Considering I haven't read Interview with the Vampire in years and have had no time to spare to reread it, I'll be focusing on the relationships in Byzantium for this week. I have had Byzantium sitting on my "to-watch" list for months now, so to finally be able to watch it was FANTASTIC. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and scold myself for not watching it sooner.
What really drew my attention to Byzantium was the relationship between Clara and Eleanor. At the beginning of the film, the two pass themselves off as sisters, subtle hints reveal that there is more to their relationship than simply being siblings. Through flashbacks and writing, Eleanor reveals that Clara is actually her mother. It is also revealed how these two became vampires, and considering they are two female leads in the story, it becomes even more interesting to me. Whereas most vampire stories I am familiar with focus on male vampires and their relationships with mortal females, this film turns the table on that aspect.
Clara and Eleanor rely on each other to survive in the modern world by maintaining a living, with Eleanor relying more on Clara. Clara typically uses men as bait for her feasting and her schemes, whereas Eleanor prefers the old and sick. One of the men that Clara uses is Noel, who provides the two girls a place to stay and a brothel to build. At the end of the film, our two leads split ways to live their own individual lives. Clara leaves with Darvell, who is also a vampire and the reason Clara was able to become one initially. Eleanor leaves with Frank (her love interest), a sickly mortal boy who, with Eleanor's help, becomes a vampire at the end. Both ladies are either in mutual respect for their partner or above them in power, which is a nice difference to see in comparison to other vampire stories that tend to show the opposite.
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