Review of Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) by Nathan M — 30 May 2014

Jim Jarmusch effortlessly filled a void in the realm of vampire cinema by telling this rock and roll story of an immortal couple.

It is a little bit cute, due to the volume of classic literary references. But that fact just contributes to the richness of the experience. It focuses on what most vampire films overlook - what the vampires in question do in their eons of spare time. The two main characters, Tom Hiddleston's Adam and Tilda Swinton's Eve are intellectuals, who happen to to be nocturnal immortals. They are discerning patrons of music and literature, respectively. Hiddleston's been a musician forever. At this point in his life, he's jaded and languid. He's bored by the hassle of continued existence.

Jarmusch stably reveals aspects of their culture and how it differs or extends from human culture. Simultaneously vampires and high culture types, they consider the majority of humanity to be "zombies." The stereotypic feeding and fucking of the typical vampire tale is deemphasized. The aspects of a comfortable material existence is highlighted, as well as the accumulation of knowledge. They may not have been as discerning in their early days as vampires.

There are numerous other little touches that make this tale unique. The adaptation of a stake as a wooden bullet is a cool something that I haven't seen before. Hiddleston's fancy Tesla design-based generators are awesome. The messages and metaphors aren't super buried but are good ones. One is the tension between the music industry and its artists, the actual creators. Mia Wasikowska's character embodies the vileness of commodifying art as a commercial product, in other words, the essence of Los Angeles and its entertainment industry. The parasitic bodies riding the originality of the artists' coattails. Being thirsty vampires, the importance of water for humanity is also mentioned. Thanks to the musical context and Hiddleston's languid indifference to the complication of immortality, the concept of heroin addiction in the rock world is also evident.

Jarmusch's "Lovers" filled the "intellectual lives of vampires" niche for me and consequently is one of the best vampire films ever made. I'd probably place it just behind Neil Jordan's "Byzantium" and ahead of Werner Herzog's "Nosferatu: The Vampyre" adaptation. (31 May 2014).