'BYZANTIUM': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Another vampire tale from director Neil Jordan (who also directed the critically acclaimed 1994 film adaptation of Anne Rice's popular book 'INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES'). This movie is based on the play by Moira Buffini (she also wrote the screenplay) and tells the story of a mother and daughter vampire duo who have been on the run for 200 years. It stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as the mother and daughter vampires and co-stars Sam Riley, Johnny Lee Miller, Caleb Landry Jones and Daniel Mays. It's a pretty standard vampire film with some nice directing and decent acting.

Arterton plays Clara and Ronan plays her daughter Elanor (even though she's only eight years younger than Arterton). They've remained the same age for 200 years (when they became vampires, that can live in the sun) and need human blood to survive. They're constantly on the run from other vampires (as they've broken their 'brotherhood's laws). Clara has now befriended the shy Noel (Mays) and is running a brothel out of his recently inherited rundown coastal hotel (the Byzantium). Elanor has fallen for a young waiter named Frank (Jones) and has begun exposing her and her mother's secrets to him, through (what he thinks) is a beautiful fictional story.

The movie looks good and Arterton (like always) is gorgeous in it. She makes a great femme fatale vampire and Ronan is decently cast as her sheltered daughter. Jordan's directing is fitting and the story is interesting, if you like vampire movies (although I didn't like it that these vampires can survive in the sun). It's nice to see a vampire movie about a mother and daughter for a change and the romance and male characters are pretty minimal. It's also interesting to see sympathetic vampires, in a film, that still kill and prey on innocent people. Very flawed heroes to say the least. It's nowhere near as classic as Jordan's 'INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE' but it's still a decent vampire flick.

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In the present days, the lonely sixteen year-old Eleanor "Ella" Webb (Saoirse Ronan) and his sexy and protective mother Clara (Gemma Arterton) are vampires for two hundred years. When a dangerous stranger hunts Clara down, she severes his head, burns her apartment and flees with Ella to a coastal town. Clara meets the lonely Noel (Daniel Mays) that is grieving the loss of his mother and is completely broken. He lodges them in his derelict Byzantium, a former hotel and bed-and-breakfast that belonged to his mother. Clara sees the chance to make money for Noel and she with a brothel. Eleanor befriends the teenager Frank (Caleb Landry Jones),who has leukemia, and they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile two strangers are tracking Clara through the deaths of their victims. Eleanor is tired of living on the run and decides to tell their secret to Frank, but there are parts in Clara's past that she does not know.

"Byzantium" is a classy and cult vampire movie directed by Neil Jordan that once again makes a great vampire movie. The story is disclosed in slow pace and the characters are very well constructed. The performances are top-notch and Clara has an amoral behavior while her daughter is the opposite, but there is explanation along the story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Byzantium: Uma Vida Eterna" ("Byzantium: An Eternal Life")

Writer and Director Neil Jordan won an Oscar for his screenplay for The Crying Game. He subsequently when on to direct a star studded adaptation of Interview with a Vampire starring Tom Cruise.

Byzantium marks Jordan's return to the vampire genre but with less success.

In this doom laden tale of women trying to fight back. Clara (Gemma Arterton) works as a stripper and as a prostitute. She is chased by a man who has been pursuing her for years. The man is after Clara and Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) a young teenager in Clara's care.

Both Clara and Eleanor are vampires living in the shadows, seeking blood, finding a safe place to stay, earn money and keep away from people who are after them for centuries.

Eleanor has written a journal for young ill man she has befriended. The journal reveals more about her and Clara's life. How Clara was driven into prostitution as a young girl and then entered the world of vampires. Clara broke an important rule and she and Eleanor have been on the run since then.

The film is earnest, dark and listless. It is gloomy like the vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive. The special effects are cheap and the low budget is clear to see.

For a film with a feminist bent, Gemma Arterton seems to be in sexy lingerie for most of the movie. Both women in all of these years never seem to have bettered themselves.