R, 1 hr. 58 min.
Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By: Neil Jordan
In Theaters: Jun 28, 2013 Limited
IFC Films
200-year-old vampire mother and daughter, Clara (Arterton) and Eleanor (Ronan), are forced to flee their London home after being tracked down by a mysterious group of men who have been searching for the pair through the centuries. The pair hitch a ride to a coastal town where a lonely young man, Noel (Mays), invites them to stay in his family's abandoned guesthouse. Clara soon rounds up the town's prostitutes and turns the guesthouse into a thriving brothel while Eleanor enrolls in a writing school and befriends a young leukemia sufferer, Frank (Jones).
I have to confess I had given up hope of ever enjoying a vampire movie again, thanks to the genre's recent dilution through the 'Twilight' series and its saturation on T.V. In recent times, the vampire has become a brooding bore, a development which ironically began with Jordan's 1994 'Interview with the Vampire'. The director's latest film feels like something of an apology for the monster he created with the mood of that film. 'Byzantium' gives us a modern "emo-vamp", courtesy of Ronan (finally finding a decent role after a string of duds like 'The Host' and 'The Lovely Bones'), but in Arterton we have a reminder of how thrilling and sexual this type of tale once was. Arterton's performance is electric; there hasn't been a vamp this sexy, or scary, since the heyday of Ingrid Pitt. She tears up every scene she appears in as she follows a pseudo-feminist form of revenge on the men she sees as exploiting females (we see her character corrupted into prostitution at a young age). Ronan, on the other hand, has a novel way of feeding her bloodlust; helping her elderly victims with a form of assisted suicide.
There are nods to classic vampire films (the seaside setting is an obvious nod to Harry Kumel's 'Daughters of Darkness', and the gothic flashbacks recall the glory days of Hammer), and barbed jibes at the current watered down Pattinson representation of the vampire (meeting Ronan's boyfriend, the pale faced Jones, Arterton mocks "you're just the type Eleanor goes for, as sexy as a pair of shoes"). Jordan even references his own 'The Company of Wolves', clothing Ronan in a red-hooded jacket. He also gives us not one, but two, shamelessly fake, decapitated rubber heads. This is clearly a director working in a genre he loves, whilst remembering to keep it fun, something many of today's horror film-makers seem to have forgotten.
Clara: "Iv'e got a good feeling about this place".
Elanor: "You said that about the last one."
'Byzantium' a past name of Istanbul and also the name of the hotel in this film. I have to admit my knowledge of anything about this film prior to watching it was practically zero. All i knew about this film was that it was about mother and daughter who are vampires. That's pretty much it i didn't even watch the trailer. Which i suppose begs the question why the hell did i even bother watching it?
Well i hoped the poster would tell me all i needed to know. I got a fairly realistic bleak feeling from it, and in a world where vampires have been reduced to floppy chalk faced posers - i feel like i owe the director that i give him a chance. As i said it follows this mother daughter team 'Clara' and 'Eleanor'('Gemma Arterton'/'Saoirse Ronan'). They are on the run from an organization known as 'The Brotherhood' who of which are vampires themselves. It's not a particularly quickly paced film it has an easy, steady flow to it and advances the story at a pace very suited to the dark, bleak style the film has. Something i really appreciated about it was they aren't blood thirsty, they don't have a inherent evil personality and they aren't ridiculously strong. They have a vulnerability to them rightfully so, making the intended compassion a realistic option. It's not all great though some scenes like the second time 'Elanor' writes out her story seemed a bit pointless as it was a given by then that she does it on a regular basis. And i find it hard to believe that they wouldn't cover up there tracks in any way. But they aren't plot breaking problems. I was a bit disappointed that 'Elanor's' flashbacks weren't explained and just seem to served as something interesting for the audience to mull over whether it's actually relevant. My favourite aspect to the film though is how it ends there is very little in the way of action and the tension offers are little bits but at the end it brings those elements together.
The visuals are something to be admired as well, they may not be all sparkly and brightly coloured landscapes but there's a sort of muted beauty to them. The soft colours and the bleak, dark buildings make for a really nice contrast as well as a reflection on the two main characters. Acting wise there's nothing wrong here, 'Gemma' and 'Saoirse' are great and the rest are convincing in there roles and seem really well matched to the characters.
'Byzantium' is a good vampire in a time where they've become over used and tiresome. The realistic and bleak look at the potential life of a vampire. There's a nice easy, soak-able pacing to the film and nice, muted, de-saturated and dark and desperate feel to the locations that really bring the message across. Some may view this as 'boring' but it's a nice change of pace for the flailing vampire genre.
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