Only Lovers Left Alive

     It's hard to say exactly when I fell in love with this film.  Perhaps it was when I discovered that Jim Jarmusch was writing and directing a comfortably cool romance about Adam and Eve, who have relied on their love since nearly the beginning of time.  Perhaps it was when Tom Hiddleston's name was announced for the leading male role. Or perhaps it was the opening scene of the movie that stole my breath and my heart.  It is difficult to pinpoint these thoughts because ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE transformed from what I thought would be my favorite movie of the year, into a beautifully moving reminder of why I love the cinematic art form.
     As the opening credits roll, we are immediately introduced to our main vampire lovers, who are symbolically joined in their emotional passion for music.  Through the deep thrum of classically mellowed rock and roll, I became completely aware of the connection Adam and Eve shared as though they were existing through one soul.  Even though they were living at opposite ends of the world, they seemed content with their status and untainted by nothing but their need for blood, music, and one another.  However, we quickly notice that perhaps living for an eternity is not quite the freedom it seems.  Their breed is dying out, and despite their attempts to co-habitate with humans, whom they lovingly refer to as zombies, Adam and Eve grimly realize that they are rapidly claiming the title of the only lovers left alive.
     On an impulsive whim, which is more accurately labelled as intuition, Eve rejoins Adam in Detroit, Michigan where the couple reconnects on a level of intimacy that few will ever have the honor to understand.  They have reached a place, not only in life but in their relationship, where they know each other so fully that it becomes effortless to think and breathe.  Yet, they maintain the essence of who they are--or so it seems.
     Adam (Tom Hiddleston) is a dark and Gothicly romantic vampire who is stuck in the musical legends of the sixties and seventies.  Although he adamantly denies ever having heroes from the centuries of living with famous writers and scientists, his unconventionally alluring wife, Eve (Tilda Swinton), discovers his portrait-covered wall, illuminating his hidden admiration for those who have made the biggest impact throughout his life.  His brooding concerns her and she gently encourages him to live every day with happiness.  This becomes increasingly alarming when she discovers a wooden bullet in the chamber of a gun that he had made specially for his potential suicide, resulting in a real death.  Pulling him back into her love, Eve reminds him of what he is living for, saying "My dear, how can you have lived for so long and still not get it . . . always dance."  And so they do.  Even when the zombies continue to force their way through the vampires' world and all hope seems lost, it is the prospect of a million more dances with one another that sustains them.  This becomes their mantra as they battle the wilds of family, endless existence, and the very immanent threat of extinction. But even despite their inability to remain completely secluded from the world's peering eyes, they remind each other of the beauty that exists all around them.  It may seem simple or boring to the couples born in a modern age of sex and a false sense of self, but Adam and Eve strengthen their love from the cultures of a lifetime.  They simply exist as the only true lovers left alive on Earth.