Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)

[baumer]

Discuss

[Jake Gittes]

Wonderful. Saw it the first time at home, really liked it; saw it the second time in the theater and was happy drowning in its atmosphere for two hours. The plot is minimal, but it never drags, slowly going from a hangout movie filled with wry, dry humor to a surprisingly effective drama about age and (im)mortality. The conceit never seems at all silly; it helps that the genre elements are being kept to a minimum. Another achievement is that, with main characters being vampires who constantly go on about how much better it was in the old days (i.e. hundreds of years ago), the film could have been bullshit hipster porn aiming for cheapest laughs, but Jarmusch is much smarter than that and largely keeps the irony out of the movie. It's still gloomily hilarious, but there's genuine sadness behind it all, which gets more and more apparent closer to the end.

 

Tilda Swinton is a goddess. 

 

Best film of the year so far, Jarmusch's best since Ghost Dog.

 

P.S.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spNCGEAOstU

[Jack Nevada]

^ What he said. 

[mmmrazorblade20]

This movie is really boring, nothing really happened and i almost fell asleep watching it, even a naked tom hiddleston couldn't save it..

[Gopher]

Jake put it really well I think. This is a film you just lose yourself in and it's an absolute privilege to do so. The central conceit could have been played for laughs by another filmmaker, but Jarmusch finds the humanity to his vampires. They're funny, they love art, they genuinely love each other. But they're tortured by eternity and we understand their pain. Hiddleston feels appropriately out of place in this world: gloomily holding on to the few elements of his life that hundreds of years later still give him joy. Swinton understands the beauty of the world but also understands her limitations in changing her husband. That's one of my favorite things about this story: I could believe Adam and Eve have gone through episodes like these for all of time and will continue to do so. Mia Wasikowska will show up another 97 years from now and screw everything up again. They'll find solace in music, meet a few people they genuinely enjoy to spend time with, and maybe turn a few humans if necessary. Their life is a record- rotating forever, not to stop no matter how much Hiddleston thinks of pulling the needle. 

 

Fans of WINGS OF DESIRE (one of my favorite films) or even just the Nick Park sequence are going to find a lot to enjoy here. 

[The Panda]

I will say, I was never able to get personally invested into the movie, it kept me attentive but at the edge of losing my attention (almost how Hiddleston felt about his life in it) in that I constantly thought about pausing and doing something else but didn't.  

 

As a film though it is very well-made and has lots of substance to it, with the occasional sense of humor thrown in, it's a movie that you're meant to get lost in however I just never really got that effect.  To its credit though the different shots were very interesting and were often what kept my attention more than the film itself, and the entire thing has an effect on your mood, you come out of it rather delirious, so it did play an effect.

 

In a way, if there was an intelligent, well-acted version of Twilight out there this would be it.  It's a bit too monotonous for my taste but it was a very fresh take of things.  You get a sympathetic view of the vampires and there are many spurts in it that really grab you, they are just seldomly placed throughout the feature.  There are many bits throughout that would make me think its worth a re-watch so I can get a better understanding of the whole thing, because there are some strong underlying themes and ideas in it, but I don't think I'd have the willpower or patience to sit through it again.

 

In all honesty, this is one of those cases where the entire time I know I am watching a good film, it is just for whatever reason I couldn't attach myself to what I was watching at this moment in time.  I'd recommend watching it though, it is a creative, well-shot, well-acted, and intriguing movie that's worth a viewing.

 

B

[Jack Nevada]

It's now out on Blu-Ray and y'all need to see it. The coolest movie of the year.

[Ezen Baklattan]

A lovely little film, almost like any one of the films in the Before trilogy with its own touch of cool, and Adam and Eve are one of my favorite couples in film, heightened by their deep love for one another in spite of being foils to each other in some regard. I especially agree with Gopher's comments about the events of this film acting like a song on a record, repeating to the end: something comes along that diminishes mankind in Adam's eyes, Ava comes along and fucks things up, and they have to move on once again. It's a pretty poignant statement on cycles, and the love that these two have for each other is the one thing that keeps them wanting more in a world that's going to shit, or at least, one that might always have been one misstep doing so. 

Edited August 25, 2014 by Spaghetti

[mattmav45]

Dense as fuck.

 

Density comes in a variety of forms in the cinema world.  It can masquerade in the form of themes, symbolism, or story-line, but in this case we come across some density by way of atmosphere.  This is a film that is quite frankly atmospheric as fuck.  The atmosphere is displayed in a way that it is so thick to become tangible in nature.  It is through the thick blanket of atmosphere that the emotions are expanded upon.  The atmosphere is nothing less than the perfect complement to the emotions of the two living beings the film centers on.

 

The first thing I noticed during my viewing was the camera work and look of the film.  Jim Jarmusch is one of those directors who I like to refer to as a superior talent behind the lens.  There is an intoxicating look for the viewer to take in here.  One gets the feeling every shot was made with meticulousness and care as the film lives and breathes off of light and dark contrast.  Nothing less than a showcase of elegant film-making for the viewer to bask in.

 

Outside of the atmosphere and look on display here, there are two different aspects that I feel makes this film work.  The first has to be the performances of Hiddleston and Swinton.  I feel that these two are the glue that holds everything together.  It is hard to imagine any other couple at the forefront here.  Not only do both give strong performances, but both carry a distinct sense of elegance and grace to the screen.  One has to believe that these individuals have lived through various time periods and centuries, and thankfully for the viewer such is very much the case here.

 

The second aspect has to be what I feel is Jarmusch's strongest strength as a director, and that is how he uses music in his films.  Thankfully, I'm not sure he's ever been more adept at music selection than he is here.  The music and score here acts as the energy and soul of the film.  It is through the use of music that one is able to find the beating heart at the center of this film.  

 

A vampire film in name only as what we have here is a film that uses some clever cinematic devices to display some powerful cerebral musings.

[JohnnyGossamer]

Yeah... This was pretty good. Awesome, awesome year for Swinton.