Indie legend Jim Jarmusch's latest film, Only Lovers Left Alive, is just one of those movies, man. Some people will tell you that it's a vampire movie, but those people are the type of zombie that the vampires in this movie would scoff at. To be honest, though, I'm not really sure what to call it. The best I can come up with is calling the film an extremely cool (both in body temp. and attitude) hang out flick. Only Lovers Left Alive is a film that is brilliant more for what it doesn't do than for what it does. In a time where the film market is overrun with vampire movies preoccupied with gory violence, sometimes even gorier sex, and immortal love acting as the ultimate metaphor for teenage infatuation (and sparkles, don't forget sparkles), Jim Jarmusch emphatically questions, "Who cares?"
Though Only Lovers Left Alive exhibits a deep undercurrent of emotion in subtle, often unexpected ways, the sentiment and violence aren't extravagant or in your face and the atmosphere is one thick with ennui rather than terror or dread. What Jarmusch concerns himself with isn't supernatural horror. Rather, Jarmusch is interested in the simple fact that these creatures have been around for ages. And over these countless centuries, they have acquired a level of knowledge and perspective on such things as literature, philosophy, history and culture that humans, by definition, can never achieve. But along with this knowledge and understanding comes a cynicism and languor developed over the same timeless existence. These are beings with cognition and talent unmatched in the natural world, but who have developed, over the innumerable years of their lifetimes, habits and obsessions that by nature force them into lonely ways of life.
The ironically named and "spookily entwined" Adam and Eve (Tom Hiddleston and real life vampire Tilda Swinton) are Jarmusch's sunglasses and gloves sporting outlet through which he channels the exhaustion of adults who have seen and done it all but who are tragically out of touch with the modern world. The pair are literal creatures of habit. Adam - a reclusive musical genius - collects vintage guitars (which he acquires via his square, eager to be cool, long-haired lackey Ian (Anton Yelchin)) and layers experimental tracks in a dilapidated but gorgeous Detroit mansion cluttered with an opulent plethora of antique shop treasures. When he isn't making funeral music, he's tinkering with Tesla-inspired gadgets (including a setup that allows him to FaceTime on an ancient black and white CRT TV). Eve, on the other hand, spends her time in Tangiers feeding her insatiable appetite for literature and hanging out with vampire Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt) who, it turns out, actually did write all of that zombie Shakespeare's plays (no word on the sonnets). After a distressing phone call where Adam expounds upon his disdain for the world and the disgusting humans that populate it, Eve decides to make the trip to Detroit (only night flights please) in an attempt to bring him back from the brink.
When Eve's reckless sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) shows up halfway through the film bringing chaos and an almost primitive savagery with her, a bit of plot arrives along with her pressing the film into action. After a lot of pleading, Ava finally manages to convince Adam and Eve to spend a night out on the town (or at least, one that isn't filled with moody driving). As a buffer, Adam decides to bring along the still disturbingly uncool Ian to act as a buffer between himself and Ian's fellow zombies. It's a decision that ends in some very unfortunate happenings.
But while Ava's appearance threatens to sneak some plot into the film, Only Lovers Left Alive is at its best when it's simply acting as a slice of life look into the night-to-night comings and goings of these age-old vampiric beings. It's a film that functions exquisitely well as a catalog of Jarmusch's cultural and philosophical tastes and as both an insightful observation on the madness that his human existence and more specifically as a comment about committed artists who operate and suffer at the fringes of society. The details on how Adam and Eve (and Marlowe) secure their supplies of blood - opting to bribe hospital workers for "the pure stuff" rather than taking it forcefully from the fetid garbage that are living hosts - are presented as candidly as how an addict would score his or her next hit. The euphoria they experience after sipping the blood from their elegant liqueur glasses is shot in full-on, slow motion junkie style as their incisors temporarily sharpen into (not-so-subtle) excited fangs.
Really, when it comes down to it, it's not the actors who are the MVPs here (though the cast in uniformly terrific - especially Swinton who is absolutely perfect, throwing away lines that other actors would chomp hamily into). The real star of the film is its tone. It's the original music by Jozef van Wissem. It's all the inspirations that get both subtlety and frankly presented, figuratively and sometimes literally unpacked on screen. Shakespeare, Kafka, Joyce, David Foster Wallace, even Neil Young and Jack White show up from time to time. Jarmusch draws out every ounce of atmosphere from the wasteland-like streets of Detroit and the stunning cafes and winding streets of Tangiers. Rather than direction and progression, he seems much more interested in simply showing his audience how these two very unique individuals live.
Only Lovers Left Alive really is just one of those movies, man. Much like his 1996 classic, Dead Man, Jarmusch again shows his uncanny ability to reinvent and transcend genres. But, it's also a film where you can tell he's getting older - a man and director who, like his characters, is finding himself in the position of knowing a lot about the world but feeling cut off by its incomprehensibility. Yet underneath it all, there is a undeniable romanticism to the film. It's a romanticism that has to fight the overwhelming darkness that surrounds it, but that finally does so on the back of a central relationship that feels so worn in and familiar that little needs to be explained. Only Lovers Left Alive is a dream-like, foggy film that just kind of drifts along. It's not a film that speeds up or slows down to please its audience. It has its own pace - one that it's perfected over centuries - and if your down with it, feel free to come along for the ride. Just don't forget your sunglasses.
9 out of 10
