Plot:
After some research and a psychic awakening, filmmaker Barry Curran has found out that he is the reincarnation of Vlad III Dracula.
Our thoughts:
A while back we reviewed the webseries "Head Shop Men", by Irish filmmaker Barry Curran. Earlier this year I got an e-mail from the filmmaker about his new short documentary, titled "I Am Dracula", which is about his own discovery of him being the reincarnation of Dracula. It has taken me a while to get to this short film, much because I wasn't sure what to make of it. It's especially hard to decide how to phrase my opinion of it, since I am personally not a believer of what this documentary is about: reincarnation.
Barry Curran, I suppose now more known as Bar Dracul Curran, has shaped this documentary almost as a audiovisual letter about his findings. It's told through imagery that is more about giving an atmosphere rather than showing a story, while Bar as a narrator guides us through the idea of reincarnation, how he came to discover that he is the reincarnation of Vlad, and what our purpose on this planet really is.
While I think that simply telling us the story through narration is an appropriate way for an indie filmmaker to create a documentary about himself, it also becomes harder to truly believe in the subject. It falls somewhat flat and we're left with someone who really believes in something, but is just romanticising the idea rather than convincing us. Perhaps if this was a more in-depth dive into the idea of reincarnation, Vlad and Bar himself, done through interviews by someone experienced, then it would have been easier for us to consider the idea. Unfortunately, "I Am Dracula" just comes off as cheesy and with no evidence.
That takes me to my next point. Evidence. I am not a believer in reincarnation to begin with, but I am open to what other people believe. The way "I Am Dracula" was made does not make a great case for it. First of all, even if I did believe in reincarnation, I don't think the odds are for Bar/Barry to actually have been Dracula. His evidence is that they are of the same rare blood type, they look kinda the same, both "Barry" and "Curran" means "Spear" (which you can impale people with), and something about the dates of Vlad's year of death and Barry's year of birth. I understand that he is convinced, but as a viewer of his documentary I am not.
The short documentary is fairly decently made. It has some issues where the narration is a but muffled and hard to hear behind the background music, but other than that it delivers the atmosphere that was intended. It has a mystery to it, which is probably the most important aspect to a documentary like this. Since it's hard to hear at times, and it treats the subject in a romanticising, poem-like manner, there are times when it all feels a bit stale. It gets overshadowed by a feeling of angsty pretention. That might just be because I don't really believe in the subject though. If you are curious then you should absolutely give it a watch, and look deeper into it if Bar has you convinced!
Note: No ratings for this, since it's a documentary. |
