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Only Lovers Left AliveFri 7 March – Thu 13 MarchFrom the silent era to the present, the vampire has had along-standing love affair with the cinema, capturingaudiences’ continued fascination with seduction, perversion,death and immortality. Even so, the past few years have seena phenomenal rise in the popularity of the vampire, and OnlyLovers Left Alive, by master American indie-filmmaker JimJarmusch, offers his own distinct take on the genre.BastardsLes salaudsFri 21 February – Thu 27 FebruaryClaire Denis returns to our screens for the firsttime since the explosive White Material.Thankfully not losing any of her talent to lookat the underbelly of contemporary society, hernewest film is as tough as ever with a wonderfulevocative score by her house band, Tindersticks.Selected for the Un Certain Regard section atCannes, Bastards is a daring and dark film noirinspired by recent French sex ring scandalsinvolving men of wealth and power. Tankercaptain Marco (Vincent Lindon) is called backto Paris to attend to a family disaster involvinga wrecked business, a distraught sister (JulieBataille) whose husband has committed suicide,and their traumatized daughter (Lola Créton).Marco moves into the same building as themelancholic mistress (Chiara Mastroianni) ofa powerful tycoon (Michel Subor), sparking asecretive and erotic coupling that carriesimplications for both families once grim secretsare unearthed.Eschewing many of the overly familiar conventions, includingvampire hunters, stakes, crosses and, in recent years, teenromance,Jarmusch sets his tale in the desolate back streetsand hidden corners of Detroit and Tangiers. Jarmuschre-imagines the genre as an intense and sensual love story,where two immortals who have spent centuries together,silently observe the wonders and idiocies of the human world.Emotionally and spiritually intertwined, Eve (Tilda Swinton)is light to Adam’s (Tom Hiddleston) dark. She embraces thebeauty of the world, while he wallows in despair for its loss.Not since Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie in The Hungerhave we seen such elegant, sexy and down-right coolvampires, as Swinton and Hiddleston, while Mia Wasikowskaand John Hurt introduce an aura of dangerous unpredictabilityand stable authority respectively.Visually and aurally sumptuous, counter balanced with aquirky sense of humour and knowingness about the genre,this is a must-see film for fans of both vampires andJarmusch’s unique cinematic vision. A beautiful and hauntingtale, it leaves one asking; What would you do with eternity?Dir: Jim JarmuschUK / Germany / France / Cyprus / USA 2013 / 2h03mDigital / 15Bring a Baby screening Thu 13 March, 10:30Shooting for the first time on digital, Denis’ blendof composed long shots and extreme close-upsinvites the viewer into this intense drama, even asher storytelling (working again with her long-timecollaborator writer Jean-Pol Fargeau) pushesthem away. Denis masterfully takes us into thevery heart of darkness in her most unsettling filmyet, an unforgettable and thrilling commentary onlate capitalism.Dir: Claire DenisFrance / Germany / 1h40m / DigitalFrench with English subtitles / 18Tickets 01382 909 900 7