Written by Moira Buffini
Directed by Neil Jordan
Clara: "I'm never merciful and knowledge is a fatal thing."
I was in the mood for an Irish themed vampire flick of sorts and I stumbled upon this one. Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as a mother/daughter vampire duo. Why the hell not?
Yes, the movie opened with vampire matriarch Clara Webb killing one of her clients and telling daughter, Eleanor that they had to move again. The latter wasn't particularly pleased about that.
Anyways Clara and Eleanor moved to a coastal resort and both women get love interest. For Clara, that meant the generally shy and grieving Noel (Daniel Mays), who inherited the Byzantium Hotel. Clara didn't take long into turning it into a brothel with Noel passively letting her do what she wanted.
As for Eleanor, she went to school and forged a connection with leukemia patient, Frank (Caleb Landry Jones). She also attracted attention from her teachers, Morag (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and Kevin (Tom Hollander) by telling stories of her mother's past.
There's flashbacks to Clara being made into a vampire, which was where Brethren members, Savella (Uri Gavriel) and Darvill (Sam Riley) factored into things. They didn't approve of Clara being a vampire and they certainly didn't approve of Clara killing a Brethren member and having Eleanor made into a vampire.
The last act had Eleanor and Clara against each other before the Brethren brought back together. Then we had Clara show some growth from the movie by actually letting Eleanor live her own life while she reunited with Darvill.
- Neil Jordan who directed this one previously directed the more famous Interview With The Vampire.
- Although Clara and Eleanor are clearly vampires, they're referred to as soucriants. Johnny Lee Miller appeared as Captain Ruthven, who turned Clara.
- Standout music: Etta James Don't Cry Baby and Girls Love Shoes Flaunt.
- Chronology: 2010 in a coastal town. The movie was filmed in parts of Ireland and the UK. Clara and Eleanor were made into vampires over 200 years ago. Napoleonic Wars.
Byzantium was a delightful feminist take on the vampire genre with great performances from both Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan respectively. It's also a rather underrated film from the acclaimed Neil Jordan.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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