Let The Right One In
Oscar is a 12-year-old boy growing up in Sweden. His life isn't easy: no father, a distant, somewhat cold relationship with his mother. He's constantly being picked on by the school bullies and in spite of a growing desire to strike back at them, is never able to do so. He has essentially no friends among his classmates. Then one night while playing in the courtyard of his apartment building, he meets a neighbor... a 12-year-old girl named Eli. As their relationship grows, he finds his life changing in many surprising ways. Sound like a typical coming-of-age story to you? That's probably because there's one major thing I still haven't mentioned: Eli is a vampire.
Yes, I said vampire. And not a cute, sweet little cuddly "Sesame Street" version of a vampire, either... a vampire who you see during the course of the film draining the blood of a number of prominent Swedish citizens. She lives with an adult caretaker who occasionally provides her victims for her, so that not too much attention is drawn, and Eli can remain inconspicuous. But Eli, who has never had an actual friend before, comes to realize that her relationship with Oscar is filling needs in her that she never knew she had. She can't afford to develop a friendship with a human... and yet she has to. And she also has to keep the truth about her hidden from her new friend.
Make no mistake: this is definitely a vampire film. It is, in fact, a vampire film of unusual subtlety (yes, there is blood, but not to the gross degree most Hollywood movies feature) and a genuinely eerie atmosphere of fear... in many ways the movie feels like an eerie dream, in the way that some early silent horror films like "Nosferatu" and "The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari" did, but that very few movies since then have managed to achieve. But not only does it give you a highly unusual approach to those traditional blood-suckers, it is also a good deal more than just a horror movie. It actually IS (among other things) the coming-of-age story I hinted at in the first paragraph, with a good many lessons about the difficulties of growing up and maturing. (The author of the novel on which the film is based has said the story is largely autobiographical, though one would like to ASSUME he didn't befriend a vampire at any point). And in addition it manages to be an effective character study of a bunch of fascinating... and extremely unusual... people (well, most of them are people, anyhow).
You might wonder what you're supposed to feel about a 12-year-old girl who befriends the movie's "Hero" and provides him with the (pardon the expression) human connection he's been needing, and at the same time is responsible for the deaths of people who never did anything to harm her. Should you be hating and fearing her and wishing the authorities would track her down and "deal with her"? Or should you be sympathizing with her plite (she is not unlike a drug addict unable to resist doing a very wrong thing that she needs to do to keep living) and hoping that something can happen to change the course of her "life"? The answer is yes: that is, both. Eli is a complicated character, but then so is Oscar, his mother, Eli's caretaker, Oscar's teachers... there is nothing simple about the characterizations of any of the cast of this movie, or any simple answers to any of the questions it raises.
These are among a number of reasons why this film could never possibly be remade as an American release in a form that even begins to approximate all of the qualities that make it so memorable. Hollywood (with only a few notable exceptions) like simple solutions and easy to understand characters. It also VERY much dislikes the notion of putting children in the central role of movies in which they are not only in peril, but cause peril (and more) for the adult characters who are supposed to be in charge. Except possibly for the "Omen" movies, which are nowhere near the level of "Let The Right One In" (the title comes from the bit of vampire lore that says a vampire can't enter a dwelling unless invited in by someone who lives there), and of course those pictures still stuck to the Hollywood formula of simplistic story and cardboard characters. That's what makes the news of this picture's pending Hollywood remake (due in 2010) so horrendous. In its original form, "Let The Right One In" is an amazing, subtle, and surprisingly realistic (and unsentimental) story about growing up, AND a terrifying vampire tale. Hollywood could only screw it up and churn out a Disneyfied teen comedy that will probably be called something like "My Friend The Vampire". So if this movie sounds at all like something you might be interested in (and it is definitely not for everyone, so I can certainly understand why it might not be), then don't wait. Even if you're alergic to subtitles, seeing this version is the only way you're ever going to see this story as the people who created it meant it to be seen. Just overcomeyour fear of "reading" a movie, forget about the OTHER vampire movie opening this Friday the 21st ("Twilight") and take a chance on something unusual. You won't be sorry.
Yes, I said vampire. And not a cute, sweet little cuddly "Sesame Street" version of a vampire, either... a vampire who you see during the course of the film draining the blood of a number of prominent Swedish citizens. She lives with an adult caretaker who occasionally provides her victims for her, so that not too much attention is drawn, and Eli can remain inconspicuous. But Eli, who has never had an actual friend before, comes to realize that her relationship with Oscar is filling needs in her that she never knew she had. She can't afford to develop a friendship with a human... and yet she has to. And she also has to keep the truth about her hidden from her new friend.
Make no mistake: this is definitely a vampire film. It is, in fact, a vampire film of unusual subtlety (yes, there is blood, but not to the gross degree most Hollywood movies feature) and a genuinely eerie atmosphere of fear... in many ways the movie feels like an eerie dream, in the way that some early silent horror films like "Nosferatu" and "The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari" did, but that very few movies since then have managed to achieve. But not only does it give you a highly unusual approach to those traditional blood-suckers, it is also a good deal more than just a horror movie. It actually IS (among other things) the coming-of-age story I hinted at in the first paragraph, with a good many lessons about the difficulties of growing up and maturing. (The author of the novel on which the film is based has said the story is largely autobiographical, though one would like to ASSUME he didn't befriend a vampire at any point). And in addition it manages to be an effective character study of a bunch of fascinating... and extremely unusual... people (well, most of them are people, anyhow).
You might wonder what you're supposed to feel about a 12-year-old girl who befriends the movie's "Hero" and provides him with the (pardon the expression) human connection he's been needing, and at the same time is responsible for the deaths of people who never did anything to harm her. Should you be hating and fearing her and wishing the authorities would track her down and "deal with her"? Or should you be sympathizing with her plite (she is not unlike a drug addict unable to resist doing a very wrong thing that she needs to do to keep living) and hoping that something can happen to change the course of her "life"? The answer is yes: that is, both. Eli is a complicated character, but then so is Oscar, his mother, Eli's caretaker, Oscar's teachers... there is nothing simple about the characterizations of any of the cast of this movie, or any simple answers to any of the questions it raises.
These are among a number of reasons why this film could never possibly be remade as an American release in a form that even begins to approximate all of the qualities that make it so memorable. Hollywood (with only a few notable exceptions) like simple solutions and easy to understand characters. It also VERY much dislikes the notion of putting children in the central role of movies in which they are not only in peril, but cause peril (and more) for the adult characters who are supposed to be in charge. Except possibly for the "Omen" movies, which are nowhere near the level of "Let The Right One In" (the title comes from the bit of vampire lore that says a vampire can't enter a dwelling unless invited in by someone who lives there), and of course those pictures still stuck to the Hollywood formula of simplistic story and cardboard characters. That's what makes the news of this picture's pending Hollywood remake (due in 2010) so horrendous. In its original form, "Let The Right One In" is an amazing, subtle, and surprisingly realistic (and unsentimental) story about growing up, AND a terrifying vampire tale. Hollywood could only screw it up and churn out a Disneyfied teen comedy that will probably be called something like "My Friend The Vampire". So if this movie sounds at all like something you might be interested in (and it is definitely not for everyone, so I can certainly understand why it might not be), then don't wait. Even if you're alergic to subtitles, seeing this version is the only way you're ever going to see this story as the people who created it meant it to be seen. Just overcomeyour fear of "reading" a movie, forget about the OTHER vampire movie opening this Friday the 21st ("Twilight") and take a chance on something unusual. You won't be sorry.
posted by Joe Bunce at
8:12 AM
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