Only Lovers Left Alive

One knows that a Jim Jarmusch movie about vampires is not going to be like any other vampire film. In fact it would be unkind to class this as a vampire movie. Only Lovers Left Alive is a highly stylized and atmospheric film bemoaning the passing of the great rock n roll and Hippy era. Here we have a vampire couple (Swinton & Hiddleston - both excellent and perfectly cast) living an isolated life in an abandoned house in Detroit, USA. Hiddleston used to be a famous rock n roll artist who has become a recluse collecting old guitars and records. They survive by purchasing blood samples from a corrupt doctor. We also have one of their old vampire friends (John Hurt) living in Tangiers where the blood is specially pure. Things take an unexpected turn when Swinton's mischievous sister (Mia Wasikowska) visits them. Only Lovers Left Alive has cult film written all over it. The music is great too and blends perfectly with the atmosphere. Essential for Jarmusch fans and recommended to others too!

Wonderful imagery. style and atmosphere in the extreme. great acting. Beauty in many forms: you get a lot for your eyes. Also, depending on your taste in music, there is also a lot for your ears.

For your brain, sadly, not as much.

"Only lovers left alive" is filled with a lot of name-dropping, by word, picture and sometimes sound. Whether you find that fascinating or pretentious depends on your taste.

But what this movie really lacks is a story. The characters are throughout and the dialogue may be scarce, but has some dry humour and snappy lines. That doesn't save it from going nowhere. Glaring plot holes may make you cringe at times. And the pacing looks like Jarmush tried to surpass Kaurismäki in terms of slowness. If so, he won.

So perhaps this movie is best tasted in the state its protagonists enter after relishing an excellent glass of blood: dazed, blissful, and somewhat drugged.

In a world of vampires, Adam (Tom Hiddleston) is a reclusive musician with a helper Ian (Anton Yelchin). Eve (Tilda Swinton) finds old friend Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt). Eve reconnects with Adam. They are both evolved beyond their bloodlust. They roam the deserted streets of Detroit. However they are interrupted by her wild little sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska).

It's an interesting take on the vampires. It's certainly a nice break from all the young adult vampire fares. It's got Jim Jarmusch's style of a slow deliberate indie. Tilda makes a great vampire. Tom Hiddleston fits quite nicely with Tilda. This is not a big studio churning out another vampire movie. It's moody. It has a few funny touches. It's outside the box. Mia doesn't come in until after halfway through the movie. The first half has this dreamy ethereal quality about it. I'm not sure Mia is good at playing the wild child. She is very much playing a spoiled child but she needs to be more dangerous. The movie needs to see her violence. Maybe Jarmusch thinks that actual violence would conflict with the tone of the movie. I just felt that could have been better.

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE pulls no punches with its audience; it expects us to take note of the literary references peppering the script, to figures old and new, making us away of the transhistoricity of the love-affair between Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton). In a world becoming increasingly disheveled and uninhabitable - the shots of a desolate Detroit are especially affecting - their love remains the only constant. However director Jim Jarmusch suggests that they need an outside transfusion of perfect blood to keep their affair going, something that can only be provided through a few sources, notably through Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt), who lives in a dark, dingy café in Tangier (another place deliberately chosen by director Jarmusch as the symbol of a place where trade and/or exchange has historically always occurred). When the blood runs out, so Adam and Eve have to resort to more direct methods of sustaining themselves. The ambiances evoked through this film are memorable; the zombie culture populated by Adam and Ava (Mia Wasikowska), the labyrinthine streets of Tangier, where sellers on every corner offer "something special" - which is not special enough for Adam and Eve. Within this ambiance the love-story is strangely haunting: we care for the two protagonists and their future, even though we are aware that their affair has continues for centuries. The film doesn't necessarily offer an optimistic conclusion, but at least it suggests that Adam and Eve will continue stay alive, at whatever cost.

From the moment I heard that Jim Jarmusch was working on a vampire film I was intrigued and was desperate to see what the result would be. It did not disappoint for a second.

Enchantingly atmospheric, it centres around Adam and Eve, two age-old vampires whose marriage has endured centuries of humanity's slap-dash efforts at building worthwhile civilisations.

It strikes a very unusual tone for a film in this genre, although fans of Jarmusch will be used to a certain amount of genre-straddling and refusal to make easily pigeon-holed films. Don't come into this expecting a plot driven film, or especially not a CGI gore-fest akin to a lot of the lazily produced horror/fantasy material that seems so abundant at the moment. The focus is much more on creating an authentic feel and intriguing characters. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are virtually infallible in convincingly playing world-weary characters who have lived through plagues, inquisitions and the development of a flawed modern society.

Mia Wasikowska's arrival as Eve's volatile sister Ava is foreseen with a palpable sense of foreboding, providing an uneasy counterpart to Adam and Eve's relative level-headedness, and steps up the stakes for the final act.

John Hurt also deserves a mention for his typically assured and accomplished performance, albeit in a relatively small part.

Overall, an extremely adept piece of filmmaking, which has revitalised a genre which I, for one, was about ready to call time on.