Martin (John Amplas), a young man who looks around 20-years-old, boards a train in Indianapolis, Indiana for New York. At night, he breaks into a sleeping car and sedates a woman with a syringe full of narcotics. She struggles, but he tells her not to struggle or be upset because she wont feel pain. After a few minutes, the woman falls asleep, and Martin has sex with the unconscious woman. Afterwards, he slices her wrists with a razor blade so he can drink her blood. The woman bleeds to death in her sleep.
In the morning, the train stops in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where Martin disembarks. He is met by Tata Cuda (Lincoln Maazel) an elderly and hostile old man who claims to be his cousin from the Old World. Together, they travel by another train to the town of Braddock, a dying industrial suburb. They walk to Cuda's large house where he shows Martin his living quarters. Cuda then accuses Martin of being an 84-year-old vampire from his old country. He has taken in Martin because he is family, but tells him, "First I will save your soul. Then I shall destroy you." Martin denies being a vampire and implies that Cuda is merely his uncle rather than his cousin. Cuda then puts up strings of garlic on the doors to his and his granddaughter's room, and then holds up a small cross when Martin approaches him. Martin takes away the cross, and even takes a bite of the garlic mocking these attempts by saying bitterly, "There's no real magic... ever". Cuda tells Martin that he can come and go as he pleases. But he also warns Martin that he will kill him if he kills anyone in Braddock. He also tells Martin to stay away from his granddaughter Christine (Christine Forrest), whom arrives home from her job that evening.
Cuda introduces Christine to Martin, but also warns her to stay away from him. But Christine instead strikes up a friendship with Martin who confides in her about his vampire heritage. When Cuda later confirms Martin's claims to be a vampire, Christine, not surprisingly, refuses to believe either one. She thinks that Cuda and the other members of her family have driven Martin to insanity by making him think that he is a vampire. It is never revealed if Martin really is a vampire, or just a shy and lonely youth with troubled issues. Christine is the only person that Martin gets the courage to talk to. When Christine's boyfriend Arthur (Tom Savini) arrives at the house for dinner, Martin stops talking and backs away despite Arthur's attempt at a conversation. Christine later confides in Martin that she hopes to leave Braddock someday with Arthur, even though Martin points out that Arthur treats her badly and is both verbally and physically abusive towards her.
When Christine sees that Martin won't talk to anyone else, she buys him a phone which he installs in his room. Martin begins to repeatingly call a radio talk show where he describes what it's like to be a vampire. He becomes known on the radio as "the Count" to all the listeners. But the patronizing host (Michael Gornick) thinks he's just crazy.
Martin gets a job at Cuda's grocery store of stocking shelves, hauling boxes around, and even gets to be a delivery boy for some of the customers. One of his customers is a certain Abby Santini (Elyane Nadeau), who becomes taken in with Martin. She is a very friendly young woman who is depressed when she tells Martin that her husband is unfaithful. But Martin still does not have the nerve to talk with her, so she is happy to have someone to confide in with her life problems. Martin phones the radio show host to describe his infatuation with the housewife and senses that she wants to have sex with him. When the radio show host asks Martin if it is a sexual problem that he has involving women criticizing him during sex, Martin replies that he has never had sex with a woman who was awake.
One day, Martin travels by train to outside Braddock to look for victims. At a supermarket, he follows a young woman (Sarah Venable) home to her posh suburban house. He sees the woman's husband (Richard Rubenstein) leave for a long business trip, and Martin decides this would be the right time for more feeding. Martin returns to the house after dark and breaks in through the garage door. But it is Martin who gets the surprise when he bursts into her bedroom to find her in bed with her adulterous lover Lewis (Al Levitsky). After a vicious struggle, Martin jabs both of them with hyprodermic needles with narcotics, and waits for the drugs to take affect. He drags the unconscious body of Lewis from the house to a clump of trees across the street where he kills him by shoving a broken tree branch into his neck and drinks his blood. Martin returns to the house where he has sex with the unconscious woman. But out of compassion and pity, he decides to let her live.
Martin begins to have romantic monochrome visions of his vampire past (real or imagined), where he drained blood from a young woman and was chased through the streets of a nameless European town by a torch-lit mob.
During one Sunday at church, Cuda brings home Father Howard (George A. Romero) who asks him about the possibility of exorcism and demon possession. Father Howard calls upon the elderly Father Zulemans (Clifford Forrest, Jr.) over at Cuda's request. Together, Cuda and Zulemans confront Martin his bedroom and attempt to perform an exorcism on him. At this point, Martin remembers (another real or imaginary flashback), in the Old Country of people trying to perform an exorcism on him, and he flees them. Martin then flees from Cuda and Zuelmas as well. A little later that night, Martin terrorizes Cuda in a children's playground when he puts on a Dracula cape and puts false fangs into his mouth to pretend that he really is a vampire.
