Only Lovers Left Alive (15.)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
Starring Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright and John Hurt. 124 mins
There is something of a Jim Jarmusch fervour going on at the moment with a retrospective of his films at the BFI, the imminent release of a box set of his first six films and now the home release of his latest film. All this activity and fuss seems hugely inappropriate for a man so concerned with maintaining a casual and relaxed air. In recent films though (the three he’s made in the last decade) it has seemed like his laidback approach has been slowly grinding down to a near total halt. He’s not getting his giddy up in his latest film.
Jarmusch, for whom coolness is the always the deciding factor, usually makes films about “cool” subjects such African American Samurai warriors (Ghost Dog), William Blake inspired cowboys (Dead Man) or Bill Murray doing nothing (Broken Flowers.) OLLA though combines two fearsomely uncool subjects: vampire lovers and English thespians. It also uses a grimly overworked vampire conceit: the thirst for blood/ heroin addiction metaphor. Hiddleston is Adam, a reclusive musical genius hiding away in the deserted wasteland of Detroit; Swinton is his wife, Eve, striding around the Tangier’s' night sporting an albino birdsnest hairdo that makes her resemble something from The Matrix Reloaded.
The film isn't especially innovative in its vampire dealings, but its emphasis on what immortality must be like is relatively novel. Atmosphere is everything in this film and the doom-laden and druggy air of their immortal night-time existence in the margins is meticulously captured. The performers serve it perfectly. Unearthly immortals would be Swinton stock in trade if there were more call for them. (She has already played a woman who lives 400 years in Orlando.) She is a mix of foxy and maternal as she tries to coax a bit of life back into her mopey toy boy husband. Hiddleston gets to play out all his rock god fantasies as Adam. It is an actor's dream I think to play someone who is more sensitive than all the rest of the world. Adam though is a bit of a drag: his glass is half full and has been for four centuries. Mia Wasikowska as Eve's unruly and destructive sister, appears to be channelling Juno Temple. That wouldn't have been my choice, but she does it well and it fits the part.
Having beautifully established this world (the night time shots of Tangier’s are particularly otherworldly and gorgeous) the film is reluctant to do much with them. Adam doesn't like people touching his stuff or listening to his music and the film has a similar attitude – everything is just so, perfectly position, why should it get messed up with bits of messy drama? The film passes the time by indulging various Jarmusch interests: spinning some classic old ‘45s, comparing classic old guitars and taking a night time drives to see places of interest in Detroit such as the house Jack White grew up in. Like Tarantino, he has his characters have digressive conversations on various topics that have caught his attention since his last script. There is even time to squeeze in a song by Yasmine Hamdan.
Jarmusch’s weak spot is his addiction to notions of cool and in this case it’s the lamest, dullest version of cool, the unsmiling, rock’n’roll, leather jacket, dark glasses in nightclubs and being emaciated thin version of cool. OLLA is seductive and enthralling in so many ways and stands comparison with his best work but this druggy ambience becomes draggy after a while, these people are strung out in every sense of the word. Their blood sucking is heroin chic with a twist – the good stuff keeps you young and beautiful rather than making you toothless and faeces stained.
Jarmusch you suspect loves his Adam and Eve. Though he can see their flaws, see what they really are (as shown by the very last scene) he can't ever be disapproving of them. A thread of the script is that most of the great bohemian creative figures in history were vampires or associated with vampires. John Hurt is a 400 year old Christopher Marlowe; Hiddleston is asked to reminisce about his time with Byron and Shelley. Human are dismissed as “zombies” which here is just another word for uncool. (We are also condemned for the damages we are doing to the planet. Name-dropping eco-vampires – a real horror.) Vampires are shown as being wiser, more sensitive, more gifted and just all-round superior beings to lumpenhumanity. The only humans they have time for are those that worship and serve them unquestioningly. These vampires are so full of themselves and their specialness they are like a bloodsucking Primrose Hill Set of the Undead– or just the Primrose Hill Set really.
