I generally liked this movie and consider it a keeper. It's kind of a character study of how some vampires might be like after hundreds and thousands of years. I like that there is almost no supernatural elements, which have bored me with many of the other vampire stories. The only seemingly supernatural element was that one of the vampires could tell how old something is by touching it. That seemed silly. I would have been OK with the pacing but the scenery was often rather dull, such as closed warehouse and commercial buildings. The music was good. I actually learned about some musicians unknown to me. I didn't like some of the name drops of historical figures. Some used unsubstantiated claims about people. The worst slanderous element was the Shakespeare reference. It seemed a bit out of place anyway let alone the "Shakespeare wasn't the author" claim. Overall, I think that the movie was worth watching, especially since it gives up some of the hokier elements of the vampire mythos.

Breathing an air of freshness in the often stale vampire genre, Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is an aesthetic, artistic & visually poetic love story that laments on remnants of past arts & cultures through the nostalgic eyes of two centuries old bohemian vampires who are trying to survive in an era they despise, and in spite of its mournful tone, it is able to provide an experience that's both mystical & mesmerising.Only Lovers Left Alive follows Adam & Eve, a vampiric couple who have been married for centuries but live separately. Their romance, however, is reignited once again when Eve decides to reunite with her lover after learning that he's become depressed with the direction that human society has taken. Things appear to be improving at first but their honeymoon is soon interrupted when Eve's little sister shows up unannounced on their doorstep.Written & directed by Jim Jarmusch, this is my first stint with his works and it's a good start by all means, for the film had my curiosity from the opening scene that captures the camera descending into the lives of Adam & Eve in a stunning, spinning fashion. Staying true to vampire's mythology but also incorporating few upgrades in their lifestyle that are in tune with changing time, the director submerges the film into melancholia at times but its wry humour prevents it from sinking beneath the surface.Production design team fills Adam's house with clutters of vintage items, each with its own history, that often become part of the conversation. Cinematography captures the nocturnal aura in splendid detail, and makes outstanding use of clever angles, apt colour tones & precise lighting to further uplift the tone & feel of its images. Editing allows the plot to unfurl at its own pace which in turn enables deeper examination, while the musical choices play a substantial role in enriching the viewing experience.Coming to the performances, Only Lovers Left Alive features an impressive cast in Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin & Mia Wasikowska, and all of them play their part with flair. Leading the pack are Hiddleston & Swinton who are fabulous in their given roles. Their chemistry is even better, thus making their relationship feel genuine & believable. Hurt does well with what he's given, same goes for Yelchin while Wasikowska is in as Eva's wild & uncontrollable younger sister, and acts pretty much the same.On an overall scale, Only Lovers Left Alive answers what vampires do with the wealth of knowledge they acquire over the course of thousands of years and, in the process, adds something new to a genre that's been done to death. Jim Jarmusch not only brings his passion project to life with both patience & perseverance but also underlines it with cultural references & existential themes. Still, the final act feels unnecessarily stretched & extended when it could've concluded much sooner. In short, this crypto-vampire love story is as haunting as it is hypnotic, as relaxed as it is rhythmic, and as aesthetically pleasing as it is emotionally alluring. Definitely worth a shot.

"You drank Ian!" Best line of the film, delivered by Eve (Tilda). There should have been more of this light-hearted irony, especially from Tom Hiddleston who takes his part (Adam) a touch too seriously. Result: he comes across as lugubrious. And he plays on a note of such desperate ennui that Tilda comes across as positively incandescent by contrast. She's the mother of the family, the fixer, the one who gets people up in the evening. She's very watchable. But points for John Hurt as Christopher Marlowe (it was me, you know, not that Shakespeare!). And for Mia W. playing every family's nightmare, the teenage girl who can't say no. Given the fact it wasn't shot on film one can forgive the murkiness of the picture but I don't think Jim Jarmusch has much of an eye for setting up shots. There's not much flow. Some awkward cuts. And so on. Lots of wealthy addicts cope with their addiction provided they have access to quality drugs - Jean Cocteau being a classic example. The plot here hinges on how that supply can be so easily blocked, the panic and despair that ensues and the inevitable descent into violence. Moralistic? Maybe.

At first glance, Jim Jarmusch has brought his laid back, artistic sensibilities to the vampire genre in "Only Lovers Left Alive," but that would be a fairly surface-level reduction of this unusual, sophisticated film.Like all of Jarmsuch's films, "Only Lovers" cares little for story and a lot for scenario. He builds these deeply rich albeit kind of cold portraits of two lovers who are centuries if not millennia old in order to explore mortality and purpose in a new, meaningful way. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are so sublimely subtle in their performances as Adam and Eve. They are distant and standoffish yet also alluring and maybe even familiar. The two lovers begin the film apart, he as a reclusive rock musician living in Detroit and she a voracious reader in Tangier. When Eve senses Adam has become a bit withdrawn, jaded and depressed — he's namely frustrated with the degradation of society — she flies out to be with him, a reunion that proves rejuvenating until Eve's sister Eva (Mia Wasikowska) shows up and imposes her recklessness upon them.The story could rather easily be told about normal humans, which is partly why classifying "Only Lovers" as a vampire film is misguided. The vampirism merely allows Jarmusch to mine the human condition at an even deeper level. Adam has been crafting music for centuries and inspired some of the greatest musicians of all time; Eve has a gift for dating any object she touches and is a wellspring of knowledge and literature. This gives Jarmusch his free pass to deal in matters of the intellect, as well as drop in countless cultural, scientific and historic references. Fortunately, in doing so he doesn't completely strip the film of accessibility because he remains so fixed on his two main subjects.Although the film takes some time to get into a groove with its audience, Jarmusch has a way of sliding us into its ambiance. That's the other benefit of the vampire component — it adds tremendous atmosphere. Jarmusch loves to tour his audiences through forgotten, once-vibrant places, especially cities, and the nocturnal rhythm of "Only Lovers" really lets the tones he prefers sink in at deeper level.The overall vibe of the movie is grim. Add to that these cold characters who would do anything to avoid attention and derive joy only from being together and wrapping their heads around the world's biggest ideas and as a filmmaker you risk putting a large distance between your film and audiences, especially those with mainstream tastes. It can certainly be difficult to care about them at times, yet the way they carry perspective and the way they navigate the circumstances of their survival as vampires and other predicaments in the film slowly reveals their relatable humanity.Emotional investment is a little harder to come by, but that's a byproduct of Jarmusch's intellect-driven style. The way he writes makes it difficult to connect with his characters on a deeply personal level. We can see reflections of who we are in these characters and the scenarios they find themselves in, but there is a definitive glass wall between us and them. As in past films, the characters also represent extreme stances. As much as we'd like Adam, for example, to lighten up and relax his rules and stances, we appreciate his demeanor in the face of the relentlessly troublemaking Ava. Jarmusch has always enjoyed pitting opposing perspectives against each other, and considering how much perspective matters in the life of an immortal vampire who can't go out during the day and needs blood to survive, these character experiments matter.Of course at the heart of "Only Lovers" is a love story, even if romance has never been one of Jarmusch's strength. Instead, he paints their love as a passionate partnership and a mutual reliance on each other to provide purpose. In a world where everything else around you dies or changes, love suddenly becomes the most powerful thing of all.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more