The Wisdom of Crocodiles

Plot synopsis:
"Neuropsychologists say that 'we don't have one brain. We have
three--one that is human, built over another that is mammalian, built over
yet another that's reptilian. So, when a psychiatrist asks you to lie down
on the couch, you're being asked to lie down with a horse and with a
crocodile.'" [Steven Grlscz]A wrecked car is suspended in the treetops, the driver a young woman.
Investigators notice that there is no blood, but they make nothing of it.
Nor do they notice her fiancé, Steven Grlscz [Jude Law], among the bystanders.
Later that day, Steven writes one word in his diary: despair.
While waiting for the Tube, Steven saves Maria Vaughan from jumping
in front of the train. He gives her his card, she calls him, and they
begin a love affair. When Steven is assured that Maria has feelings for
him, he takes her to his bed, drinks her blood, and then drives to the
coast where he disposes of her body in the sea. This time the word entered
in his diary is: disappointment.
Steven Grlscz is a vampire, but far from typical. He can go out in
the sunlight, eat regular food, does not sleep in a coffin, and has no
fangs. Yet he needs to drink blood once a month or he will die. His
favorite target is young women with whom he first develops a relationship.While touring a museum or industrial plant of some sort, Steven
sketches asthmatic Anne Levels [Elina Löwensohn]. When they meet later in a cappucino
shoppe, she asks to see the drawings. They exchange names and make a date
for Wednesday night. When Anne breaks the date in order to work on some
waterproof concrete (she's a structural engineer), Steven brings her
Chinese takeout. So begins the carefully choreographed relationship
between vampire and new prey.However, Stephen is worried when he overhears a news broadcast about
the body of Maria Vaughan being found in a fishing net. He immediately
telephones the police, probably because he knows that the trail will
eventually lead to him. Inspector Healey [Timothy Spall] and Sgt Roche [Jack Davenport] come to question
him. Steven makes up a story about not seeing Maria after they had an
argument over her wanting to marry him and him not wanting to continue the
relationship with her. Steven becomes their prime suspect, and Inspector
Healey begins to tail him. One evening, after Steven sees Anne off on the
train, Healey is attacked by a gang of hoods who beat him and steal the
crucifix he wears around his neck. Steven intervenes and saves Healey. So
begins the carefully choreographed relationship between vampire and
detective.Meanwhile, things with Anne are going nicely. In his diary, Steven
describes her as confident, independent, witty, and full of strange little
stories and sayings. Steven keeps notes on all his intendeds, because the
goal is to woo their trust and love. Anne visits him where he works as a
medical researcher investigating crystals from human kidneys and bladders.
Steven contends that extreme emotional states can cause the body to form
crystals, and he shows her a number of them which he names "rage,
resentment, spite, malice, and bad temper." When Steven and Anne are
attacked by the gang of hoods from the Tube, Steven saves Anne in an
amazing show of superstrength and speed, apparently some of the vampiric
qualities that he *does* possess.Anne is falling in love, but Healey and Roche are still suspicious of
Steven. They question people along the route that Steven might have taken
to the seashore and find a toll collector who may remember him. Steven is
brought in for a line-up, but the toll collector fingers someone else.
Steven and Healey strike up a friendship in which they confide personal
things with each other. Steven retrieves the crucifix from Healey's
attacker and returns it to Healey. When Healey learns that Steven actually
saved Maria from committing suicide, he begins to doubt that Steven has it
in him to be a killer.One night, Anne is in a bad mood and snaps at Steven. She immediately
apologizes, but Steven leaves in a huff and hides out, refusing to return
Anne's phone calls. After Anne has to perform a tracheostomy on an injured
man, she admits to herself that she misses Steven and calls him. Steven
has been drawing pictures of her and admits that he misses her, too. They
plan to meet at his apartment, the first time that Anne has been invited
there.Steven knows that he is dying and that he needs blood. His body is
breaking down, he bleeds and doesn't heal, and he has to wear an alarm to
remind him to breathe while he's sleeping. It's time to feed on Anne but,
when he tries, he can't bring himself to kill her. Instead, he explains to
her that he is a vampire who feeds on the emotions in blood. Like kidney
stones, he says, emotions are "things" carried in the blood. Some
emotions, e.g., resentment, malice, despair, and disappointment, only
serve to make him sick. He prefers to feed on love. He thinks that perfect
love might cure him if he ever finds it. Could Anne be this perfect love?
