Immortality - Region 1 DVD

Equal parts AIDS metaphor, ancient myth with a modern twist, and shrewd mind game, Immortality (originally released as The Wisdom of Crocodiles) is an art-movie interpretation of the vampire myth, too chic and bloodless to be compelling but curiously fascinating in its way. Leong Po-chih directs with clockwork precision and emotional restraint, elegantly creating a handsome but impersonal world where Grlscz's painful need for love is an extreme symptom of modern life. Law plays his part as a fascinating paradox, hiding his feelings and schemes behind a mask of impenetrable ennui that periodically bursts in a gush of sorrow and disappears just as fast, while Löwensohn is almost as hard to read with her angular face and unusual accent. The meticulous detail and cool images make this more a dispassionate mind game than a horror movie, where the ideas never quite come to life but become a curious enigma. --Sean Axmaker