For a review of disc extras click here
For original film release review
Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
Starring Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright and John Hurt. 124 mins
There is something of a Jim Jarmusch fervour going on at the moment with a retrospective of his films at the BFI, the imminent release of a box set of his first six films and now the home release of his latest film. All this activity and fuss seems hugely inappropriate for a man so concerned with maintaining a casual and relaxed air. In recent films though (the three he’s made in the last decade) it has seemed like his laidback approach has been slowly grinding down to a near total halt. He’s not getting his giddy up in his latest film.
Jarmusch, for whom coolness is the always the deciding factor, usually makes films about “cool” subjects such African American Samurai warriors (Ghost Dog), William Blake inspired cowboys (Dead Man) or Bill Murray doing nothing (Broken Flowers.) OLLA though combines two fearsomely uncool subjects: vampire lovers and English thespians. It also uses a grimly overworked vampire conceit: the thirst for blood/ heroin addiction metaphor. Hiddleston is Adam, a reclusive musical genius hiding away in the deserted wasteland of Detroit; Swinton is his wife, Eve, striding around the Tangier’s' night sporting an albino birdsnest hairdo that makes her resemble something from The Matrix Reloaded.
The film isn't especially innovative in its vampire dealings, but its emphasis on what immortality must be like is relatively novel. Atmosphere is everything in this film and the doom-laden and druggy air of their immortal night-time existence in the margins is meticulously captured. The performers serve it perfectly. Unearthly immortals would be Swinton stock in trade if there were more call for them. (She has already played a woman who lives 400 years in Orlando.) She is a mix of foxy and maternal as she tries to coax a bit of life back into her mopey toy boy husband. Hiddleston gets to play out all his rock god fantasies as Adam. It is an actor's dream I think to play someone who is more sensitive than all the rest of the world. Adam though is a bit of a drag: his glass is half full and has been for four centuries. Mia Wasikowska as Eve's unruly and destructive sister, appears to be channelling Juno Temple. That wouldn't have been my choice, but she does it well and it fits the part.
Having beautifully established this world (the night time shots of Tangier’s are particularly otherworldly and gorgeous) the film is reluctant to do much with them. Adam doesn't like people touching his stuff or listening to his music and the film has a similar attitude – everything is just so, perfectly position, why should it get messed up with bits of messy drama? The film passes the time by indulging various Jarmusch interests: spinning some classic old ‘45s, comparing classic old guitars and taking a night time drives to see places of interest in Detroit such as the house Jack White grew up in. Like Tarantino, he has his characters have digressive conversations on various topics that have caught his attention since his last script. There is even time to squeeze in a song by Yasmine Hamdan.
Jarmusch’s weak spot is his addiction to notions of cool and in this case it’s the lamest, dullest version of cool, the unsmiling, rock’n’roll, leather jacket, dark glasses in nightclubs and being emaciated thin version of cool. OLLA is seductive and enthralling in so many ways and stands comparison with his best work but this druggy ambience becomes draggy after a while, these people are strung out in every sense of the word. Their blood sucking is heroin chic with a twist – the good stuff keeps you young and beautiful rather than making you toothless and faeces stained.
Jarmusch you suspect loves his Adam and Eve. Though he can see their flaws, see what they really are (as shown by the very last scene) he can't ever be disapproving of them. A thread of the script is that most of the great bohemian creative figures in history were vampires or associated with vampires. John Hurt is a 400 year old Christopher Marlowe; Hiddleston is asked to reminisce about his time with Byron and Shelley. Human are dismissed as “zombies” which here is just another word for uncool. (We are also condemned for the damages we are doing to the planet. Name-dropping eco-vampires – a real horror.) Vampires are shown as being wiser, more sensitive, more gifted and just all-round superior beings to lumpenhumanity. The only humans they have time for are those that worship and serve them unquestioningly. These vampires are so full of themselves and their specialness they are like a bloodsucking Primrose Hill Set of the Undead– or just the Primrose Hill Set really.
For a review of disc extras click here
For original film release review