Anne isn't buying it. To show his love for her, Steven lets her go. He
even hands her a knife and informs her that, with one cut, he will bleed
to death in 20 minutes.Anne puts down the knife and, rather than run, she stays with him,
tending him as he grows weaker and weaker, bathing his eyes when he goes
temporarily blind, waking him when he forgets to breathe, offering to go
to the chemist when they run out of elastoplasts (bandaids). Steven is
even more convinced of Anne's love for him and, as his end approaches, he
knows what he must do. While Anne is at the chemist, he prepares for his
dinner. When Anne realizes what he is doing, she runs to the roof,
intending to kill herself rather than let him kill her. As she rescinds
her love for him ("I know you for what you are...I don't love you!") and
Steven replies, "It may not be in your heart, but it's still in your
blood," a big tear runs down his cheek.Anne jumps, but Steven catches her hand just in time. She removes a
large stickpin from her hair and plunges it through Steven's hand. Still,
he succeeds in pulling her back to the roof, whether to save her life or
his dinner is up to you to decide. As Steven lay dying, he muses. "When I
was a boy," he says, "I fell out of a tree but I managed just to grab a
branch. I hung there for a long time, terrified, the silence and the pain
in my arms and the blood pounding in my ears. And then I fell. I don't
remember what happened when I hit the ground. All I can remember now is
the agony of holding on and the wonderful feeling of letting go."
With that, Steven lets go of life, and Anne walks home in tears.
[Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

Tags: cult, murder, storytelling, romantic

Review:
For a vampire movie set in modern-day England, "The Wisdom of Crocodiles" is peculiarly bloodless.
But then, vampire hunger is more a metaphor than a cue for screaming, and sucking in this chilly love story, a philosophical thriller that's no less intriguing for being murkily theological and ceaselessly artsy."The line that separates good and evil cuts through every human heart," Steven murmurs to Anna.
Through all the agony and ecstasy, Chinese-born, English-educated film-maker Po Chih Leong, working from an epigrammatic script, sustains a luxury-loving interest in the play of light on texture: Fountain pens have rarely looked more sensuous, nor vampires more like aesthetes who are never too blood-starved to appreciate fine craftsmanship..
Not stereotypical, but very believable and right on target.The movie is a bit slow and doesn't offer a lot in the way of a horror-movie as most viewers might expect it to, but it tells an engaging story.
No fake grandeur or excessive posing (like many vampire movies do have), subtle jokes and no giveaways by the characters.The movie is a good one overall, but even on its strong points, it sometimes misses genius and excellence, so only a 7 for this one..
The Wisdom if Crocodiles is a very well made, character driven vampire film, that does away with many of the clichés associated with vampire films for the better.The film centres around it's central character, Steven Grlscz, his relationship with women, and the police, who eventually suspect him of murder.Steven doesn't have fangs, (which incidentally, were first brought into the vampire myths by the Hammer films.) doesn't burn up in the sunlight, (or even worse, go around wearing sunglasses and black in the day.) he is not a poseur, he is a real vampire.
This is fully represented through the whole of the films strata, for example when a fight breaks out involving local thugs, we are not treated to a slow-motion fest set to some industrial metal or matrix-like techno, but a realistic scrap, with a weird white noise sound crossed with choral singing musical accompaniment.The film is also successful in some small touches that make it worth re-watching.
I find this quite a admirable addition to the films quality.To sum up, The Wisdom of Crocodiles is an inventive, intelligent vampire film, without the clichés, grounded in reality and definitely worth watching..
I thought this film was quite good and more genuine in its story, for it questions the wisdom of passion.Jude Law is incredibly vulnerable , yet fiercely determined ,in his portrayal of a lovestruck, obsessed vampire.The object of his desire is a very sassy lady who brings elements to the film that are unpredictable.Some of Law's scenes are gross, but therein lies a victim in him.It carries a lot of tension , for I did not know where the plot was going-I like that.I try to guess the outcome  of movies  as I watch them.
