Wednesday, April 23, 2014

[Review] Only Lovers Left Alive


Indie/arthouse auteur, Jim Jarmusch returns with Only Lovers Left Alive, a subversive twist on vampires.

Adam (Tom Hiddleston) is a reclusive musician living in Detroit. He buys blood from the local hospital. Eve (Tilda Swinton) is ghostly, roaming the back-alleys of Tangier to acquire her blood from a specialty market. Adam and Eve (ha?) are married, but living on different continents--I can only guess if a couple has been together for a few centuries, a year-long break probably isn't too big of a deal. Eventually, Eve comes to visit.

Like much of Jarmusch's work, Only Lovers Left Alive is an exercise in atmosphere and allegory. The vampires double as world-weary hipsters, possible drug addicts, and/or misunderstood artists. These beings dwell in underground clubs, give high praise to Jack White, and they describe the "normal" people as "zombies". This bite of satire is clever for a bit, but it becomes stale and unengaging over the course of two hours.

The film's dim style, ethereal performances, and philosophical musings will quench a certain thirst for some, but the lethargic pace, absence of drama & plot, and too many scenes of the vampires entangled in a dark room, will leave most people (including me) in an immortal state of boredom.

4/10

1 comment:

  1. I was also underwhelmed. I liked how full of ideas it was, and it was unique and atmospheric. However I found it very slow and storyless, that hurt my enjoyment. I agree it was interesting at first, but becam tiresome.

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