The second I read "vampires" and "Jim Jarmusch" together in a movie description I knew I was in for a treat.
"Only Lovers Left Alive," starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, is a joy for those still reeling from the crappy commercial vampire feeding frenzy at the box office and beyond. This is a refreshing pint of "the good stuff" untainted by teenage sparkles.
My husband, a lover of all things weird and wonderful, seemed surprised by my anticipation to see the film. He thought I would think it's too weird.
I have to admit -- the first shot of the film -- an overlay of places and a record on a turntable -- spinning around and around is a bit unusual and left me (and my husband) a little nauseous. However, I got the message -- the nature of life and survival, not to mention this couple's love, is beautifully set in splendid circles. You know where you are in this film. And you know they just are.
That's what makes me love a great vampire story -- it's not their birth or their death. It's their ability to continue. To keep going. To survive -- often with boredom and life's bigger questions weighing, often forever, on their minds. They can slow down, drink it all in -- forgive me for the pun -- and just be when the rest of us know the clock is forever ticking.
And these vampires have survived, it seems a very, very long time. The name-dropping, from Tesla to Galileo, hints at their age. At first, I was a little thrown by the name-dropping and array of photos plastered on the vamps' walls of well-known historical figures. Did they know every famous person? How could they have known all of these people would become well-respected? But I have to say even that is believable when you get to know these vampires a little more. They are actually special because of way they have lived -- they appear to have recognized genius via their impeccable taste every step of the way. It appears they not only look like old, splendid souls, but they can also find them.
It's easy to believe this pair has lived and isn't about to stop -- even though the blood supply isn't pumping through veins anymore, but rather vacuum-sealed into plastic hospital blood bags. But the thirst is always there no matter how it is momentarily sated. You see it on Adam's (Hiddleston) face when he sees a woman bleeding in a hospital bed or with Eve (Swinton) as she fights through seeing (and perhaps smelling) a man's bleeding finger while flying across the world. You never forget their hunger because you, as a viewer, are expecting it to finally, beautifully -- and hideously -- reveal.
And then it does.
The story of love between vampires isn't new, but this is one that elevates the relationship to a level you can believe without understanding all. You see how they could have been humans (or "zombies" as the vampires call them), and are still grappling with the length and depth of their intimacy. At the beginning of the movie, for instance, they live a world apart, but remain extremely close. You can imagine the past conversation there immediately -- "I love you, but I really, really have to get away from you."
Adam and Eve -- I know, very fun -- want to live civilized lives. Art seems to take them to a place beyond the minutia of just living. And yet, at certain points, that's exactly what they do seem to be doing -- just living. That is, until it gets messy when someone "drank Ian."
A great movie folks. Go see it.