A lot of movies are just too predictable; this one is not.If you like a different kind of vampire film, with a lot of emotion and some sexy love scenes, this is a movie you'll love.If you are a fan of Jude, by all means see it.He uses his eyes in  incredibly intense and versatile ways.
I am most impressed with this film as among the few that causes me to become introspective.The discussion that Steven Grlscz (Jude Law) has with Healey about good and evil, is the essence of the film.
I will honestly tell you, my reason for renting this movie was because of the brilliant actor named Jude Law.
After viewing this movie twice, (I do that with all films I find intriguing, for I am a closet critic at heart), I have decided that, The Wisdom of Crocodiles, is Jude Law's best acting performance yet.He manages to pull off charm, sex appeal, mystery, intelligence, hope, hopelessness, agony, despair, defeat, and last but not least, innocence.
A movie with a beautifully constructed narrative which doesn't seem constructed at all, with fascinating actors great acting and depth everywhere.The most unusual Vampire film I've seen to date and certainly the best one.Blood is the color of love..
However, I'm all for innovation, even if it's not always advisable innovation, and The Wisdom of Crocodiles is one of the better 'new wave' vampire films.
The Wisdom of Crocodiles (great name, by the way) stars Jude Law, in a tight performance, as a man afflicted with some sort of curse that forces him to suck the blood of women while in the act of lovemaking.
The film is slowly plotted, which might annoy some people and it's littered with philosophical ideas that Jude Law utters for a lot of the running time.
This will probably irritate people that tuned in expecting a vampire movie, especially as there's little bloodletting, but some of the ideas put forward are fairly interesting, and keep the film alive.This film shouldn't really be in with the classic vampire films at all, as it's a completely different animal (I suppose they couldn't really put it in with 'brooding cursed people', though).
There is some good acting, though - Jude Law in one of his pre-A.I. movies gives me reason to believe that with some luck he will fall upon a great script, and a good director and make his Oscar day.
Jude Law gives his all in this beautifully filmed vampire flick which offers little else of value.
And a one-note plot.The movie waxes philisophic in a series of conversations between Law's character and a dogged homicide detective, well played by Timothy Spall.
But despite their best efforts, both actors are staked to the cross of the film's banality.With a lesser actor in the lead role -- and without the benefit of Oliver Curtis's cinematography -- Crocodiles would blend into the sea of low-budget vampire quickies..
This is the umpteenth story of the lonesome vampire who's got to bite -only women here- to survive.You get the picture?Directing is listless and does not create any stir.So why bother?Because Jude here carries the world upon his shoulders ;and he seems to realize that the director here doesn't even play it cool and thus makes his world a little colder.That is to say Jude Law saves the movie from absolute mediocrity.He's prodigious notably in two scenes that would be undistinguished without his presence:the first in the tube with the hoodlums where he mesmerizes the whole pack and even the cop ;the second in the hospital when he talks to the little girl,smiling sweetly .The wisdom of crocodiles indeed.One wishes Roman Polanski had directed him..
Modern vampires in love with professional women is a twist to an old storyline brought up to date in The Wisdom of Crocodiles.
No longer the coffin bound creature of 19th century gothic literature, Jude Law's vampire works in the medical field, maintains a charming allure necessary to draw women to his lair, and faces dilemas of conscience and morality his literary ancestor never pondered.
A modern woman like Ellena Lowenstein's character is an engineer, performs tracheotomies as necessary, and she can walk away from her charming vampire lover after recognizing his inherent flaw -- did he fail to put the seat down, or was she just mad at the big hickey on her neck?
This is a film with high production values, excellent supporting cast in Timothy Spall, a superior actor whose role is to joust with the vampire as a police investigator, but the script's religous overtones seem out of context and at times, incoherent.
That the performance of the actors manage to hold through the film is likely an accident, but we are thankful because Wisdom of Crocodiles falls apart once the secondary storylines, e.g., police investigation, gang in the subway, baptism, and engineering accident, begin to interfere with the central storyline -- vampire loves girl, bites girl, kills girl, or doesn't bite girl and dies.
