"Only Lovers Left Alive" (2013)
Written & Directed by Jim Jarmusch
It's easy to take the long view of history when you've been around for (and contributed to) so much of it. Being effectively immortal really helps put things in perspective. The problem is that it's too much perspective!
At least it is for a vampire named Adam (Tom Hiddleston), who has grown somewhat cynical about humanity over the centuries. Who can blame him? We haven't always reacted in the most tolerant and understanding way to individuals who have revolutionized the world through their ideas and discoveries. We are still squabbling over Darwin, as Adam painfully reminds us. Let's face it: He's got a point.
Eve (Tilda Swinton) is a little less pessimistic. She likes her iPhone and her extensive collection of classic books. So there's that.
Of all the things vampires have to worry about, the contamination of their food supply is pretty high on the list. This is precisely what humans have done to themselves with their various blood sicknesses, unwittingly putting vampires everywhere at risk. Kids these days! Also, there's that other thing we're doing that is tantamount to poisoning the planet... so, like, maybe it's a metaphor?
Perhaps the lives of humans are so nasty, brutish, and short that we collectively fail to gain the wisdom necessary to become good stewards of the planet. We tend to pull ourselves back from brink just in the nick of time. It appears that Vampire Adam & Eve have been around long enough to figure this out, but are content to keep to themselves while they let us go about our self-destructive business. The irony is that our fate is also theirs.
There's a larger point in all of this, but I have failed to make it. This movie also has some good music.
___
