I thought Byzantium would be some kind of period piece set in ancient times, but such was not the case. We follow the "lives" of two female vampires (mother and daughter but passing as sisters) in modern times with some flashbacks to the 18th century explaining their origins. Today, the mother, Claire, (Gemma Arterton) is a stripper/prostitute to make ends meet while her daughter, Eleanor, (Saoirse Ronan) mostly stays at home and writes. An incident happens, the mother gets pursued by a mysterious guy (exciting pursuit), and the duo has to flee town. In a decrepit coastal town, the mother befriends a desolate man whose mother passed away leaving the Byzantium Hotel as heritage. And as far as I know, it's the only reason the film was called that. Clara decides to open a brothel in it while a young man tries to befriend Eleanor.
I found it rather unconventional and a throwback at the same time. I found very quickly that it had a kind of moody "Interview with a vampire" vibe. No wonder, because I learnt later it was made by the same director, Neil Jordan. I liked the story, how it progressed and how it ended. Basically, most of the later conflicts hail from Eleanor, who cannot bear to live in secret anymore, trying to change her "life", while her mother is ready to do anything to survive and stay hidden. I liked how the vampires were different by not having fangs and being able to go in the daylight (among other things). I liked how the mother/daughter vampires were characters with diametrically-opposed personalities and sometimes showed kindness and compassion, especially Eleanor who was like a death angel initially only taking people who were ready to die. The performances were very good, but for me, Saoirse Ronan who showed a lot of emotion even when she was not talking, was stronger than her costar, Gemma Arterton. I was also impressed by the young redhead man, Frank, who tried to befriend Eleanor. The relationship between him and Eleanor was somewhat touching and fascinating to me.
Directorially, there were interesting choices like, for example, the characters who were sometimes in the same scene as their "doubles" from the past. Take also any scene where blood was present, especially when Frank injured himself and how Eleanor reacted (the cloth! :). The waterfall scenes with the water turning red were also memorable. Byzantium was not a particularly action-packed or gory film (far from it), but it fit well here since the vampires were so "human". A few things bugged me such as a couple of coincidences (how Eleanor ran into Frank the second time) and a few plot points (such as young Clara just going with that military man and just staying a prostitute). I didn't particularly like "Interview with a Vampire" or "Only Lovers Left Alive", but I strangely liked "Byzantium", although they're all in the same vein. It's something to watch on a dark night when you'd like a decent drama with a different flavour of vampire.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (very good)
I found it rather unconventional and a throwback at the same time. I found very quickly that it had a kind of moody "Interview with a vampire" vibe. No wonder, because I learnt later it was made by the same director, Neil Jordan. I liked the story, how it progressed and how it ended. Basically, most of the later conflicts hail from Eleanor, who cannot bear to live in secret anymore, trying to change her "life", while her mother is ready to do anything to survive and stay hidden. I liked how the vampires were different by not having fangs and being able to go in the daylight (among other things). I liked how the mother/daughter vampires were characters with diametrically-opposed personalities and sometimes showed kindness and compassion, especially Eleanor who was like a death angel initially only taking people who were ready to die. The performances were very good, but for me, Saoirse Ronan who showed a lot of emotion even when she was not talking, was stronger than her costar, Gemma Arterton. I was also impressed by the young redhead man, Frank, who tried to befriend Eleanor. The relationship between him and Eleanor was somewhat touching and fascinating to me.
Directorially, there were interesting choices like, for example, the characters who were sometimes in the same scene as their "doubles" from the past. Take also any scene where blood was present, especially when Frank injured himself and how Eleanor reacted (the cloth! :). The waterfall scenes with the water turning red were also memorable. Byzantium was not a particularly action-packed or gory film (far from it), but it fit well here since the vampires were so "human". A few things bugged me such as a couple of coincidences (how Eleanor ran into Frank the second time) and a few plot points (such as young Clara just going with that military man and just staying a prostitute). I didn't particularly like "Interview with a Vampire" or "Only Lovers Left Alive", but I strangely liked "Byzantium", although they're all in the same vein. It's something to watch on a dark night when you'd like a decent drama with a different flavour of vampire.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (very good)