Byzantium

Again and again, as the story shifts between women, times and moods, Mr. Jordan adds a punctuating flourish...that exquisitely illustrates the once-upon-a-time mood.

Byzantium isn't Jordan's first movie about bloodsuckers—that would be 1994's Interview with the Vampire—but it's the right vampire movie for today, poetic and elegant in an artfully tattered way.

While it flirts with the ridiculous, the film manages to maintain a certain gravitas as its many stories unfold.

Byzantium's appeal is not so much its bite, which could use some refining, but the emotional journey its undead take. In Jordan's hands, the vampires are so very human.

Forlorn depictions of love and death may dignify Neil Jordan's film, but narrative withholding ultimately drives a stake into its unmistakable heart.

Jordan’s apparent resolve to make an anti-Twilight unfortunately results in a movie that, if not for a fistful of moments of shock, style and excess, would be as drained of colour and tension as Ronan’s victims are of hemoglobin.

Neil Jordan’s Byzantium dares to rework “Twilight” with twice the teen moping and Robert Pattinson replaced by a guy with the sexual magnetism of a sickly Ron Weasley.

This movie had a feeling of specialty, it had a whole new world of vampires and their living. Saoirse Ronan is electric. Beautifully told, the story of Clara and Eleanor's past unfolds on the background of developing young love.

This is a fairly atmospheric watch, with a solid performance by Saoirse Ronan. Its somewhat dark and fairly sinister in tone I suppose, although it does feel like the whole vampire category of horror/thriller film has been, pardon the pun, done to death by now, so in that sort of a sense its fairly predictable. I liked the use of music in it and I suppose it didn't feel as tacky as some of the similar films aimed at teens do (like Twilight etc.). The cast is good and it was interesting to see in terms of it being set in Britain, rather than the US, for a change but I can't say I found it entirely engrossing or anything like that. Its ok and I liked that Tom Hollander (who plays Rev in the BBC sitcom of the same name) is in it but its not a great watch, so I wouldn't expressly recommend it as such, no.

A mother and daughter, who happen to be vampires, struggle to maintain anonymity while also struggling with the perils of being a vampire and falling in love. There are a lot of flashbacks to relate the story of the creation of Clara (Gemma Arterton) and her subsequent creation of Eleanor (Saorise Ronan). Eleanor struggles with identity and new love, while Clara struggles with parenting a rebellious teenager and keeping them safe from a looming secret. It's a beautifully dark and brooding film, which comes as no surprise with Neil Jordan (Interview with a Vampire) at the helm. But where Interview was rich and developed, with drama and tension in the relationships it simmered up over its meandering course, Byzantium is flat, lifeless, and thin for most of its two hour running time, picking up speed and becoming interesting JUST before the credits roll. Despite good casting, good performances, excellent cinematography, and a cool vampire mythos, there just isn't enough story here to drive a movie. If you're really into vampires you might dig it. Otherwise, you'll be fine without.

J’aime bien le titre, ça fait romantique et mystérieux. J’aime bien aussi les deux actrices. Non, j’exagère, j’adore Gemma Arterton, toujours aussi affriolante et ravissante et sexy (aussi). Elle porte le film sur ses épaules, d’autant plus que son rôle est plein d’énergie. J’aime pas l’autre fille par contre, celle au prénom imprononçable à coucher dehors. Elle est pâle, livide, déprimante, râleuse et moche. Fade et ennuyeuse. Elle est à l’image du film pour tout dire et le résume à chaque plan, car passé les 10 premières minutes, ce machin à vampirettes se traîne comme un rat mort à zéro de tension. L’histoire est absente, le scénar encore plus absent, pour ne pas inexistant. C’est niais et stupide. Les allers et retours entre le passé et le présent sont maladroits et à mourir d’ennui, eux aussi. Le film entier semble se passer sur cette plage anglaise sinistre… en hiver ! Et dire que c’est le gars qui a fait (quand même) l’intéressant ‘Entretien avec un vampire’ !On se demande si c’est vraiment lui, du coup. Ou un imposteur à dormir debout. Ou alors, il a vraiment mais vraiment perdu la main le gars. Il est temps de prendre sa retraite, Monsieur Jordan, parce que là, vous faites que de la merde ! Je mets 1 quand même, pour Gemma bien sûr.

At last something worth (although different) of Interview with the vampire. Forget special effects, this is mostly about what being a vampire would mean. A must see.