[BYZANTIUM
opens in Cleveland on Friday July 12th exclusively at the Capitol
Theatre.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
Director Neal Jordan last delved into the world of tragic bloodsuckers with his big budget adaptation of Anne Rice's
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. He
returns to the genre with his latest film
BYZANTIUM, and while there
are some similarities between the two films, the territory explored
in BYZANTIUM is
largely new. Based on a play by Moira Buffini, who also wrote the
screenplay, the film
is rife with compelling themes – mainly, the sacrifices parents
make for their children and the difficulty of letting them leave the
nest, and to a lesser degree the way women can be marginalized,
excluded, and mistreated by a patriarchal society. While those
subjects are treated with the depth and importance they deserve, they
never overwhelm the dark fantasy/romance tale at the heart of
the story.
The
plot concerns a mother/daughter vampire duo who have been walking the
earth for a good two centuries. Mom Clara (Gemma Arterton) has
endured much for the sake and safety of her eternally sweet-sixteen
daughter Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan), but after 200 years they both might
be better off if the apron strings were cut like the throats of the
humans they prey upon for sustenance. Speaking of the ladies'
victims, Clara makes a point of killing the wicked and the powerful,
while Eleanor acts as something of an angel of mercy, taking those
who are ready to die. Despite being powerful immortals, though, there
is something or someone trailing our vampiric protagonists that keeps
them fearful and ever moving.
