Only Lovers Left Alive: A Review

So, I sat down to write this review and had a moment where I finally understood why I don't present a film review programme, because this film made me want to paint a picture or do a dance rather than sit and explain what's good about it. Then I thought, no, you really ought to present a film review programme, because then you could just do the dance to show how this film made you feel, rather than trying to capture it in words. The dance would involve a lot of spinning and smiling, then I'd jump around a bit, then maybe hold myself and sway, before heading with some dramatic swooshing about the place before collapsing to the floor.

But probably, because this is a blog and not a TV show, I ought to write something a bit clearer than that.

So, I loved Only Lovers Left Alive. It managed to blend a romantic and  darkly funny story, with horror elements, in to something that felt real and relatable. The way they talk to each other really rings true, despite the fact that they are characters who have lived for hundreds of years. It reminded me how wonderfully diverse Vampire stories can be, and I hope that it reaches a new generation of people who might only have seen Vampires in things like the Twilight saga, and be a gateway film to stuff like Near Dark and The Addiction, which are both really different to this and each other, but both brilliant films.

It also made me want to watch more Jim Jarmusch films. I've only seen two before this, and one of them (Broken Flowers) I wasn't a huge fan of. On the other hand, I loved Ghost Dog, and Only Lovers Left Alive really reminded me of that film, in the almost dreamlike way the story unfolds and the way I became completely absorbed in what was happening.

On a shallow level, Tom Hiddleston is gorgeous and spends quite a bit of the film topless. On a slightly deeper level, Hiddleston and Swinton are just amazing together, equally beautiful and equally great actors. I came out of the cinema wishing that they would appear in a million films together, because I was certain that each one would be just as good as this one.

It's the kind of film that once it's finished, you just want to watch it again immediately.