THE WISDOM OF CROCODILES (2000) **1/2 Jude Law, Elina Lowensohn, Timothy Spall, Jack Davenport, Colin Solmon, Kerry Fox. Unusual revisionistic spin on the vampire story with Law as a mysterious man whose sexual/romantic conquests feed his otherworldly health condition (essentially devouring his lovers' blood and absorbing their emotions including love which he desperately needs to continue to live) and meets his match when he falls deeply in love with his next victim Lowensohn.
The Wisdom of Crocodiles with Jude Law. This vampire movie did not have undue special effects and offered no gimmicks.
He feeds specifically on the love of the victim for him, so he must make the women love him before he can kill them.This leads to another twist, and the title of the film.
Though the plot may seem far-fetched, the performances of Jude Law and Elina Lowensohn make it not only believable, but touching and emotionally drawing..
If your looking for a suspense'ful love story go rent "The Wisdom of Crocodiles, aka "Immortality".
You are thinking 'ok, maybe but...what about this movie' So, imagine cinematography from Hitchcock in America, soundtrack by middle period Bernard Hermann, Jude Law before he became a boring caricature of Brits (Dr. Watson), a vampire script unlike any you have run across before and an intriguing non-blonde that Hitch would never have employed in Elina Löwensohn and you have this movie in a nutshell.Of course, like almost every other vampire movie it ends sadly.
If you are into vampire sad endings, well then here you go.If you like a good drama about a vampire with crisp dialogue and unusual characters, with a minimum of blood and slashing, then here is a movie for you.
This is not your stereotypical vampire film and I highly recommend it..
This wasn't you usual vampire story with lots of blood and scary scenes.
Elina Löwensohn was captivating and you never knew if she would fall into the spell of Law. Timothy Spall was fantastic as the cop.The film was a good mix of comedy and drama and mystery.
Since my favorite movie-buddy and I never miss a Jude Law film, it was a must-see.The plotting was very adult--gaps left to the imagination and twists left to a talented cast.
Definitely worthy of movie cult status (like, for example, Dead Man -- the Johnny Depp film that no one else I know has ever seen).
However, bits of his past start to come back to disturb their burgeoning romance, not least of which is his rather blood-thirsty animal (reptile?) side, which hasn't been too good for the health of his previous lovers.Will it be different this time round?
Clearly this disturbs him (he may be a vampire, but he's not a bad guy) but he sees no option.Jude Law is terrific in this film.
If you like a good and well thought plot, great acting and a touch of supernatural in very realistic characters, go and see it.Thank you for this film..
Mr Law is an excellent actor and his performance captures the essence of the character of Steven to perfection- an impassive facade that hides an impassioned interior, betrayed in shifts of expression that perturb his eyes like hints of life at the bottom of a dark pond.
Holden Caulfield likes books that make him want to have their author as a friend- Mr Law's performance makes you wish that you had a friend like Steven.The film's cinematography and edit take your breath away, in particular in a scene which involves Kerry Fox ('Shallow Grave'), who intends to throw herself before the subway and Steven, who saves her life after an instant of tormented hesitation.
Not a run of the mill vampire movie by any means, although JUDE LAW plays his usual deeply disturbed character, a doctor who stalks women he sees as suitable to seduce.
The detective is having an equally hard time trying to figure him out."The line that separates good from evil cuts through every human heart," he tells the detective.To say the least, he's an ambiguous character, this vampire, and Jude Law plays him with conviction.
The plot: A philosophical vampire falls in love with his latest victim and befriends the cop investigating his previous murders.This is certainly a non-traditional vampire movie.
This film is about a vampire in modern day London, who needs to feed off blood of love."The Wisdom of Crocodiles" is an interesting tale of love.
A strange vampire film that is above everything a tragic love story, is better than watching "Blade", "Buffy" or Carpenter's "Vampires".
No atmosphere, no dialogues, no acting - even though I usually love Jude Law, I have to admit that what he does here, almost anybody could have done; he looks more like Ewan Mc Gregor in  Trainspotting than any vampire I know.
Jude Law does a fine job, as do the detectives, but I just couldn't figure out where the movie wanted to go.
