La sagesse des crocodiles

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.

As a vampire-movie enthusiast I had some high hopes for this picture. Jude Law usually makes for pleasant watching and Elina Lowensohn matches perfectly. That's the first good thing about the movie that really stood out to me: the casting is perfect. Not stereotypical, but very believable and right on target.

The movie is a bit slow and doesn't offer a lot in the way of a horror-movie as most viewers might expect it to, but it tells an engaging story. The plot isn't overly original, but when you look at some of the details, it's obviously well thought out. I loved most of the dialogue: witty, to the point and original. No fake grandeur or excessive posing (like many vampire movies do have), subtle jokes and no giveaways by the characters.

The movie is a good one overall, but even on its strong points, it sometimes misses genius and excellence, so only a 7 for this one.

The film is named 'Immortality' in the DVD version I saw, and the alternative title is not listed in IMDb, which almost made it the first movie I would miss when doing a search in IMDb!

Not that I have too much to say about this film. It is certainly not an enjoyable experience. The script is bad, with literary ambitions that are never fulfilled by real emotions. The atmosphere (kind of London outside, definitely Beverly Hills interiors) brings nothing new to the genre. The plot is slow, trailing, and the end is what can be defined a real anti-climax. There is some good acting, though - Jude Law in one of his pre-A.I. movies gives me reason to believe that with some luck he will fall upon a great script, and a good director and make his Oscar day. It is not enough to save an un-pleasant and un-satisfying cinema experience.

Unless you are a fan of vampire movies, you have no reason to pick it from the shelves.

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.

The Wisdom of Crocodiles is one of a new breed of vampire movies. Probably started by Abel Ferrera's "The Addiction", vampirism has turned into a sort of curse that turns it's afflicted into brooding philosophers. Gone are the vampire bats, wooden stakes and crucifixes that once were the staples of the genre, and the vampire genre has been changed into a commentary on disease. However, I'm all for innovation, even if it's not always advisable innovation, and The Wisdom of Crocodiles is one of the better 'new wave' vampire films. It actually seems to be taking more influence from George Romero's excellent 'Martin' than 'The Addiction' anyway. The Wisdom of Crocodiles (great name, by the way) stars Jude Law, in a tight performance, as a man afflicted with some sort of curse that forces him to suck the blood of women while in the act of lovemaking. To say any more than that would mean spoiling it, so I'll leave it there.

The Wisdom of Crocodiles has gained itself something of a cult following, and the channel I saw it on even introduced it as a 'cult classic'. I think this is an incorrect description of the film, as although it's not bad and certainly has it's moments; it hardly has the same qualities as true cult masterpieces, such as the aforementioned 'Martin'. The film benefits from a brooding atmosphere that is created by a brooding musical score that plays through almost the entire running time. This never gets annoying however, as the music is good and almost always adds to the images seen on screen. The film is slowly plotted, which might annoy some people and it's littered with philosophical ideas that Jude Law utters for a lot of the running time. This will probably irritate people that tuned in expecting a vampire movie, especially as there's little bloodletting, but some of the ideas put forward are fairly interesting, and keep the film alive.

This film shouldn't really be in with the classic vampire films at all, as it's a completely different animal (I suppose they couldn't really put it in with 'brooding cursed people', though). Vampire fans should take note of this, but even without the classic vampire thrills; there is much to like about this British chiller.