Byzantium

In the present days, the lonely sixteen year-old Eleanor "Ella" Webb (Saoirse Ronan) and his sexy and protective mother Clara (Gemma Arterton) have been vampires for two hundred years. When a dangerous stranger hunts Clara down, she kills him, burns her apartment and flees with Ella to a coastal town. Clara meets the lonely Noel (Daniel Mays) that is grieving the loss of his mother and is completely broken and he lodges them in his derelict Byzantium, a former hotel and bed-and- breakfast that belonged to his mother. Clara sees the chance to make money with a brothel for Noel and for her. Eleanor befriends the teenager Frank (Caleb Landry Jones), who has leukemia, and they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile two strangers are tracking Clara through the deaths of their victims. Eleanor is tired of living on the run and decides to tell their secret to Frank, but there are parts in Clara's past that she does not know.

"Byzantium" is a classy and stylish vampire movie directed by Neil Jordan. The story is disclosed in slow pace and the characters are very well constructed. The performances are top-notch and Clara has an amoral behavior while her daughter is the opposite, but there is explanation along the story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Eleanor Webb (Saoirse Ronan) writes her life story in her journal and then discards the pages. She tells an elderly man about Clara (Gemma Arterton). Clara works at a strip club and is chased by Werner. She would cut his head off. Meanwhile Eleanor kills the old man by sucking out all his blood. Eleanor finds Clara with the dead body and they have to go on the run. They escape to a coastal town and finds lonely Noel (Daniel Mays) who lets them stay at his deserted hotel Byzantium. She has a certain hold on men. Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) befriends the piano playing Eleanor. Clara is Eleanor's mother born some 200 years ago who was turned into a prostitute by Captain Ruthven (Jonny Lee Miller).

Director Neil Jordan brings a sense of emotional suffering into the vampire genre more than any of the young adult fare. It's much more of a character study and their internal struggles. There is sex but there is no sexiness to the story. It is about emotional pain. There is some blood splattering. This is mostly a depressed, moody, brutal take on the vampire. The start is a bit slow. It wallows in its moodiness too much. I like it to be more brutal physically to make its emotional brutality come out more. It would help to see Eleanor suffer as she sucks out blood. It would also help to show the bloodthirsty Clara a little sooner. She's a wild and crazy character. The build is a little too slow. Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton are both terrific. Gemma does some of her best work. This movie has such a great mother daughter conflict.

This poster drew me to this film. Not the poster shown here on IMDb, but the colorful green, yellow and red which are used other places. I wasn't expecting too much, but was surprise ad when I saw the casting, and that it was a Neil Jordan-flick. I've admired Jordan since I saw The Crying Game.

This story reminds me quite a bit about the Swedish "Låt den retta komma in" ("Let the right one in"). It has the right realism which made the the Swedish film so special, and the same coloring tone. The scenery in the beautiful harbor tine of Hastings are perfect, and it really made me want to visit there, which I will, most certainly. Combined with the Dickens inspired older sessions in the movie.

If there were justice in this works, this would have had the success of "Twilight", or rather instead of. It's very British, stylish, bleak, beautiful, and the casting is simply perfect, like it seems in all British films.

The idea is simply brilliant, and I love the idea of vampires running a brothel, as well as the depth of the longing for a different life. It's desperate.

Saoirse Ronan is once again electric, and the third film I've seen in a short time with Caleb Landry Jones (both fabulous, "Antiviral" and "Contraband") convinces me he is a big star in the making. Gemma Atherton is perfect.

I found the storytelling excellent, and I was very entertained all way through, though this isn't really my type of story. I think the ancient part of the story is good, but I think the red bloody waterfall is a bit over the top, and also slows the story and the believability. But otherwise this is grand film making.

Really enjoyed this film although I was a bit lost for the first half hour or so as I was expecting something quite different than this film delivered however as the "Story" unfolds at a fairly slow pace you feel quite drawn to the two leading characters "Eleanor and Clara" and at this time I would like to mention I was quite impressed with the acting of these two ladies Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton as compared to other films I have seen them in. This film is not easily compared to anything else that I can think of as it is not Quite a Horror film or really a Vampire film, but the thing I found I kept forgetting it was Just A Story and not "Real" as the film was very well presented in the quality of the acting and filming techniques gave it "Reality" feel. I am avoiding too much of the Detail as I believe you are better off not knowing too much about it, if you like a good quality film with a good story line that is not quite about Vampires. For those that may have the usual questions,the "Blood and Guts" are very minimal as is vision of any nudity.My best description is that it is a Love story of a parent for a child.I gave this an 8 as I feel it is a better film than the current rating suggests.......

I have just seen this film as part of the famous Bridport Film Festival called "From page to screen". It features films that have been adapted from books and are very often accompanied, either before or after the screening, by a question and answer session with either the Director, Producer or Author etc. Bridport is in the county of Dorsetshire in the United Kingdom. This pre-release screening of Byzantium was enhanced by a very informative Q&A with the Producer Stephen Woolley. If you are expecting fangs, crucifixes, coffins and garlic prepare to be surprised! These vampires are a new take on a familiar theme. Much of the film is shot on location in the seaside town of Hastings which gives it a fabulously grungy and stark atmosphere. I have to admit that I didn't really want to go and see "another" vampire film. Believe me when I say that this is not just "another" vampire film.