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nOnly Lovers Left Alive (2013)
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nDirector: Jim Jarmusch n
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nCast: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Anton Yelchin, MianWasikowska, John Hurt
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nJim Jarmusch is not the kind of filmmaker that will appealnto everyone because his films are deliberately slow paced, which if you’re innthe right mood could be just what the doctor ordered. In my case, Only LoversnLeft Alive was exactly the kind of movie I was looking for. You see, this filmnis populated with mellow characters in no rush to blow anything up or save thenuniverse. Quite the contrary, these guys are basking in their mellowness, and Indug that. It’s a change of pace. Sometimes, modern films seem to be in somensort of rush, like a child who suffers from ADD, always in search for the nextnbig rush. Yes my friends, there’s no denying that today’s audiences are junkiesnof the rush. But here’s Jim Jarmusch wanting to teach us once again thatnslowing things down can actually be a cool thing, let’s get retrospective, let’snthink about things, let’s analyze.
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nOnly Lovers Left Alive is the story of Adam and Eve, two vampiresnwho are extremely cultured and ancient, they know a lot about everything, theirnclothes are hundreds of years old. Eve has hundreds of ancient books and is annexpert in literature and speed reads everything while Adam is an expert musiciannwho wants to remain anonymous, hiding away from fame. These two vampires arenmarried, but have been living so long that they don’t need to live together.nAdam lives his rock and roll life style in Detroit Michigan while Eve lives in Tangiers,nMorocco. Their lives are reunited when Adam reveals to Eve that he’s depressednwith humanity. She detects his depression, so she flies to him, both reunitingnin Detroit. Can these two vampires survive in our modern decaying society?
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nWhat I liked about this movie is how Jarmusch uses thenvampires eternity to criticize humanity. You see these vampires have seen sonmany facets of humanity that they can comment, with an all encompassing pointnof view about where we are now as a race. They’ve seen us go through the inquisitions,nthrough hitler, through everything, they’ve seen Galileo and Tesla suffer forntheir knowledge, they know just how much cruelty we are capable of, becausenthey’ve seen it. In a way, so have we because we can read a history book, wencan all look back at humanities mistakes and learn from them and evolve, but itnseems we are inclined more towards repeating our mistakes then growing aboventhem. I love how both vampires simply drive around Detroit during the night, theynsee all these abandoned buildings and factories and say “it’s like everybodynleft”. I gots to tell you my dear readers, I sometimes feel the same way aboutnmy own city. So many businesses closed down, so many abandoned buildings, youncan see the urban decay taking over. The city is rotting away. It’s life,nsucked away. So of course, I connected with these vampires, driving around andecaying city in ruins. Reminiscing about where it all went and if its everngonna come back.
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nThese vampires are pretty cool, they are soncultured, they remind me of how I wish I could spend eternity, reading booksnand listening to cool music, just chilling the hell out, when these guys drinkntheir blood, it’s not unlike smoking a dooby or drinking your favorite poison.nHow cool are these vampires? Well, they hang out with William Shakespeare, whonby the way is also a vampire! Ha, awesome. They eat blood popsicles and hangnout in rock and roll bars. They wear glasses at night. The only thing is thatnthe state of humanity brings them down. Adam can’t believe how humanity hasnmanaged to not only poison their water supply but their own blood as well. Henwonders if humanity is still fighting about oil and when the water wars will begin. These guys philosophize aboutneverything, I dug it. Swinton and Hiddleston have great chemistry together,nthey sold me the part of these two vampires in love throughout the ages. Butnoverall, the cast is awesome, including John Hurt playing an aging vampire Shakespeare.
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nJarmusch filmed on location in some awesome looking places,nfor example, he actually shot in Detroit, a city that is actually in decay.nHuge buildings that use to be factories now look like ghosts, haunting a dyingncity, Jarmusch captured it all beautifully, made all the more dark and broodingnbecause most of the film takes place late at night, when the vampires hang out.nMorocco adds a completely different type of background, with beautiful vistasnof a completely different type of society. They go to Morocco escaping thenmasses, escaping humanity whom they appropriately call “zombies”. Watching thisnfilm you kind of get the idea that humanity is in the brink of some huge cataclysmicnchange, like the world will soon turn, like that famous worm that turns when provokednenough. That idea that the world is somehow pushing us to return to annanimalistic state of being, like the out of control world we live in is callingnout our animal instincts, and pretty soon we won’t be able to hold back. Jarmusch’snOnly Lovers Left Alive is thought provoking, romantic and sexy. In a lot ofnways, Only Lovers Left Alive reminded me of this offbeat, obscure vampire filmncalled Blood & Donuts (1995), because of this weird mood that it elicits,nthis weird aura that only comes from films that take place during the wee hoursnof the night, the small hours when the creatures of the night emerge. I recommendnthis film if you want to see something sultry, a film that slows things down tonthe pace of blood ebbing down a vampires throat.
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nRating: 4 out of 5
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