Jim Jarmusch’s latest may feature some familiar vampire iconography, whether it be the pallid anti-heroes or their thirst for blood, but Only Lovers Left Alive is as much a lament for the death of art and culture as it is about a centuries old love story. It is also the director’s best film in years, a haunting and hypnotic mood piece less interested in clever plotting and more about its heady nocturnal atmosphere.

Tom Hiddleston stars as Adam, a vampire sinking into a melancholic and existential funk, who is stranded in a decaying and abandoned Detroit whilst left alone to create symphonic drone music. He is reunited with Eve (Tilda Swinton), his centuries old lover who is still aware of…

The wealth of knowledge vampires must amass after thousands of years is fully realized in Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive. Even though most vampire films have explored the longevity of the immortal, we very rarely see them reminisce about Nikola Tesla, the Spanish inquisition or Charlie Feathers' music. They adapt, survive, evolve, dance, read, make music, and most importantly - they love.

Adam is a wistful poet, secluded in his decrepit house in Detroit where he spends most of his time writing funeral music and contemplating suicide. His wife, Eve, lives in Tangiers, surrounded by books in various languages with only enough space in the middle of her floor to dance. Their interests may be different but they respectfully…

TIFF 2013 – film #3

Reason for pick: director Jim Jarmusch, Tilda Swinton, my wife’s love of all things Vampire.

It was a rainy day. Literally. Standing in line at the Bloor Cinema with the clouds wide open was really starting to affect my normally bright and cheery mood. Granted, this was a Jim Jarmusch film, but I really only know him by reputation, as I’d only seen Down by Law, and Broken Flowers. There was the Tilda Swinton factor. Love her. I couldn’t think of a bad film she was in until our friend Len reminded me of I Am Love. Hated that one. The real reason I’m here, standing in the rain, is my wife’s love of Vampire…

Eternal love. 

And still he’s suicidal. 

It’s a gorgeous film but it’s hard for me to understand what Jarmusch is trying to get across. 
I mean I live for music, film, art... cats and dogs and nature. But it’s only that aching for love that makes the nights so long. Attempts to conjure memories that stretch farther away as time passes, of sweet nights in the arms of someone who felt like home. 

It’s so hard not to feel disgust at Adam, who apparently takes for granted having the one thing every single person on this Earth wants more than anything else. 

When I first saw this film it troubled me in the same way. Still, it is beautiful. 
Just…

brief description of the lives of vampires as seen in this movie 

Vampires play vintage guitars, eat blood popsicles and study obscure poetry from the 16th century. They talk about love and science and debate hot button issues like if Stax is better than Motown. On occasion, they travel by plane to and from Tangiers. Only at night obviously. We have vampires to thank for the classics of art, science and literature. For instance, Christopher Marlowe was a vampire, which explains his mysterious, untimely death. Schubert often consulted vampires for help with his music. Their job is thankless because they must remain anonymous, and anonymity is much harder today than it once was (five hundred years ago). Just as we…