Only Lovers Remain - Herzliya Cinematheque

Friday | 18 September | 21:00 | Herzliya Cinematheque

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska
(123 min, English; Hebrew subtitles)

Adam and Eve are lovers, and their mutual longing has continued for centuries. He lives in Detroit, surrounded by musical instruments, records, and books; she lives in Tangier alongside an aging artist. When their longing outweighs their decision to live apart, Eve sets out to meet Adam, and the two are joyfully reunited. But their harmony is disrupted by the arrival of Eve’s younger sister, whose lifestyle puts the rules of their relationship to the test.

In Jim Jarmusch’s distinctive film, the protagonists are portrayed as creatures of the night, collectors, connoisseurs, and art lovers who observe humanity with a mixture of curiosity, desire, and hunger. Through Adam and Eve, Jarmusch examines the place of art in our lives and the mythology surrounding those who create it. Artists, after all, are troubled human beings: they need the world around them, draw sustenance from it, and transform it into art. There is something addictive—and perhaps even vampiric—in the charisma of a great artist. For the film’s protagonists, in more than one sense, this is not merely a metaphor.