hrkepler
By the time 'Only Lovers Left Alive' came out the vampire genre was totally stretched and tried out. Vampires had become mere parody of vampires. It hasn't changed much. But Jim Jarmusch's offbeat addition to the genre felt like fresh breeze and it still feels like that. It's not your regular blood thirsty beasts seeking their pray, no action, no jump scares, no horror.'Only Lovers Left Alive' is a romantic mood film. The wonderful cinematography of the empty streets of midnight Detroit and Tangier together with mesmerizing soundtrack by Jarmusch's own band SQÜRL and Jozef van Wissem creates nice melancholy mood. That is a melancholia in a good way. The plot is paper thin, but it's carried with genius performances by Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston such a way that you don't care much about twists and turns. You just enjoy these two quirky lovers exchange (pop)cultural references with (not in your face like Tarantino does) intelligence. Definitely nice and necessary addition into the old vampire genre. One can say it is most realistic vampire movie ever made. I imagine, if vampires would ever exist, that's how they would behave.
Liz Fickenscher
I'm guilty of an overdeveloped sense of nostalgia, and that can blind me to obvious flaws in films that tug at those tender parts of my psyche. While the logical part of me can see that Only Lovers Left Alive lacks some plot movement, character development and plain old common sense, I can't get over the parts I love. The wild aesthetic, the pop culture reference overload, the overly cool Adam and Eve - characters that would have caused a high school aged me overhaul her appearance and stay out of the sun even more than she already did. Jarmusch creates the perfect, delicious world of intense and wise love, cold and aloof passion and all the right literary references - all wrapped up in a killer soundtrack. I love this film. It tugs at all the parts a cool love story should, and it hits all the places a "cool" vampire story should. It might not be for everyone, but it sure is for me.
Piotr Parker
Director tried to show us vampires from different site. We know them mostly as bloody creatures wanted just to kill, drink blood or makes an army to kill other species. OK but what about Twilight... hehe this is different story and I would not compare Twilight to the stylish movies about vampires. Thanks for the style, for he music, the feeling like time stopped for them. Director focused on a vampires couple which are connected by blood, by love, by music. If you can live forever in that connection you would be the happiest person on earth. But there of course like in life there are some differentiates between them that makes their love more interesting. I would recommend this movie for anyone familiar with vampire movies to have different view on the film and as well for lovers of good music. Piotr
Smoreni Zmaj
Jarmusch, inviolable master of slow psychedelic movies. If you do not like slow movies do not even try to watch this, cause there's virtually no plot at all. Movie is based on characterization of protagonists, building of heavy atmosphere and it is visually fantastic. Although it technically falls within vampire/fantasy genre, movie does not have any of it's characteristics. Tilda and Tom for two hours became old married couple of vampires that will make you forget that vampires are just the fruit of the imagination and experience this movie as exceptionally realistic drama. Of course, Jarmusch wouldn't be Jarmusch if great psychedelic music didn't follow whole story. I saw Jim's opus long time ago, but if my memory does not deceive me, only Dead Man is better than this one.8,5/10
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