Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, John Hurt, Jeffrey Wright.
Jim Jarmusch is one of the darlings of the American independent film scene, but he is also
something of an acquired taste. His films are often existential in nature and explore loners and
outcasts struggling to find their place in the world. His latest film is sure to please afficionadoes of
his minimalist style. However, it unlikely to win over new converts.
Only Lovers Left Alive offers an unconventional take on the mythology of vampires familiar to
audiences through a series of horror films. But this is a far cry from the twee romance of Twilight,
those old Dracula films starring Bela Lugosi, the camp horror of those Hammer horror films
starring Christopher Lee, or even Interview With A Vampire. It has taken Jarmusch seven years to
bring his unusual take on the vampire tale to the screen especially after his American investors
dropped out.
The central characters here are Adam and Eve, a couple of sybaritic cultured centuries old
vampires who seem to be irrelevant in this contemporary world. Their choice of names is
deliberately Biblical. Adam (Tom Hiddleston, best known for his role as Loki in the Thor franchise)
has been married to Eve (Tilda Swinton) for a couple of centuries, but they now live apart. While
he lives in Detroit she lives in Tangiers. They have evolved to a level where they no longer need
to kill for sustenance. However, because human blood has become contaminated they need more
sophisticated methods of drinking the vital blood that keeps them alive.
Adam is a depressed and reclusive rock musician, who lives in a crumbling Detroit, and is gripped
by a sense of malaise. Like a junkie, Adam gets his vital blood supply from the accommodating
doctor Watson (Jeffrey Wright). Adam refers to the humans as zombies because they are slowly
destroying the earth. Adam has grown cynical and worries about the future. His only real
companion is Ian (Anton Yelchin), a “zombie” who regularly brings him supplies, including classic
guitars. He has recently brought Adam a wooden bullet which he plans to use to kill himself as an
escape from this decaying and not too friendly environment.
Eve, who is a good deal older and more worldly than Adam, has a passion for culture, literature,
art and history, and she lives in the more exotic city of Tangiers. Eve only emerges from her
humble house at night time to savour the city’s delights and cafes and get her regular supply of
blood from her supplier and only real companion, a desiccated playwright Christopher Marlowe
(John Hurt), who drops hints about how he supplied the likes of Shakespeare with some of his
great dramas.
Growing bored with life, Eve comes to Detroit to visit Adam, and they drive around and reminisce
about the past. Everything goes smoothly until the arrival of her immature and impulsive younger
sister Ava (Mia Wasikiwska, recently seen in Tracks, etc), from Los Angeles. She still has the old
insatiable thirsts, and her presence upsets the delicate balance that Adam has established. He
and Eve soon head back to Tangiers.
Although the central characters are a couple of centuries old vampires, Only Lovers Left Alive is a
far cry from the usual vampire fare, and it certainly has more lofty aims than the vapid Twilight
franchise. It deals with themes or immortality, literature, family, relationships and is full of
Jarmusch’s usual signature touches. While it is more literary and discerning in its ambition, Only
Lovers Left Alive stakes its claim to be considered one of the dullest vampire movies ever made.
It lacks bite, pardon the pun, and does not follow the usual formula of the vampire flick.
Only Lovers Left Alive is set in a crumbling vision of a not too distant Detroit, a former industrial
city, where human greed and climate change has taken its toll on the world as we know it. An air
of melancholy and nostlagia hangs over the film, and the sensual gloomy cinematography of
French cinematographer Yorick Le Saux (the visually gorgeous but dull I Am Love, Arbitrage, etc)
suits Jarmausch’s almost poetic style. But it is also dark and brooding and at times it was hard on
the eyes. Jarmusch’s vision of a decaying Detroit is evocative and reflects the films key themes.
Hiddleston and Swinton deliver smooth performances. Hiddleston exudes a rather cool
demeanour here and brings a smouldering sensuality to his performance as the jaded, dissolute
rock star. The likes of Bowie, Jagger and Iggy Pop are obvious influences on his look and
swaggering mannerisms. Throughout her career, Swinton has managed to play many indelible
and memorable characters and deliver solid performances, even in substandard fare. Here in
particular she brings an elegant grace to her performance as Eve. Wasikowska, who seems to be
in just about every other movie at the moment, makes the most of her small role. And Hurt brings
his usual world weary quality to his performance in a small role.
Only Lovers Left Alive is Jarmusch’s first foray into the horror genre, but it is more an exercise in
style over substance and will not appeal to everybody. The film is shaped by his usual distant and
aloof directorial style, his droll sense of humour, his visual flourishes, and his meditative and
elusive approach to narrative conventions.
Music has often played a vital part in Jarmusch’s films, and here the soundtrack is packed with
some eclectic choices. Jarmusch’s own band SQURL has composed the haunting score. There
are also lots of clever literary and musical references littered throughout the script that many will
feel that the film is self indulgent and far too clever for its own good. Jarmusch’s direction is
unhurried, and many may indeed find the langorous pacing a tad tedious. At 122 minutes the film
seems to drag.
★★
