Member review

Byzantium “Byzantium” is a fantasy vampire thriller directed by Neil Jordan. The film features Saoirse Ronan as Eleanor Webb and Gemma Arterton as Clara Webb. These are the two main characters of the film with Clara being the mother of Eleanor. The film starts with Eleanor writing the story that she has been told since she was young but cannot tell anybody we then see an old man picking the piece of paper that Eleanor threw into the wind he then takes her back to his house where he tells her his life story. It is at this point we discover that Eleanor is a vampire. The characters act’s with in the film are justified to a point for instance when Clara turns the Byzantium hotel into a make shift brothel to earn money for her daughter Eleanor. Eleanor’s acts are also justified when she takes the lives of old people when they are in pain which also helps Eleanor live as she needs blood to survive. The actors really show their emotions very well in points when they are desperate and running away in fear. The story of Eleanor and Clara’s life is told within flashbacks of their life and how they are where they are now. There are points within the film which make the plot confusing but at the same time the film is really good. As the film jumps in between different times it really shows that they do live eternally. With the film jumping back and forth in time can make the film hard to follow, I found that at points it did make parts hard to understand and follow but towards the end the film fell together and everything became clear and understandable. I believe the film was very good and enjoyable it was a different take on the vampire genre of films completely different to some like Twilight. This is definitely a film I would watch again and recommend to my friends.