Only Lovers Left Alive
(2013) 123 Min.
Rated: R (Nudity)
Country: Germany / UK / France / Greece
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Stars: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt
Links: IMDB | Wikipedia
Rating: ★★★★☆
Two vampire lovers lament living in modern times and surround themselves with nostalgic things.
Synopsis:
A couple of vampires who have been married for centuries are at the start of the film living far apart. Eve (Swinton) is in Tangier with the couple’s mutual friend and fellow vampire Christopher Marlowe (Hurt).
Adam (Hiddleston), meanwhile, is living in Detroit in an old victorian house creating music on vintage instruments and putting his music out anonymously. He does so with the help of a young man named Ian.
Adam is feeling depressed and asks Ian to get a wooden bullet made for him, for a “project”. The actual intention being suicide. During a phone call, Eve senses Adam’s depression and decides to visit him.
They reunite and share a stash of “the good stuff” Type O negative blood. While Adam is out Eve finds the bullet and the gun and confronts him. She feels that he’s wasting the opportunity that they have to enjoy life, culture and knowledge.
They spend much of their time driving down Detroits streets at night and visiting abandoned buildings with historic significance.
Suddenly one day Ava (Wasikowska), Eve’s younger sister shows up. She drinks all their good blood and encourages them to go out and party. After the end of a long night of partying… The next evening it seems that Ava has killed Ian by drinking all his blood. Adam and Eve kick Ava out of the house. For them killing people brings too much attention.
The pair dump Ian’s body in an abandoned building in Detroit where the remains quickly dissolve in a chemical acid bath. They then plan a trip to return back to Tangier.
Once they arrive in Tangier they find that their good friend Marlowe has drunk “bad blood” and is on his death bed. Marlowe tells them that the supply they once had is no longer good. Marlowe also admits to writing all of Shakespeare’s plays before dying.
Eve takes all of Adam’s cash and promises to buy him a gift. She returns with a lute for Adam as he is mesmerized by a singer in a club. The pair then sit outside, tired and hungry.
They spot a couple kissing in the street. They contemplate the consequences of drinking blood of strangers but feel they have no choice and approach the couple with fangs bared.
Review:
The film is a slow paced stylistic approach to the romantic notion of vampires. This is nowhere near Twilight, but it certainly isn’t Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Nosferatu. These vampires are relaxed lovers of life, music, beauty and knowledge.
These hipster vampires spend their days reading or writing music and partake in a blood high.
This film is oozing with style and a slow pace. The story is there, but only just barely. There is some clever dialogue but it’s drowned out in historical name dropping. These vampires are in love and in love with the idea that they’ve experienced so much history.
I liked some aspects of this film. The music was fun, the slow pace was okay for my tastes, but this film really didn’t have too much going for it beneath the superficial aspects. It was more style over substance for my tastes. This film, however, isn’t bad. It’s quite likable and probably can be on a “favorites” list of someone for whom it presses all the right buttons.
It’s definitely got vampire style written all over it. It just lacks the struggle of life as a vampire, that aspect is only slightly touched upon in the film. I feel like focusing more on the struggle might’ve added more dimension to the characters. Instead we get them waiting for death, and casually deciding to just drink the couple conveniently nearby.