Only Lovers Left Alive

13 August 2018

Only Lovers Left Alive 2013

• Director: Jim Jarmusch
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin, Mia Wasikovska, Jeffrey Wright
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer, Moonrise Kingdom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, Michael Clayton, Broken Flowers, Young Adam, Adaption, Orlando
• Tom Hiddleston – The Night Manager, The Hollow Crown, The Deep Blue Sea, Thor, Wallander, Cranford
• John Hurt – Doctor Who, Snowpiercer, Merlin, The Hollow Crown, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, V for Vendetta, Harry Potter 1-8, Melancholia, Brighton Rock, Manderlay, Dogville, Contact, Dead Man, Roby Roy, King Lear, The Elephant Man, Alien, I Claudius
• Anton Yelchin – Cymbeline, Fright Night, Like Crazy, Terminator Salvation
• Mia Wasikovska – Tracks, Jane Eyre, Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right, Defiance
• Jeffrey Wright – The Hunger Games, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Cadillac Records, Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale, Broken Flowers, Angels in America, Hamlet
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 12 August 2018      

       With this cast, this director, this subject, it must be…sensational? Weird? Ahem. Interesting, at least.

       Adam (Hiddleston) caresses the guitars his procurer Ian (Yelchin) brings to his reclusive house, even the Swedish Hagström. In Tangier Eve (Swinton) is visited by still-alive Christopher Marlowe (Hurt) who brings her quality…something. Adam, in deep disguise (dark glasses, doctor’s clothing, mask) lurks in a hospital to fetch bags of blood.

       Adam and Eve have been married a very long time but have live apart. Now he’s depressed, saying it’s because the zombies are ruining things, though Ian is a zombie. Eve leaves Tangier to join him in Detroit to help him. Chaos arrives in the form of her sister Ava (Wasikovska).

       Weird, of course. Bizarre, yes. Witty – bloodsicles!

       Did I mention that they’re vampires?

       It’s the atmosphere, the hallucinatory visuals and the heartfelt acting that captures me. It’s beautiful and melancholy. The Guardian calls it Jarmusch’s best film. Dead Man, Night on Earth and Down by Law notwithstanding, they could be right. So why not 5 stars? Because of the cheap humour in which Marlowe is credited with writing Shakespeare’s works. He even says Shakespeare is pretty cool for a zombie. Jokes about Shakespeare are fine, but they must be funny.

4 * of 5