One day, Martin finally musters the courage to talk with Mrs. Santini during a routine delivery to her house where he tells her that he's aware of her attempts to seduce him and wants now to have sex with her. After having sex for the first time, Mrs. Santini becomes more depressed for she tells Martin that her husband just left her because she discovered that she cannot bear children, and that her desires towards him are based on sex and nothing else. But Martin wants to stay with her and help her move on with her life. Martin tells the radio show host about his affair with the housewife and that he no longer has the urge to attack other women.
Meanwhile, Arthur meets with Cuda and tells him that he wants Christine to leave town with him so they can get married and start a family. But Christine becomes angry at Cuda when he tells Arthur that insanity runs in their family and he shouldn't consider having children with her. Shortly afterwards, Christine packs up and leaves Braddock for New York with Arthur despite Martin telling her that Arthur is abusive towards her. But her mind is made up. Before leaving, Christine tells Martin that she really has no ill feelings towards him and just wants to make a fresh start with her life. She says goodbye to him and promises to write. But Martin knows that with an abusive and possessive man in Christine's life, she probably won't.
Depressed over losing his one true friend, Martin phones the radio show host and tells him that he's getting "shaky" and wants to go out looking for more victims. That night, Martin travels to a rough crime-ridden area of Pittsburgh and attacks two derelicts in a alley, injecting them with narcotics. He kills one of them by silting the bum's wrist and drinking his blood. Martin is about to kill the second one when a police car shows up and gives chase. Martin narrowly escapes during a long chase on foot which leads from the garbage strew streets and through a local store. Martin runs into an old warehouse where a drug deal is going down. A shootout between the two cops and the three thugs begins where all of them are killed, leaving Martin as the sole survivor who casually walks away from the carnage.
One day, Martin finds Mrs. Santini dead in her bathtub, after she had slit her writs with a razor blade. Martin anonymously calls the police to report the body and leaves. He phones the radio show host one final time to say that he really doesn't need friends or people to talk to for he is his own person. But when Cuda learns about Mrs. Santini's suicide, is mistakenly thinks Martin killed her and made it look like a suicide as he's done before. Cuda walks into Martin's room while he is asleep and kills him by hammering a wooden stake through Martin's heart.
