Abstract

This paper aimed to identify and discuss some aspects through which the issue of intercultural identity is reflected in film critique. The two forms analysed were film reviews and series reviews, as these two forms of cinematographic art differ in numerous ways, from the construction of the story and its length to narratological devices, thematic interests, and features of style and tone. These concepts were identified and further discussed in this research by establishing the reasearch on reviews extracted from various digital platforms and professional sites of cinematography critique, all exploring the particularities of two depictions of Anne Rice’s famous novel, Interview with the Vampire, these being the 1994 film, directed by Neil Jordan, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst, in contrast to the longer adaptation created by AMC: the 2022 TV series, starring Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Bailey Bass and Delainey Hayles.

  In line with our analysis, a large variety of differences was noted in the manner in which the evaluative and descriptive language adopted by critics assessed the value of those visual depictions of Rice’s novel. The comparative evaluation demonstrated the function of critique as a process of interpretation across contexts, especially when put aside issues of intercultural identity of various characters, focusing mainly on the appearance and the cultural heritage (between originality and blend) for Louis and Claudia. Therefore, the results demonstrated that by linking vampiric immortality with the unique experience of isolated and oppressed identities, the series reviews are capable of becoing a pair of lens through which Rice’s novel is reshaped into a reflection on cultural exchange, moral responsibility, ethical tension and the continuous quest for personal identity; themes and ideas briefly voiced in film reviews, in accordance to the structure of these two types of cinematographic depictions.