Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

A depressed musician reunites with his lover. Though their romance, which has already endured several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister.

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writers:

Jim Jarmusch, Marion Bessay (adaptation)

Stars:

Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska

9 wins & 44 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tilda Swinton	...	Eve
Tom Hiddleston	...	Adam
Anton Yelchin	...	Ian
Mia Wasikowska	...	Ava
Jeffrey Wright	...	Dr. Watson
Slimane Dazi	...	Bilal
John Hurt	...	Christopher Marlowe
Carter Logan	...	Scott
Aurélie Thépaut	...	Flight Attendant
Ali Amine	...	Taxi Driver, Detroit
Dave W.	...	White Hills
Ego Sensation	...	White Hills
Nick Name	...	White Hills
Fouad El Achaari	...	Man on Street, Tangier
Hawchi Mustapha	...	Man on Street, Tangier

Storyline

Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangiers, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise but fragile outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | musician | tangier morocco | abandoned city | detroit michigan | 

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Taglines:

Cool people never die

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eve (Tilda Swinton) books a flight for Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and her under the names "Daisy Buchanan" and "Stephen Dedalus", main characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", respectively. Stephen Dedalus also appeared as the sidekick in Joyce's "Ulysses". In Joyce's final novel "Finnegans Wake", there is a famous recurring poem with the line "riverrun past Eve and Adam".

Adam also has a Danish passport with the name "Lokke (the Danish form of "Loki") Odinson", a nod to his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Goofs

Dr. Watson makes a comment about the stethoscope around Adam's neck. The ear pieces are hanging on Adam's left side. In the shot in the hallway, the stethoscope is now hanging with the ear pieces on his right side.

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Quotes

Adam: I just feel like all the sand is at the bottom of the hour glass or something.

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Connections

Referenced in Half in the Bag: 2019 Movie Catch-Up! (part 2 of 2) (2019)

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Soundtracks

Red Eyes And Tears
Written by Robert Turner (as Robert Been), Peter Hayes and Nick Jago (as Nicholas Jago)
Performed by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Courtesy of Virgin Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A Highly Literate Vampire Love Story

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE pulls no punches with its audience; it expects us to take note of the literary references peppering the script, to figures old and new, making us away of the transhistoricity of the love-affair between Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton). In a world becoming increasingly disheveled and uninhabitable - the shots of a desolate Detroit are especially affecting - their love remains the only constant. However director Jim Jarmusch suggests that they need an outside transfusion of perfect blood to keep their affair going, something that can only be provided through a few sources, notably through Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt), who lives in a dark, dingy café in Tangier (another place deliberately chosen by director Jarmusch as the symbol of a place where trade and/or exchange has historically always occurred). When the blood runs out, so Adam and Eve have to resort to more direct methods of sustaining themselves. The ambiances evoked through this film are memorable; the zombie culture populated by Adam and Ava (Mia Wasikowska), the labyrinthine streets of Tangier, where sellers on every corner offer "something special" - which is not special enough for Adam and Eve. Within this ambiance the love-story is strangely haunting: we care for the two protagonists and their future, even though we are aware that their affair has continues for centuries. The film doesn't necessarily offer an optimistic conclusion, but at least it suggests that Adam and Eve will continue stay alive, at whatever cost.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK Germany Greece France

Language:

English French Arabic Turkish

Release Date:

25 December 2013 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Only Lovers Left Alive

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$87,989, 13 April 2014

Gross USA:

$1,879,534

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,609,187

Company Credits

Production Co:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Pandora Filmproduktion, Snow Wolf Produktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Surround 7.1 Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1