Only Lovers Left Alive: Movies about Writing

This will be short as there’s only one part of this movie that’s about a writer is John Hurt’s character. I miss John Hurt. But this movie also full of references to the arts.

But first, I must express my love for this quirky, dark, Jim Jarmusch love story. Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston play Eve and Adam, respectfully. This intellectual and artistic vampire couple have been married for centuries, attempting to survive as human blood becomes more and more tainted by chemicals and pollutants. Adam obtains blood by bribing a blood bank phlebotomist played by Jeffrey Wright. He’s falling into depression (a state his wife Eve blames on his time spent with, Byron and the Shelleys). She comes to spend time with him in Detroit along with suitcases full of her favorite books.

She was in Tangiers and he was in Detroit . . . and she had to fly to him. That’s just mean. If he really loved her he wouldn’t have made her go to Detroit. Of course, the director chose Detroit for its blend of cultural history and lack of preservation, which fits the theme of how the vampires view the humans. They refer to people as “zombies” as we have become complaisant to let the world die around us.

Complications come in the form of Eve’s reckless sister, Ava (Mia Wasikowska) and her “interest” in a young man who helps Adam when he needs things named Ian (Anton Yelchin). The movie is more about the insights of immortality, depression, and facing the idea of death from a vampirism point of view.

The part I want to talk about is John Hurt as Christopher Marlowe. The elderly Hurt plays Marlowe as a version of the playwright who faked his own death and became a vampire later in life. He’s poetic and speaks of the end of vampires as something both inevitable and not meant to be cried over. He keeps the secrets of his life and is cared for by young men who age, then leave him. Still, Kit (as Eve calls him) gets him to drop little truths such as his writing of Hamlet and his fashion choices. He insults Shakespeare in the most British way possible and continues to write throughout his long life. Adam points out that he got the work out there and that was the point.

On Exercise Resolutions - a letter Miranda Tepes

Note: Miranda is a currently unpublished character from an upcoming paranormal fantasy book called Whitby Secrets (coming soon from FSF Publications). Look for more blogs from her and other characters from this novel as the year progresses.

Dear Melanie,

Damn. I wish I could answer you through e-mail, but Dad says the content could be intercepted by Nos hackers. Yes. My father now is convinced that nosferatus are trying to put viruses on vampire hunters’ computers. I tried to point out that they could just as easily go through our physical mail, but whatever.

You asked me about what I’ve been doing at the gym to keep my staking arm in shape. I assume this means that Uncle Reinold is going to take you out for your first hunt soon. Congratulations!

Personally, I use a hatchet more than a stake. Still, knowing how to handle a stake is important so here’s what I do to keep in shape. First, I jump into the rafters of our ceiling and do about forty to eighty chin-ups on this old beam. Apparently, this what generations of our family did through the decades. If you don’t have a place to do this in your house, then I suggest parallel bars at a park.

Next, I take out two ancient family journals, the two heaviest I can find. I place each one flat in the palms of my hands. I stretch out my arms straight and hold the books for about 20 minutes.  I know we’re supposed to read the family journals, but this is just so much more interesting and useful. Plus I can watch my favorite makeover shows while I do it.

Lastly, I do yoga.  You have to keep your core strong, if you want to keep the rest of you strong. Normal, ordinary yoga while swinging machetes.

I hope that helps you get ready for that first hunt. I just want to add that you should probably wear wellies for your first kill. The first vampire I destroyed was super messy. I got blood all over a brand-new pair of suede boots. Good luck!

Your cousin, Miranda