Entry tags:
Let the right one in/Låt den rätte komma in
I have heard many good things about Let the right one in (by Tomas Alfredson, Sweden) and has been anticipating this film about a friendship between a 12-year old lonely bullied boy Oskar and a young vampire Eli he meets one day in the frozen winter playground. I loved this film, though may be "liked" is the better word because I found it excellent but utterly and deeply depressing.
As Vampire mythology goes the story is very strong, very consistent with the classics of this genre, all vampire lore can be traced back to Bram Stoker's "Dracula". None of the new-fashioned things about vampires tolerating sunlight , or having a liking for black leather, or not being able to fly are included.
But the film isn't really about vampires. It is even very possible that Eli is an imaginary friend Oskar makes up for himself and also there are different interpretations and different explanations for the ending. I would have loved to discuss the ending in more detail with anyone who has watched the film, but in this post I will try to stay spoiler-free.
The main protagonist of the story is Oskar's loneliness. It feels like a very cold but living thing, something that surrounds the boy and doesn't let him out. And this I found very very sad to watch. I wanted to feel for Oskar, but every time I tried to reach him I felt the frozen wall. I can't even say if I liked Oskar or not, he was like frozen-hearted Kay from "Winter Queen" . What is it - You reject the others and later they reject you and then the vicious circle of rejection is created? And if all your dreams are of hate and revenge there is no way out? And your loneliness is your personal vampire?
One interesting layer that I am still pondering about is that the film is set in the Cold war times. There are constant though almost not-noticeable references to the Cold war. I wonder how this fits in in the story and why the creators chose this particular time frame.
The cinematography was wonderful, and so were the actors, especially outwordly Lina Leandersson as Eli and scary but vulnerable Per Ragnar as her father/feeder. There were many gorgeous winter scenes , but my favourite scene was a macabre one: cats attacking a new vampire.
( Some pictures )
As Vampire mythology goes the story is very strong, very consistent with the classics of this genre, all vampire lore can be traced back to Bram Stoker's "Dracula". None of the new-fashioned things about vampires tolerating sunlight , or having a liking for black leather, or not being able to fly are included.
But the film isn't really about vampires. It is even very possible that Eli is an imaginary friend Oskar makes up for himself and also there are different interpretations and different explanations for the ending. I would have loved to discuss the ending in more detail with anyone who has watched the film, but in this post I will try to stay spoiler-free.
The main protagonist of the story is Oskar's loneliness. It feels like a very cold but living thing, something that surrounds the boy and doesn't let him out. And this I found very very sad to watch. I wanted to feel for Oskar, but every time I tried to reach him I felt the frozen wall. I can't even say if I liked Oskar or not, he was like frozen-hearted Kay from "Winter Queen" . What is it - You reject the others and later they reject you and then the vicious circle of rejection is created? And if all your dreams are of hate and revenge there is no way out? And your loneliness is your personal vampire?
One interesting layer that I am still pondering about is that the film is set in the Cold war times. There are constant though almost not-noticeable references to the Cold war. I wonder how this fits in in the story and why the creators chose this particular time frame.
The cinematography was wonderful, and so were the actors, especially outwordly Lina Leandersson as Eli and scary but vulnerable Per Ragnar as her father/feeder. There were many gorgeous winter scenes , but my favourite scene was a macabre one: cats attacking a new vampire.
( Some pictures )