It is an iconoclastic love story, similar to the non-vampire film, Eye of the Beholder.
Elina Löwensohn needs Jude because he (unlike most men) is her protector, intellectual equal, and (I know it sounds silly) soul mate.The DVD release of this movie is fascinating.
Steven is a metaphorical "vampire" (for lack of a better term), he physically must have the love from the blood of those he seduces to survive.
The Wisdom of Crocodiles (or the inferior video-box title "Immortality") is a very interesting and different kind of vampire movie.
I'm glad I did, because this was quite a moving and fascinating drama/suspense film with some excellent acting (Jude Law is undoubtedly going to rise up to become an amazing movie star) and awesome cinematography.
The plot follows the tragic story of a vampire who feeds on the love of women, but he finds a girl that he truly falls in love with, and he is faced with the choice of dying to let her live, or kill her so he can live his sad life longer.
However, she discovers a dark secret about her lover that needs to survive."Immortality" is a weird movie about a sort of vampire fed by the love in human blood.
The stylish cinematography associated to the great performances of Jude Law and Elina Löwensohn are not enough to make a good film since the intriguing screenplay has a disappointing conclusion.
A "vampire", Steven Grlscz(Jude Law), chooses female victims for their "emotional" blood hoping that the perfect mate who'll love him perfectly, will indeed "cure" him of his illness.
The love of the film is tested with Steven's condition which makes for an interesting drama particularly Anne's reaction once she finds out..
At its heart, The Wisdom of Crocodiles alludes to being cross between a story about someone in mental torment and a modern-day vampire movie.
However, the main driving impetus in his life is either haemophilia, apnea or asthma - a medical problem that the movie fails to clarify.Jude Law is a man driven to consume other people's "emotions" by gorging himself on their blood in a gruesome Dracula-like fashion and the question nags as to when the killer will strike again.
Instead its a story that never makes up its mind what its main thread is and so leaves an unsatisfying series of questions.The result is that, in the confusion, Leong never gets the chance to tell us anything about the villain's condition or even why he's got it, and we never learn the reasons that motivate Law in his choice of victims.Not the best movie I've seen, though not the worst either.
The very best experience is when you find two films that are imperfect by themselves, but when merged in one's mind become complete and powerful.This worked for me with `Maze' and `Immortality.' Both are about diseased, talented men who fall in love in an unwanted fashion.
Worth a peek if you like vampire films.
To the contrary, I am a little disappointed that I now know.The overall revealing of Jude Law's character evolves slowly throughout the film, even until the very end.
Just as the original Dracula carried powerful sexual undercurrents in its own heyday, so too must the current crop of vampire stories reveal something of the carnal desires in us today.Jude Law plays the vampire who lives off the blood of others.
But this selfish and cruel heart-breaker may finally meet his match when against the odds he finds love with a woman who ultimately rejects him.This sort of man or woman fits well with the vampire archetype, and makes for a nice twist on the genre in the vein of Anne Rice's work.
If you're a fan of his films or the vampire genre, Immortality is definitely worth a viewing or two.
Jude Law, probably in his best performance is a modern day vampire.
Naturally, this being a modern movie which tries to be original, Law's character has few of the vampire traits we would recognise; he can live in daylight, crucifixes etc hold no power over him, he cannot transform into other animals, and does not have fangs.
With great acting, beautiful and subtle camera-work, a touching story and a good soundtrack, The Wisdom of Crocodiles bears all the markings of a good movie.
Of course, as a vampire movie people will expect blood and scares.
This film tells us the story about Steven Grlscz, a handsome, seductive, mysterious and charming, vampire who does not kill for pleasure but for love.
Jude Law interprets Steven Grlscz in a very brilliant way, all the gestures he releases are very unique.
When you first see the film you do not immediately understand that Jude Law is a vampire.
For all of you Jude Law fans, don't go picking this film just because he is in it.
The film is about the handsome Steven Grlscz (Jude Law) and his seduction of women for his blood craving.
Undescribed in the film, Steven suffers from some sort of modern day vampirism where he needs blood to survive.
i think it was technically fairly well done, but i think the basic plot is a big FAIL.The Jude Law character feeds on blood, but can walk around in daylight with no issues.