Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive” is a non-mainstream vampire film that is fantastic, wonderfully acted, smart and fresh! For those who have grown tired of the banal mainstream vampire film, “Only Lovers Left Alive” is highly recommended!
TITLE: Only Lovers Left Alive
TELEFILM RELEASE: 2013
DURATION: 123 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital, SUBTITLES: English, English SDH, French
COMPANY: Sony Pictures Classics
RATED: R (For Language and Brief Nudity)
Release Date: August 19, 2014
Written and Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Produced by Reinhard Brundig, Jeremy Thomas
Co-Producer: Carter Logan, Marco Mehlitz, Gian-Piero Ringel, Christine Strobl
Executive Producer: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Stacey E. Smith
Associate Producer: Viola Fugen, Alainee Kent, Richard Mansell
Music by Carter Logan, Jozef van Wissem
Cinematography by Yorick Le Saux
Edited by Affonso Goncalves
Casting by Ellen Lewis
Production designer: Marco Bittner Rosser
Art Direction by Anja Fromm, Anu Schwartz
Set Decoration by Christiane Krumwiede, Selina van den Brink
Costume Design by Bina Daigeler
Starring:
Tilda Swinton as Eve
Tom Hiddleston as Adam
Anton Yelchin as Ian
Mia Wasikowska as Ava
John Hurt as Marlowe
Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Watson
Slimane Dazi as Bilal
The tale of two fragile and sensitive vampires, Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton), who have been lovers for centuries. Both are cultured intellectuals with an all-embracing passion for music, literature and science, who have evolved to a level where they no longer kill for sustenance, but still retain their innate wildness. Their love story has endured several centuries but their debauched idyll is threatened by the uninvited arrival of Eve’s carefree little sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) who hasn’t yet learned to tame her wilder instincts. Driven by sensual photography, trance-like music, and droll humor, Jim Jarmusch’s ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE is a meditation on art, science, and the mysteries of everlasting love.
Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (“Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai”, “Broken Flowers”, “Down by Law”) returns with a British-German vampire film known as “Only Lovers Left Alive”.
A film that was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and received positive reviews from film critics, “Only Lovers Left Alive” will now be released on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
“Only Lovers Left Alive” stars Tom Hiddleston as Adam, a vampire who has lived his long life helping many famous musicians and scientists but since then, has become a reclusive vampire (and a popular, working musician) that feels that humanity is doomed.  And the only person he is in contact with is a rock-obsessed young ma named Ian (portrayed by Anton Yelchin).
Still living in the past and living in a neighborhood in Detroit, he survives on the blood given to him by Dr. Watson. But now, Adam has grown depressed and is contemplating suicide. He wants to shoot himself with a wooden bullet but when he gets a call from his wife Eve (portrayed by Tilda Swinton), Eve can tell how depressed Adam has been.
Living in Tangier and living through the blood from a vampire known as Christopher Marlowe (portrayed by John Hurt). Sensing his pain, Eve goes to Detroit to be with him and enjoy each other’s company.
But as the two share their time together, their peace and love is shattered by the arrival of Eve’s younger sister Ava (portrayed by Mia Wasikowska).
VIDEO:
“Only Lovers Left Alive” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio). Picture quality for the film is fantastic, despite being shot primarily outdoors.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Only Lovers Left Alive” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA and English – Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital. The lossless soundtrack is primarily dialogue driven.
Subttles are in English, English SDH and French.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“Only Lovers Left Alive” comes with the following special features:
- Traveling at Night with Jim Jarmusch– (49:18) A featurette on the making of “Only Lovers Left Alive”, behind-the-scenes making of the film.
- Yasmine Hamdan “Hal” Music Video – (4:48)
- Deleted and Extended Scenes – (26:18) Several deleted scenes from “Only Lovers Left Alive”.
- Theatrical Trailer – (2:19) The theatrical trailer for “Only Lovers Left Alive”.
You can leave it to filmmaker Jim Jarmusch to go the other direction of vampire film banality and create something unique and fresh.
The filmmaker is not trying to reinvent the way vampires are seen in film, nor is he trying to create a film that would satisfy teens or their mothers. “Only Lovers Left Alive” is a vampire film that was made for the cineaste who rather stay away from mainstream vampire films and want something very smart, yet entertaining.
The story of two old vampires that want to live as hip and stylish despite the drudgery of humanity, these vampires also have problems.
Quality blood is becoming hard to come by and when you lose your source of blood and have avoided killing humans for blood, what are you left to do?
But this film goes farther than the problems that vampires are facing but about a married vampire couple named Adam and Eve but living far from each other.
Adam is a musician living in Detroit who has lived many lifetimes but still loves taking part in making music with rare and expensive guitars. He depends on Ian to find him his musical instruments and complains of how humanity has become zombies and drives him crazy that people have moved towards digital (and watching music performers on YouTube).
Meanwhile, Eve lives in Tangier and depends on her aging handler Christopher Marlowe, a man who wrote Shakespeare’s plays and not thrilled that he never received credit for his work.
And these two vampires love the finer things in life. They live quite well, appreciate creativity and would not feast on humans because they don’t know where their blood has come from.
But as Adam has lived a long time, humanity has really made him depressed about the world and he wants to take his life. So, Eve leaves her home of Tangier to travel to Detroit and visit her husband.
In many ways, this is a fascinating drama because they are people who have lived through the best times of the world and see how humanity has changed so much to the point that they question the world and what has happened to humanity.
It’s a film that doesn’t try to be happy, nor does it try to be anything different. Real world problems affecting a vampire couple who lived a lifetime of creativity, meeting talented individuals and now seeing human decline. And for Adam, as a man who treasures music, seeing music today is severely bumming him out. It’s not a horror film, by no means is this a love film like “Twilight”.
If anything, the film is quite elegant and both Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddlestone are fantastic. The production and costume design is gorgeous, the film is creative and fresh and once again, another magnificent film in the oeuvre of filmmaker Jim Jarmusch.
As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is great but it doesn’t try to be vibrant, it’s a moody film, shot indoors primarily and the scenes are well-lit and artistic. The lossless soundtrack is primarily dialogue driven with scenes with music incorporated. And you get a few special features including a fascinating making of the film, so you can see how Jarmusch approached the film with his two talents.
Overall, Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive” is a non-mainstream vampire film that is fantastic, wonderfully acted, smart and fresh!
For those who have grown tired of the banal mainstream vampire film, “Only Lovers Left Alive” is highly recommended!
