Byzantium

With it's beautiful cinematography, steady pace, and understated acting, <i>Byzantium</i> is solid modern Gothic vampire tale. A bit reminiscent of <i>Interview with the Vampire</i> and <i>The Moth Diaries</i>, we see mother and daughter vampire in current day and through flashbacks and storytelling are told of how they came to be and the loneliness of their existence. <i>Byzantium</i> is a slow burn and never takes any drastic chances. It forgoes the cheese of many vampire films and remains melancholy throughout. This certainly won't be for everyone, yet there is definitely something worthy here.

**_Lost Girls on the gloomy coasts of the British Isles_** This comes in the tradition of the director’s “Interview With a Vampire” from eighteen years earlier which, incidentally, was the year the star of this one was born, Saoirse Ronan. Moira Buffini wrote the script using her one-act stage play “A Vampire Story” as inspiration. This lush-but-melancholy film is more explicit, expanding the tale to include the origin story of the two protagonists rooted in a patriarchal vampire order that forbids women from becoming the undead—a rule they break, which sets into motion the central conflict. It’s basically a mixture of “The Lost Boys” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” with the general setting of “Tristan + Isolde” (even though that movie is set in 600 AD). Like “Lost Boys,” the bulk of the story takes place in the modern day at a coastal town with a carnival park, yet there are many well-done flashbacks to the Napoleonic era. Gemma Arterton stands out in the cast because she’s stunning as brazen Clara. Yet the focus is on low-key Eleanor, played by Saoirse, and her developing relationship with a young man suffering leukemia. Those who appreciate intelligent Gothic drama/thrillers should appreciate this. The secret society of human-like creatures doesn’t necessarily have to be vampires in this particular subgenre, it could be werewolves, like “Blood and Chocolate,” or otherwise, such as 1982’s “Cat People.” For me, this is the least of all the films mentioned. It’s a superbly made production, I just found the dramatics tedious rather than compelling. The unrelenting maudlin atmosphere doesn’t help. Still, there are some creative bits (like Noel’s surprising breakdown) and more than enough good to make it worth checking out for those interested. It runs 1h 58m and was shot in Dec-Feb 2011-2012 at Hastings in southeast England (seacoast town), and Skellig Michael off the southwest coast of Ireland (the rocky island), as well as Admore Studios, which is located seven miles south of Dublin. GRADE: B-