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nTitle: Byzantium (2012)
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nDirector: Neil Jordan
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nCast: Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley
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nOne of Neil Jordan’s most recognized films is Interview withna Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) which to me is not only one of hisnbest films, but also one of the best vampire movies ever made. I personallynhold it in my top five because it’s very theatrical, gothic and even epic, thenGone with the Wind of vampire movies. What I enjoyed the most about that filmnis how it focused on the “eternity” of the vampire and how they deal with it.nDecades of existence pass through them, yet how does that affect a vampire? Donthey get on each other’s nerves? Do they grow weary of each other? What do youndo when you get bored with eternity? What do you do when people start to noticenthat you don’t age or get sick or die? What do you do when you stay stuck innthe same age all your life? Above all this, Interview with a Vampire alsondelivered on the gore, the blood and fantastic effects. It has all the elementsnthat a good vampire movie should have. On top of this, it presented us with thenidea of sympathizing with its creatures, these vampires aren’t completely evil;ninstead some of them are battling with their vampire nature, they are justntrying to make sense of their crazy existence. So of course I was thrilled whennI learned that Neil Jordan would be tackling the vampire genre once again withnByzantium. Was it any good?
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nByzantium focuses on two female vampires; a mother and andaughter team who go by the name of Clara and Eleanor. Clara, the mother, makesnher money by double timing it as a prostitute and as an exotic dancer whilenEleanor, the daughter, does nothing but mope around, writing poetry which she throwsnaway just as soon as she writes. Young Eleanor is confounded by the fact thatnshe can’t tell anyone that she’s a vampire. She feeds on old people who are onnthe brink of death, or people who are on their death bed. So anyhow, one thingnleads to another and mother and daughter end up on the streets, without a placento live in, so Clara in a desperate move hooks up with a guy who has inheritedna hotel called ‘Byzantium’. Can mother and daughter live here for a while? Cannthey settle with this guy? At the same time, Clara and Eleanor are on the runnfrom a group of vampires who call themselves ‘The Pointed Nails of Justice’.nThey are a brotherhood of vampires who think that Eleanor and Clara are annabomination and should be eliminated. You see this brotherhood, emphasis on thenword ‘brother’, have a rule: no sisters allowed. Will they ever catch Eleanornand Clara?
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nByzantium is a movie that touches upon themes of feminism.nIts main characters are two females, a mother and a daughter, so it is very muchnabout what women and what they endure in a society dominated by men. These arentwo girls surviving in a world that condemns them for being women. The secretnbrotherhood of vampires wants them eliminated because women aren’t allowed tonbe vampires, so right there we’re talking about a society that looks down onnwomen, an ailment that sadly still plagues our modern society. It’s something Inpersonally despise in general, women should be treated as equals, when they arentreated as less, well, it’s just another form of bigotry and bigotry and I justndon’t get along. I like stories like this one, about women rebelling againstnthe prevailing chauvinism in society. On the other side of the coin this is alsona story about a mother who’s having a hard time coping with the fact that herndaughter is all grown up and ready to fall in love and take the world on hernown. Clara fights with Eleanor because Eleanor falls for a human, same as anreal mother would fight with her young daughter for falling in love with anyoung man. There’s always that difficulty parents go through with letting go whenntheir children grow up, this movie addresses these issues.
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nOne good thing the film doesn’t do is forget that it’snprimarily a vampire film, and a horror film. This is something that Neil Jordannhimself mentions in the audio commentary; he wanted to augment the horrornelements in the film, which is why the film starts out in a pretty gory fashion;nwith Clara decapitating some dude with a piano string. Another gory detail, thenvampires in this film don’t have fangs; instead they have a nail that growsnwhenever they need to puncture someone’s jugular to feed. So gore hounds won’tnbe entirely disappointed. These vampires might be sultry and poetic, but theynsure as hell don’t hesitate to slit someone’s throat. It’s interesting to notenthat this movie can have elements of teenage love, yet doesn’t lose its horrornedge. So in that sense it’s similar tonInterview with a Vampire because it weaves visual poetry and a classy aestheticnwith gory violence. And speaking of visual poetry, well, this one is fillednwith beautiful compositions and color. The whole color palette of the filmnmixes intense colors, with cold blues, it’s an interesting mix. The whole filmntakes place in this sleepy, rainy coastal town, it makes for creepy, deeply atmosphericnvisuals.
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nSo yes, I enjoyed Byzantium a lot because it’s a mixed bagnof classy aesthetic, sultry visuals an atmospheric setting with just the rightnamount of gore and blood. It’s a film that plays with very real themes, amongstnthem feminism and mother-daughter relations. Also, it asks important questionsnlike: do we always have to be like our parents? Even when they don’t realizenwhat unreliable parents they are? Even when they themselves don’t realize whatnbad examples they are setting? Do we have the right to simply reject them andnwalk away? Is blood thicker than water? Do differences between parents andnsiblings have to sever ties completely? Or does love prevail in the end? Thesenare heavy questions that Byzantium both asks and answers. Though nowhere as perfect or complex as Interview with a Vampire was, Byzantium is still a solid vampire film from anseasoned director like Neil Jordan who’s no stranger to horror films, we can’tnforget he’s the director behind In the Company of Wolves (1984), a fantasyntinged retelling of little red riding hood; with the horror elements amped up.nHighly recommend that one if you haven’t had the chance of checking it out, it’snan interesting mix of horror, surrealism and fantasy. Byzantium shows a thing orntwo to modern filmmakers. Mainly that a vampire film can be about teenagenvampires falling in love…without losing its edge.
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nRating:n4 out of 5
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