The Van Helsing in Bram Stokers Novel, Nosferatus 1922, Browning 1931, and Francis Ford Coppolas Dracula, all show different variations of one of literature and films most famous and heroic heroes.
Van Helsing is known to be one of the most educated and nearly superhuman scientists in the story. The first time that Van Helsing is introduced as the medical genius is when Lucy Westenra has fallen ill, due to Vampirism. Evolving this point on, Van Helsing is group leader is the fight against Count Dracula. Overall, though the lines are blurred as different versions of the epic story are retold, Van Helsing serves as the driving force for good. He represents the good as Dracula represents the evil.
Specifically, in the Bram Stoker novel, Van Helsing’s character is clearly depicted as the heroic, representation of all knowing and all good. In relation to Dracula, his character is the representation of its opposite. It is one titan against the other in a fictional tale playing off of survival of the fittest. In the book, Van Helsing’s medical practices are very clear. His character seems to have a further knowledge than all the rest. He has a dominating confidence in his abilities to break through the barriers of normal, what they refer to as “western” medicine. In the book, Van Helsing is separated from the group because of his all knowing doctorate in medicine, and his somewhat “waspy” personality. He uses forces outside of the human realm to fight against something that is entirely not human.
In the 1922 film, Nosferatu, Van Helsing is an entirely different character in itself. It would be tough to compare his different uses of medical styles in this film, because he is fairly absent as the role of Draculas antagonist. The character of Van Helsing, named Bulwer, is absent from the adaptation of the Dracula story. (Nosferatu, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosferatu)
In Browning 1931 version, Van Helsing is back. Van Helsing really comes into play right after Lucy’s death. In my opinion, and though this is accentuated even more in Coppolas film, Browning depicts a darker side to Van Helsing in this 1931 film as well. After watching this film, I was left a bit confused to this sudden parallel between the good and evil characters. Though, once I thought about it more suddenly and researched the idea a bit, I understand now that their similarity is derived from their inherent difference. Van Helsing and Dracula are both represented as having more layers. By this I mean they are the most in depth, able to see past just the surface. (366 Weird Movies, wordpress.com).
Flashing forward to Coppola’s Dracula, the main difference here is that though in Brownings film Van Helsing is more paralleled to Dracula in the sense of being more layered, Coppola’s Dracula introduces a more evil Van Helsing. The very large difference in Van Helsing’s character in this movie is that instead of blurring the lines of similarity through knowledge, Coppola blurs the line of actual good and evil. In all the other adaptation, including the book, Van Helsing and Dracula are either representations of the opposite of similar in a knowledge and intellectual way. Coppola blurred the line between good and evil, putting Van Helsing in a far more superhuman light.
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