Byzantium (2013)

Byzantium marks another Neil Jordan foray into vampiricism after his Interview With  A Vampire of the mid 90s. As in the latter, Byzantium deals with the existential angst of immortality in a world bereft of meaningful relationships and isolation; also like Interview some of the story is told through flashbacks. But we don't see any fangs.

Clara (Gemma Arterton) and Eleanor Webb (Saoirse Ronan) have led nomadic lives for two centuries, on the run from the mysterious misogyny of 'The Brotherhood'. They struggle to get by and feed - the usual themes of social displacement, of forging a life in a strange modern world. They are remnants of history. Clara thrives in the extroversion of normal humans but Eleanor is more artistically delicate, preferring the numbing comfort of solitude. She writes beautifully. But, in a gloriously romantic twist, is obliged to throw all her pages away one by one to protect their identities - of course later on it's her writing that unravels the whole shabang and undermines their safety. Lacking any deeper goals than simply 'to survive' Eleanor seeks something else - the company of a leukaemia suffering bloke called Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) and his dashing long hair.

Things go wrong of course. The story, written by Moira Buffini (who also penned Tamara Drewe and Jane Eyre), isn't necessarily bad but there is some cerebral essence missing. Of course it's all well and good me, being the critic, writing that there's something missing; I've got to articulate what it is. And I'm not quite sure. Perhaps - he says in full stream of consciousness mode - problems surround the character of Clara. For a central player in the story she is surprisingly superficial - yes we know that she does everything for the safety of Eleanor, her daughter, but what's behind her relationships with the other characters? Who knows. She veers between the controlling maternal figure and the typical vampirical demon, with a lust for carnage and liberality. She's hyper-sexualised by Arterton, as one would expect and want, but not in a particularly compelling manner, and there's a vague notion about her fighting the sadistic bullies to protect the weak; she just never feels fully resolved.

Photography is pretty swish though, as you would expect from cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, the same guy who worked on those Steve McQueen films. The Clara scenes are markedly lurid and debauched and nocturnal; Eleanor is usually placed in beige and bleak surroundings (although that is the natural colour of English seaside towns), reflecting the watery blue-grey of her eyes. And the axiomatic red of the blood is luscious and dripping. Blood red is of course an essential component to vampire semiotics, and so it's often difficult to construct any visually original images with it. But Jordan, Buffini and Bobbitt succeed: Clara, upon her turn to the undead, immerses herself in the gushing, bloody cascades of a waterfall in celebration of her mortal release. It's resoundingly brash and instantly memorable.

Why is it called Byzantium? I'm not sure.The voluptuous nature of the word perhaps, evocative, exotic and foreign; an imperial culture alien to us, lost in the folds of history (in case you're not sure what I'm referring to here: the Greek Byzantine empire, based in its vibrant capital city Constantinople, stood for a thousand years, from the fall of the Roman empire to the Renaissance). It is also the name of the hotel that Clara and Eleanor find shelter in, a building that, under the aegis of Clara, becomes a high class brothel - again, notions of (sexual) exoticism and glamorous mystery are redolent. 

It's a worthy addition to the filmic canon of vampires - and god knows there have been terrible additions to that roster - and certainly a fine example of luxurious storytelling but not as satisfying as one would wish it to be.