Almost two decades after creating the, in my opinion, definitive vampire film, Interview with the Vampire, the fantastic Irish director Neil Jordan again casts his eye upon the pale and troubled undead, the charged homosexual longing, teasing, and tension of Interview with the Vampire replaced here by a powerful mother/daughter bond tested and complicated by eternal life. I know people have grown tired of vampires in the aftermath of the Twilight saga and its encircling hysteria, but people should not hesitate to pursue this fresh interpretation of the myth. A proven master of using the space of the frame to create an atmosphere at once erotic, frightening, melancholic, and of a fairytale, Jordan, whose other credits include The Company of Wolves and The Crying Game, is at the top of his game, from his elegant and sad evocation of life in an old-fashioned, misplaced seaside town to the heightened and memorable moments of menace and violence he composes. And by focusing on two females adrift in a supernatural culture defined by and under the control of conservative and cruel men, Jordan's second vampire film blends intriguing sexual and social components with the more expected and potent pleasures, including an ever tightening air of suspense and more than one dramatic beheading. As the mother, hardened by her cruel time as a prostitute among the living and then centuries on the run, Gemma Arterton unleashes her most interesting performance to date, a storm of sexual power, for-the-jugular brutality, and nuanced parental concern, while Saoirse Ronan counters with a refined and understated turn as the gifted and troubled daughter, an observer desperate to find a place in a universe she knows may fear and reject her. The magic they generate alongside Jordan's top-notch contribution behind the camera and a storyline which twists and turns throughout time before coming to a provocative and satisfying conclusion renders this a special film, one of the year's absolute best.

A

indeed.

only a matter of time before David is caught stalking Saoirse Ronan... or Carey Mulligan.

I am a big fan of Ronan, but not to the point of being blinded. I despised The Host, for instance.

Part of it is her choice in roles and directors: Neil Jordan, Peter Weir, Joe Wright, and next Wes Anderson. These are directorial gods to me.

Look forward to this.

BJs Grade:

A

really good yo

Glad you dug it.

I was really loving this for the first hour or so but after that I kind of started to slowly lose interest. I think a big part of that has to do with the love story aspect of it, which I just didn't buy into at all. Still, it features very good performances and is gorgeous to look at. There is a really great 95 minute film in there, but it just feels a bit too bloated for its own good.

7/10

Byzantium

It's a really good story, and also well told, with some great cinematography, and a great, true-to-life performance by Gemma Arterton, but Byzantium is a hard watch. It's so slow and tedious and just too long, and outside of a couple of interesting moments and well designed shots, I get the feeling that I will forget it pretty soon. It reminded me of Anna Karenina in that way. It was somewhat of a chore to watch (although less so than Karenina).

While watching it, I was thinking that this is like a slower, less interesting version of Interview with the Vampire, and when Eleanor was talking with her teacher in the office I actually uttered to myself "interview with a vampire", so then when the film ended I checked Jordan's previous films, and low-and-behold, Interview with the Vampire is there!

Saoirse Ronan moves so slow and speaks without any emotion or conviction that I just wanted to fast-forward her scenes. She's so utterly boring. Despite the good stuff, Byzantium is just too low-key and sleep-inducing, so..

D+

Ah, too bad.

To quote Vincent Hanna, DON'T WASTE MY MOTHER-FUCKING TIME!

This out-of-the-blue comparison is a hilariously low blow. I must have pissed in Algren's oatmeal and forgotten.

I am just comparing it based on pace and boredom, nothing else. I, obviously, preferred this.

I really did love this at first. For a while it was in 9/10 territory. But as it went on I got less and less interested. The story wasn't all that engrossing. It is superbly crafted though. On a technical level it's great. The cinematography is among the finest of the year. Gemma Arterton was great and has never looked more gorgeous. I also really liked Saoirse Ronan.

I'd give it a strong B. There is plenty to admire, but I didn't find it quite as compelling as I would have liked.

this is a pretty dope movie. I skimmed this thread before watching it and for a while in the middle I thought it was gonna end up losing steam and thus losing my interest, as it seemed to for some, but it never did. a few lulls, but overall I fuck with it heavy. gorgeous visuals and sound, very strong acting and directing and incredibly satisfying (if a lil obvious) climax puts it much closer to the top than bottom of 2013 films. probably just at or outside my top ten right now, but I have a bunch of promising films still to see, so i dunno how high it'll end up.

Glad you saw and enjoyed it.