Cuda buries Martin's body in his back garden, while over the closing credits various voices from people are heard talking to the radio show host asking the whereabouts of "the Count".
太妙了，引起舒适！致敬费里尼，但其实是伍迪·艾伦的味道，很有趣、很轻盈，很多台词属于那种懂得都懂的巧妙。最重要的，它是都属于国产电影中稀缺的那类的城市电影，以及一群充满生活气息的真实都市人和成熟爱情。最后也不装，一群人聚众看文艺片看到昏昏欲睡也太真实了hhhhh 这就是字面意义上的生活状态和神话距离感。上海话很加分。喜欢~
当影院预告片被开心麻花霸屏的时候，就感觉这电影也太清流了。没有拍高楼耸立的魔都，拍的是市井气的上海，还有点看侯麦电影的意思。蛮有腔调了。
对小资产阶级那点儿小情调、小癖好、小虚荣、小欲望拿捏得死死的，又用自我吐槽来消解了这种装腔拿调，让其在这片土地上不至于显得格格不入。小资的困境就在于心中像红拂一样渴望自由，但却不得夜奔，只能借一夜情来完成一夜的出逃。老白和老乌其实是一个角色的两面，老白是现实，老乌是神话，也是用来点题的那个角色：爱情就是神话，何必在乎真假。
电影的长处是有目共睹的，赞誉之词不再赘述。如果说Shanghai as a spectacle、看角色们的法租界生活如同看西洋景这点上我能得过且过不提问题，那性别角色部分我实在是忍不住要放厥词了。这部电影和《爱很美味》的共同问题在于，里面的男性角色都是假人、工具人、主创捏出来的模范男人偶男榜样、为了传达和反射主创的女性主义思想的背景板。女的在文艺作品里被工具化千百年了，工具化一下男的有何不行？当然行，但女角色跟男假人发生互动时他们的关系也会被感染certain degree of fakeness. 避重就轻虚假悬浮并不是我最想看到的女性主义创作。但问题来了，我们的商业影视剧市场在性别议题这块可以容纳杨笠式的“我喜欢男的我脑子有病”式自嘲吗？邵艺辉一个女导演能把男的如实拍成丑角而不被网暴吗？
我可能是完全不灵的那批观众，所谓的生活气息离我太远了，只觉得聒噪和做作。
太灵了，台词设计的非常的巧妙，配乐是看着看着拿出手机来听歌识曲的地步。以及倪虹洁太好看了点
看完不得不感叹，也许能在影像里把女人和男人表现得那么有特色又有情有义的，只有上海了吧。
将《爱情神话》比作伍迪·艾伦的电影，比作程耳的《罗曼蒂克消亡史》，比作金宇澄《繁花》所营造出的上海，真无语。后面三者都是艺术作品，前者乃泡沫“红茶坊”，中产“老娘舅”，然而还没有滑稽戏情景喜剧的烟火，只得其造景和片段式喜剧呈现的情节剧模式，倒拉低了后两者。把它说成是“升级版郭敬明”还差不多，因为人物之不接地气，对上海理解之想当然，满足的不过是“下支角民众”看法租界霓裳艳影的刻板眼光，“西宫娘娘烙大饼，东宫娘娘卷大葱”，我们农业社会的农民也是这样想象皇宫的。它的光滑和虚假，修鞋匠也喝着咖啡讲爱情哲学和一线品牌这种，啧啧啧，令人昏昏欲睡。
片中这种生活状态的上海人当然是存在的，这些人和大部分住在宝山、彭浦的上海话使用人口之间的差异度，自然远大于他们和租住在隔壁，听不懂上海话，不吃香油鳝糊但热衷轻食法餐之间文艺女青年之间的差异度，本片的导演自然属于后者，构建出来的上海，也只存在于华山路-延安路包裹着的摩纳哥大小区域。当然，在泥沙俱下的今日，能够用上海话作为影片对白本身，已经能够让交关上海中老年人惊讶和感动，以至于对自家生活与片中人物之间的鸿沟，也轻描淡写的视若无睹了
电影可以正面看，横着看，还可以快进看，边涂润手霜看，这样就好。
看完了才发现，原来是我的观影习惯不好，中途离场了那么多次，对不起
我可能是完全不灵的那批观众，所谓的生活气息离我太远了，只觉得聒噪和做作。
有人说，终于看到有导演可以像伍迪艾伦拍纽约一样拍上海。这一次我们中国知识分子，不用充满使命感的去悲悯世人，关注底层命运，只是描摹中产生活，表达个体感受。只是感觉那些堆起来的上海元素略显刻意，笔力分散，人物的精神层次没来及刻画。但还是一次非常好的尝试，一个良好的开端。
难得国产电影也可以像日本一样拍比较家常、靠近生活的题材，超出预期了
3.5蛮轻盈的都市生活小品。影院坐了一半笑点低的上海阿姨，伴随全程方言评论音轨，恨不得进到戏里轧一角儿。
3上海有这种腔调的修鞋匠么 真实么 你告诉我 在哪
在2021的寒风里，看这么嗲的小电影感觉真不错，不管它是罗兰故事还是巧借赫本传说，做到了不让人讨厌。假作真时真亦假，费里尼想象的饮食罗马，和电影里悬浮着的上海生活，大约都是太虚幻境里的一场梦，是站在废墟之城上对全球化的怀念，是不真实的（但结局俗套了让故事没我说的这么高级，费里尼原名也不叫这个）。
舞台剧上海故事，假装没装滤镜，其实都快变形的伪上海生活，过于精致时髦，而没人间烟火。徐导就是骗炮的猪八戒，对话露骨比西方还西方，邻居打听一夜情，熟女自爆老公有外遇，什么个做人逻辑。一看混搭复杂培根鸡蛋早饭就反胃。妈个姘头，马上见女儿，婆婆，十三思路无与伦比。说徐导上海男人温柔，但看倒是像癞蛤蟆吃到天鹅后感觉内疚做出的补偿。狗血，晚上约炮，来神经病女人说自己老公事情，人家以为3P。一起为了模仿伍迪艾伦的局。暗含男性自大与虚伪，非找小老外比徐还矮，约炮给钱，暗示徐很壮？虚伪。第二次饭局还致敬费里尼，中国男人一夜情。还用老友去世来神化剧情。陵园道路，与一起看电影，致敬几部经典。既像玩成年人爱情观，又模仿经典电影，野心很大。只是略不伦不类，还有故事转折有点生硬，不自然。
有意思，带着一种「教育男人」的姿态来创作。老白唯一一次露怯，是他的哭泣，发生在老乌的死之后，而老乌又是一个被曾欧洲国宝级别的女人「教育」、「点化」过了的男人。剧情陡然的变化，是从发出妖艳灯光的美术馆那里开始，在那里，老白像一个学生一样，乖乖坐着，说「前两天刚刚被上过课」、「活到老学到老」。然后接下来，两个女人就像完成了任务那样，结束了斗争，不再争夺白老师，突然就握手言和了。「老白的爱情」停住，接上索菲亚·罗兰的那个故事，然后走进结尾的那场早就想好了的放映，大家都看不动——得出结论，「神话」不重要，生活比较重要，然后最后好心地给了这个男人一些可期的甜蜜。是一个很懂「试探」、「过招」、「来回」的创作者，但是不愿意显露真情（顶多就宣泄一些愤怒），不过应该是个好玩的人。
创作者对于爱情/生活/电影的想象和理解是多么贫乏，而观众又是多么饥渴
Copyright © 2015-2023 All Rights Reserved
