Evidently,
vampirism is supposed to be an old boys’ club.
Eleanor and her sister Clara are certainly not boys. At least they are old, though they hardly
look it. Immortality is a strange existence
for them in Byzantium (trailer here), Neil Jordan’s
return to the world of the undead, which screens as a Spotlight selection of
the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.
For
two hundred years, Eleanor has been a mixed up teenager. She routinely writes the story she is
forbidden from telling, casting her words to the wind. Eleanor also drinks human blood to survive,
but she only “takes” those who are ready and willing to go. She was whisked away from her orphanage and
turned eternal by her “guardian” Clara.
Ever since, they have not-lived on the run, eluding a cabal of vampires
who never sanctioned either woman joining their ranks.
Clara
does not have Eleanor’s scruples. She is
a survivor, typically falling back on her old profession—the oldest one. At least she finds a decent enough chap to
shack up with in Noel. He happens to
have a vacant hotel they can use as a base of operations—the Byzantium. Despite Clara’s insistence on secrecy,
Eleanor feels increasingly compelled to share her story, which is a dangerous
proposition.
Adapted
by Moira Buffini from her stage play A
Vampire Story, Byzantium offer some intriguing twists on the familiar
vampire mythos (the hat tips to Byron and Polidori are also nice touches). Yet, it is driven by the telling of the tale,
which establishes quite a compelling fairy tale vibe. Jordan masterfully handles the flashbacks,
while maintaining the eerie mood. He
also deftly incorporates music into key scenes.
There is an elegant lushness to Byzantium,
much in the tradition of Jordan’s previous supernatural films and the better
Hammer Horror productions.
Somehow,
Saoirse Ronan projects both teen angst and world-weary resignation. It is a rather soulful portrayal of the
soulless. A fully committed Gemma
Arterton impressively vamps it up in every way possible as Clara. Sam Riley adds a Twilishness as the mysterious vampire Darvell (revisiting the
seaside locale of Brighton Rock) with
Thure Lindhardt (from Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal) and Uri Gavriel (the blind prisoner of the pit in Dark Knight Rises) bringing some global
genre cred in supporting roles.
