lestat is at the piano waiting for them. Lestat’s skin is green, showing that he has grown as a person. He is still wearing his immortal blue vest. Even when Louis and Claudia try to kill him a second time, it can be inferred that he will not die. The music has escalated and when Louis drops the lamp at Lestat’s feet turning him into a fiery inferno, it reaches a deafening climax. One can feel Lestat’s pain, and the fear that exudes from Louis and Claudia.
Louis and Claudia flee the French Quarter and head for the boat. When they are safely aboard the music softens, and gives you a feel for the new beginning that they are about to attain. When they arrive in Paris, they quickly feel at home. Louis rents them rooms in an expensive hotel, and proceeds to give Claudia anything her heart desires. At a ball one evening Louis is dressed in an all black suit, as if he were gentleman death. Here we see that Claudia is taking over Lestat’s power, as she is dressed in a powerful and immortal golden gown. Louis needs someone to take charge and tell him what to do, Claudia with her wisdom has easily filled his need.
Just when Louis begins to lose all faith in ever finding another vampire, one finds him. The interior of Louis cape is yellow showing his faithlessness, but this new immortal, Santiago, wears blue inside of his cape, making it real for Louis. The music becomes fun and playful as this new immortal mocks Louis. He eventually becomes upset and the music stops abruptly when another vampire approaches. Armand is in all black, and offers Louis an invitation for him and Claudia to attend his theater the next evening. Armand then departs, leaving Louis excited and confused.
The next evening Louis and Claudia attend the play at the Theatre des Vampires. Claudia is wearing a blue and purple dress, showing off her immortality, power, and knowledge. Being so small, she does not want any of these new immortals to mistake her for some unknowing child. Louis is wearing brown and green, because he is now calm, and at peace after finding other vampires who can answer his questions. He is also ready to gain more knowledge, and the green represents his readiness to learn and grow mentally and spiritually. The vampires begin to perform a play, where Santiago is death. He goes through places telling individuals that no one can escape his power. A young girl is then brought onto the stage wearing a gray dress. She represents every humans impending death. Santiago strips her to her white undergarments, symbolizing the pallor of death, and also that death does not care how innocent an individual maybe, he will take who he wants.
Armand takes Louis and Claudia below the theater and welcomes them to his home. Armand is dressed black, representing his awesome divinity, as he can never die. He also has golden gray embroidery around his vest, again showing his powerful immortality. Armand believes that he is the oldest living vampire, and his colors show his arrogance and confidence. Louis longs for answers, but once again he is not able to receive them. Armand tells him that he does not know anything about god or the devil. He points out to Louis that the devil is a child of god, so there really are no children of the devil, we are all children of god. Louis cannot accept that there are no answers, and leaves upset that he has “hated Lestat for all the wrong reasons", because maybe there really are no answers.
The next evening Louis visits Armand again because he fears for Claudia. She had told him the night before that Armand’s soul was telling her to leave Louis. Armand warns him that Claudia is indeed in danger, and Louis leaves to think. When he arrives home, Claudia is sitting on a bed in immortal blue, and next to her a stranger sits in a nieve green dress. Claudia has found herself a new companion because Louis has now found Armand. Louis is dressed in red, showing his pain and suffering as he refuses to make Madeleine a vampire. He will not put anyone through the torment that he has suffered for the past fifty years. With her commanding power Claudia eventually forces Louis to do this for her. When it is all over, Louis tells Claudia “We are now even...What died in that room was not that woman. What has died is the last breath in me that was human.” Louis has finally gained full detachment, something that he has longed for. His vest is also a brown gold color, representing his growing acceptance of immortality.
The vampires from the theater attack Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine, and take them back to the theater. Claudia is to die because she killed Lestat, the ultimate crime of murdering another vampire. Louis will suffer eternity in a locked coffin, and Madeleine will join Claudia in death, a mother dying with her daughter. The next evening Armand frees Louis, but he allowed Claudia to perish in the morning sun. Knowing that as long as she was alive, Louis would never be his companion. When Louis sees Claudia’s burnt ashen body, he goes insane and plots revenge. Just before sunrise he goes to the theater and burns it to the ground, only him and Armand are left alive. Several days later they walk together in the louvre. Armand longs for Louis to be his companion, and he now wears green demonstrating the knowledge he has gained from Louis. Louis wears brown, green, and orange, showing that he is now happy and contemplative, but he cannot stay with Armand because of what has happened to Claudia.
The years pass by, and Louis eventually moves back to New Orleans. One evening he senses death, and knows that Lestat is near. He enters a broken down mansion, and immediately disturbs sleeping bats, ironical as bats are associated with vampires. Lestat is cowering in a corner wrapped in a green blanket. He begs Louis to join him again, that he has changed, and they could be happy together again. A helicopter then flies by, shining a bright blue light on Lestat, as if to highlight his immortality. One can see that Lestat will not stay in this cowering state forever, but he will soon become how he used to be.
This ends the vampire's story. Daniel refuses to believe that it could end like this. He wants to become a vampire, and believes that this was why Louis brought him here. Louis becomes enraged, he lifts the boy by the throat and then asks if this is what he wants, to be “food for the immortals,” then he is gone. Daniel grabs his stuff, leaves the building, and gets into his red convertible. As he drives down the road he plays the first of the tapes he has made of the interview. The music in the background is soft and peaceful, when out of nowhere Lestat appears and attacks Daniel. Lestat’s color comes back to him as he begins to look like his old self again, and he is now dressed in immortal blue. Daniel lies stunned in the front seat as Lestat drives off into the night, listening to Sympathy for the Devil play on the radio.
Without strong colors, Interview with the Vampire would not have been as powerful a movie as it was. The colors give forth the feelings and ideals of the characters. Throughout the movie the director used colors in a way to portray the feelings that Anne Rice had in her book. Color, along with empowering music and dialog, brought the movie together to tell a tale of grief over two-hundred years. In literature authors use several means of expression, without color, directors could never convey the same emotions. A movie would be a hollow shell of a story, but with color, directors are able to take movies in a direction never ventured before.
Interview with the Vampire. Dir. Niel Jordan. Geffen Pictures. 1994
Rice, Anne. A.R. on IWTV. [on line]. Available HTTP: http: //www.xroads.com/pages/gpalmer/ar-iwtv.html. 1994
Cooper, J.C. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols. Thames and Hudson: London. 1978.
Farbrridge, Maurice H. Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism. KTAV Publishing House Inc. 1970.
Biedermann, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism. Facts on File: New York. 1992
