The Horror Show
Byzantium
by Neil Jordan
Byzantium is the mother-daughter vampire tale set on the British Coast. The movie begins with mystery and action, but then slowly plunges into a painstakingly slow pacing of the story. If you can sit tight and grin and bear it, you’ll find that as the mystery of Eleanor and her mother Clara unravels, there is far more to the story than you think.
Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother Clara (Gemma Arterton) are constantly on the run from the Brotherhood and after Clara is attacked by one of their members, she decapitates him and burns her apartment down, taking her daughter and fleeing to a small town. They seek refuge in an old resort with the help of a man named Noel. Clara, knowing only the skills of prostitution for her entire immortal life, starts up a whorehouse in order to support her and Eleanor. Eleanor, troubled by her secretive and lonely life as a vampire, confides in a young man she meets via a story she’s written for a creative writing class in school. The young man, Frank, concerned with Eleanor’s well-being shows the story to his teachers and sets off an unfortunate chain of events for Eleanor and Clara.
While the present-tense story is being told, the history and origins of Clara and Eleanor are simultaneously revealed via flashbacks that introduce us to The Brotherhood, the mysterious island where immortality is granted, the “code”, and many more mysteries and secrets in this well told, original take on vampire folklore.
I’m not going to go much more into the story because there is a lot that the viewer needs to realize on their own in order to enjoy the movie as a whole and truly appreciate the story. But I will dish a bit, my favorite scene is when Clara seductively lures a man out onto an abandoned beach and then feeds on him, all while Etta James’ “Don’t Cry Baby” blares in the background. Well done.
The movie is best described as a young adult fantasy horror with an R-Rating. There’s bits of romance thrown in, I mean, Eleanor is a 200 year old vampire stuck in a 16 year old’s body, that’s gotta suck. But in no way is this movie to be mistaken as a Twilight type of film. There are no empty characters, there is no angst and apathy. The vampires don’t sparkle. This is a dark and artistic film that I really am glad that I watched.
The violence is there, albeit light and stretched out, but I think that an overly gruesome or murderous story arc would have killed the movie. It’s more of an immortality drama than it is a gory horror film. I imagine the best way to describe it is with a quote pulled from the movie itself: It’s as if Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley had some sort of twisted baby. I couldn’t help but be reminded quite a bit of Interview With A Vampire while I watched, and interestingly enough, when I looked it up, I found out that Neil Jordan is the director of both these movies.
So, if you have the patience to allow the movie to develop and progress, I think you’ll enjoy this subtle horror gem. But don’t sit down and press play expecting a gore-fest action movie, go watch 30 Days of Night or Underworld instead. Byzantium is a creepy and artistically alluring film that I think belongs in the collection of any true vampire horror fan.
Stevie Kopas, HMS
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