In his fine-looking new fable, Neil Jordan deals with two themes that have recurred in his work since Angel, the brilliant thriller about the Troubles with which he made his auspicious debut 31 years ago. One concerns the position of people who find themselves simultaneously pursuer and pursued; the other is about someone who takes on weighty responsibilities for the safety and welfare of others.
In this case, they are a mother and daughter, the ruthless, beautiful, unscrupulous Clara (Gemma Arterton) and the kind, principled, vulnerable Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan). Both have been vampires since the early 19th century when Clara was raped and abandoned by the naval officer who fathered Eleanor. During this time, they've been pursuing their own bloody agendas while in flight from a different, less forgiving group of the undead. Currently, they've escaped their latest killings and found refuge in a deserted art nouveau hotel in a run-down seaside resort (in reality Hastings, photographed as the last stop on the road to hell by Sean Bobbitt, the cinematographer who recently shot The Place Beyond the Pines in the US).
Byzantium is a complex film that combines a traditional gothic horror story (though not one that sticks to traditional vampire law), social history and a realistic account of dealing with authentic physical distress. I have no particular liking for vampire movies, usually finding them morbid, and rarely erotic or illuminating. I can, however, see differences in quality and recognise that Byzantium is superior to Jordan's lugubrious, self-important Interview With the Vampire of 20 years ago, and in an altogether different class from the Twilight series based on Stephenie Meyer's novels.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jun/02/byzantium-review
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