Film: Only Lovers Left Alive

I was in two minds about whether to go out tonight - not feeling the best. Boy, am I glad I did! It was an easy night - Only Lovers Left Alive in the local cinema, a 15-minute walk, not starting until 8.30. So I had time to eat at home beforehand, and strolled out just after 8. I finally managed, too, to find the shortest route there! Quite a maze of streets. He didn't bother to ask me what seat I wanted, but the cinema was practically empty, so you could pretty much sit where you liked. And he gave me a voucher - with no date on it. When I questioned him, he said it didn't matter. Well, we'll see.

Now, this is a vampire film, starring Tilda Swinton as one of the vampires, which I think is a fine piece of casting. The director is Jim Jarmusch, who also directed and co-wrote Broken Flowers a few years back, where Bill Murray goes in search of his long-lost son. So anyway, back to the vampires. Tilda is married, and has been for ages now, to Tom Hiddleston, whom we last saw as Loki in Thor: the Dark World. And a cooler couple you have never seen. I guarantee you this. Vampires, of course, have always been cool, and this pair are cool to the nth degree. Interestingly, they tend to live apart - he's a reclusive rock star in a deserted Detroit neighbourhood, who collects rare guitars and avoids publicity. She hangs out in Tangiers, with her pal Christopher Marlowe (yes, that one, he's also a vampire), played by John Hurt.

They're highly cultured folks, they've had centuries to absorb the best of civilisation. Mind you, the thesis of this film is that it's all created by vampires anyway - we have Marlowe, who claims to have given all his plays to Shakespeare, and Tom claims to have written something for Schubert, I think it was. So they have little time for humanity, whom they call "zombies". Mind you, as the film opens, the angst of it all is getting to poor Tom, and Tilda has to hop on a (night-time) flight to go save him from himself. Still, he finds he has plenty to distract him when her annoying little sister (Mia Wasikowska) comes to stay and does more than just deplete his entire blood collection..

So, do they pull it off? Is it any good? Yes, it's marvellous! The coolness feels real, never gets irritating. There are plenty of gently humorous moments along the way. But if I were a vampire, I would kill to be as cool as these guys. The soundtrack rocks. And I absolutely loved the ending! O yeah. If you ever admired the cool crowd, go see this film and sigh in envy..

Tomorrow, I've booked to see Spite Marriage. Showing at the British Film Institute, it's Buster Keaton's last silent film, I believe, and they're giving it live musical accompaniment. Might be the opposite of cool, but there's nothing like variety!