The Wisdom of Crocodiles

For a vampire movie set in modern-day England, "The Wisdom of Crocodiles" is peculiarly bloodless. But then, vampire hunger is more a metaphor than a cue for screaming, and sucking in this chilly love story, a philosophical thriller that's no less intriguing for being murkily theological and ceaselessly artsy.

"The line that separates good and evil cuts through every human heart," Steven murmurs to Anna. And that's just one of the many quotable Steven spouts to explain his dilemma: He needs nourishment from a woman's love - but he is doomed to destroy love in the process.

Steven also sustains a Russian-lit-like relationship with a detective on his trail, a man who takes his Catholicism as portentously as Steven takes his existential crisis. Through all the agony and ecstasy, Chinese-born, English-educated film-maker Po Chih Leong, working from an epigrammatic script, sustains a luxury-loving interest in the play of light on texture: Fountain pens have rarely looked more sensuous, nor vampires more like aesthetes who are never too blood-starved to appreciate fine craftsmanship.

I thought this film was quite good and more genuine in its story, for it questions the wisdom of passion.Jude Law is incredibly vulnerable , yet fiercely determined ,in his portrayal of a lovestruck, obsessed vampire.The object of his desire is a very sassy lady who brings elements to the film that are unpredictable.Some of Law's scenes are gross, but therein lies a victim in him.It carries a lot of tension , for I did not know where the plot was going-I like that.I try to guess the outcome of movies as I watch them. A lot of movies are just too predictable; this one is not.If you like a different kind of vampire film, with a lot of emotion and some sexy love scenes, this is a movie you'll love.If you are a fan of Jude, by all means see it.He uses his eyes in incredibly intense and versatile ways. He is charming and kind to people.He's also not afraid of looking absolutely horrible.He's more than a pretty face, much more. I would compare this more to "Basic Instinct" and "Fatal Attraction" than any of the Dracula films. But be warned: although this is not your typical vampire film, there is a lot of bloodshed.

There is nothing about this film's jacket that impresses one with the thought provoking dialog that is inside. I am most impressed with this film as among the few that causes me to become introspective.

The discussion that Steven Grlscz (Jude Law) has with Healey about good and evil, is the essence of the film. "Evil isn't just malice, murder and rape and massacre. Before everything, the devil is the father of lies. The lies you tell, the truth you don't tell. Everything hidden is theft. Everything reserved from those we love is fraud. And there's always something, isn't there? What everyone wants is for evil people to be off insidiously committing evil deeds. Then they can be separate from ordinary men and women and destroyed. But the line that separates good and evil cuts through every human heart. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart."

Is Grlscz unknowingly speaking his own epitaph? Worthy viewing for those who think.

This is the umpteenth story of the lonesome vampire who's got to bite -only women here- to survive.You get the picture?Directing is listless and does not create any stir.So why bother?

Because Jude here carries the world upon his shoulders ;and he seems to realize that the director here doesn't even play it cool and thus makes his world a little colder.That is to say Jude Law saves the movie from absolute mediocrity.He's prodigious notably in two scenes that would be undistinguished without his presence:the first in the tube with the hoodlums where he mesmerizes the whole pack and even the cop ;the second in the hospital when he talks to the little girl,smiling sweetly .The wisdom of crocodiles indeed.One wishes Roman Polanski had directed him.

The Wisdom if Crocodiles is a very well made, character driven vampire film, that does away with many of the clichés associated with vampire films for the better.

The film centres around it's central character, Steven Grlscz, his relationship with women, and the police, who eventually suspect him of murder.

Steven doesn't have fangs, (which incidentally, were first brought into the vampire myths by the Hammer films.) doesn't burn up in the sunlight, (or even worse, go around wearing sunglasses and black in the day.) he is not a poseur, he is a real vampire. He needs to drink blood to live, for reasons that are revealed gently throughout the film.

The films success lies in it's shedding of these usual clichés, to make something that is less a part of a fantasy world, a more grounded in reality. This is fully represented through the whole of the films strata, for example when a fight breaks out involving local thugs, we are not treated to a slow-motion fest set to some industrial metal or matrix-like techno, but a realistic scrap, with a weird white noise sound crossed with choral singing musical accompaniment.

The film is also successful in some small touches that make it worth re-watching. Some little things that seem normal on a first viewing, that take up perhaps a second, are seen in a different way on repeat viewings. I find this quite a admirable addition to the films quality.

To sum up, The Wisdom of Crocodiles is an inventive, intelligent vampire film, without the clichés, grounded in reality and definitely worth watching.