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. He needs to drink blood to live, for reasons that are revealed gently throughout the film.
The films success lies in it's shedding of these usual clichés, to make something that is less a part of a fantasy world, a more grounded in reality. 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. Some little things that seem normal on a first viewing, that take up perhaps a second, are seen in a different way on repeat viewings. 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.
