Byzantium

... This is how to make a vampire film.

I find it difficult to fault this film. The plot is intelligent and engaging. No one is entirely black or white. The heroes are flawed and complicated, the villains, for the most part, have motivation and even sympathy. I found myself rooting for the murderous, vampiric prostitute as much for the innocent girl trapped into releasing those tired of life.

It's really two films, one set 200 hundred years ago, one in the present time, with many of the same characters and the same location, Hastings, once a fishing village, now a tired seaside resort.

The actors are very good, particularly the leads. As a resident of SE England, I recognised many of the locations. The ending was perhaps a little predictable, but still satisfying.

Don't go see this if you like your vampires to sparkle, but if you liked Let The Right One In and gritty drama, go watch it.

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.

Byzantium is more a study of being human than being vampire and holds the attention easily with strong lead performances. At the center is actually a mother daughter relationship, a question of nature versus nurture and survival. As well as all the vices of humankind thrown in for good measure. In this movie the vampires are all human, albeit changed and remain human, albeit enhanced but at a cost and within the shadows of normal living. Life and death of course are issues and living,if we could live forever would we rise above what we are? Questions within. Really enjoyed this and good to see Saiorse Ronan back on form after that terrible Alien outing. Gemma Arterton also puts in a great performance. This is billed as a vampire movie however I'd recommend it to anyone as although the elements are there its very far from what you'd expect of a movie of that genre.

'BYZANTIUM': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Another vampire tale from director Neil Jordan (who also directed the critically acclaimed 1994 film adaptation of Anne Rice's popular book 'INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES'). This movie is based on the play by Moira Buffini (she also wrote the screenplay) and tells the story of a mother and daughter vampire duo who have been on the run for 200 years. It stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as the mother and daughter vampires and co-stars Sam Riley, Johnny Lee Miller, Caleb Landry Jones and Daniel Mays. It's a pretty standard vampire film with some nice directing and decent acting.

Arterton plays Clara and Ronan plays her daughter Elanor (even though she's only eight years younger than Arterton). They've remained the same age for 200 years (when they became vampires, that can live in the sun) and need human blood to survive. They're constantly on the run from other vampires (as they've broken their 'brotherhood's laws). Clara has now befriended the shy Noel (Mays) and is running a brothel out of his recently inherited rundown coastal hotel (the Byzantium). Elanor has fallen for a young waiter named Frank (Jones) and has begun exposing her and her mother's secrets to him, through (what he thinks) is a beautiful fictional story.

The movie looks good and Arterton (like always) is gorgeous in it. She makes a great femme fatale vampire and Ronan is decently cast as her sheltered daughter. Jordan's directing is fitting and the story is interesting, if you like vampire movies (although I didn't like it that these vampires can survive in the sun). It's nice to see a vampire movie about a mother and daughter for a change and the romance and male characters are pretty minimal. It's also interesting to see sympathetic vampires, in a film, that still kill and prey on innocent people. Very flawed heroes to say the least. It's nowhere near as classic as Jordan's 'INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE' but it's still a decent vampire flick.

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Over the course of five years I think it's safe to say the reputation of vampires has been well and truly tarnished. Instead of being blood sucking beasts, audiences seem more interested in watching them make love and glisten in the sunlight, however that's were director Neil Jordan steps in. Admittedly Byzantium isn't the most traditional vampire movie, but that's not a problem, because the end result is a fresh, innovative take on the creatures that may have installed some credibility in the post Twilight era.

Essentially the main-plot of Byzantium follows the mother and daughter duo of Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan. The two continuously move from location to location due to them having to hide their secret that no-one is aware of, however upon seeking refuge at a rundown coastal area, their secret is uncovered, which results in their past calling for blood.

Now as I have said, in the last few years vampires have been getting a hard time. Whenever you see or hear of vampires these days, the first thing that usually comes to mind is that of Robert Pattison. Personally I am not a fan of the Twilight movies and I have to confess I was quite sceptical going into Byzantium, due to the supposed vampire themes. However, I am happy to report that Byzantium is an original, different and genuinely great movie that I would regard as one of my favourite films of the year so far.

The films concept is in my opinion superb. As soon as the film began I was invested. One thing that I liked in particular was that the film showcased rarely a dull moment. It is very well paced and the story is just great, with some rather intriguing flashback sequences being utilised brilliantly to connect all the dots.

Aside from being very well written, the films' setting is another factor as to what makes it so enjoyable. Personally I felt that the run-down coastal setting was just superb. Not only because it sets the tone and feel of the movie, but it just gave it that added creepiness that you would expect from a movie like this.

The cinematography is very good and in terms of visuals I think the film was one of the best looking that I have seen in a long time. Understandably the mood is very dark and occasionally quite Gothic, but again, not only is the seaside primitive in establishing that, some of the other locations really are just as good.

Aside from Jordan's fantastic direction, the thing I liked most about Byzantium was the acting from its two leading ladies. Beginning with Saoirse Ronan, as we all know she is a fantastic young actress who very rarely fails to come up with the goods. In this movie she is playing quite a reserved, intellectual who is quiet but intriguing nonetheless, whereas her on screen mother portrayed by Gemma Arterton is the exact opposite. Now I think it would be unfair to compare the two because although they are both playing vampires, they are very different characters to say the least. There's no two ways around it, Ronan is genuinely great in this movie, but I thought the real star of the show was Gemma Arterton, who I felt was absolutely fantastic. In my opinion Arterton showed a very different side to her normal self in this movie. Whilst I wouldn't go as far as saying the role was too demanding, I have never seen her play a part like this, and honestly I think she should do it more often, because it has shown a massive amount of versatility on her part.

In terms of chemistry Ronan and Arterton work wonders on screen and if it wasn't for their performances I honestly think that this movie would have panned out very differently. So in terms of casting I think it's a job well done.

This really isn't the type of film that you're going to forget in a hurry. Personally I could watch it again and that really is saying something, as I rarely watch something more than once, however with that being said one final thing that I would like to touch upon would be the musical score.

Again this was another key factor in establishing the look and feel of the film and it really worked. This is a rare movie where everything just blends simultaneously and for that reason alone I most certainly feel it's worth investing two hours in.

Byzantium is a great movie that really makes me feel passionate as a critic. In a year where films have been slightly hit and miss, this film is definitely a hit. It has a great vision and knows exactly what it wants to be. Supported by two stand out performances this is British-Irish film-making at its near best and as I stated it is one of my favourite films of the year so far.

8.5/10

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