Let the right One in has been something of a sleeper hit on the indie scene, a Swedish film about a 12 year old vampire, it sounds in theory a bit soft, but it's not at all.
The film begins following the weak incredibly blonde 12 year old Oskar as he plays in front of mirror pretending to stab somebody, the scene is oddly reminiscent of Taxi Drive and De Niro's Travis Bickle in the sense that both are acting out the person they want to be rather than the person they really are. The reason Oskar so badly wants to hurt somebody is because is he bullied by the awful Conny and his two henchmen who seem much less convinced of this whole bullying malarkey. We see Oskar regularly humiliated and too afraid to stand up for himself or do anything. His father lives in the countryside while he lives on a concrete estate immersed in snow with his mother. One day a stranger and a young girl move in next door to Oskar, one evening whilst playing on the swings the girl introduces herself to Oskar warning him that they can never be friends. What follows is a beautiful film following Oskar and Eli the youthful vampire who he falls in love with and who falls in love with him, as they come to terms with what they are and what each other really is. It is a gory tale and there is some really brutal violence in between some
heartbreakingly tender scenes so don't be fooled into thinking this is in anyway a gentle film as it isn't, its beautiful in its cinematography and subject matter but with a real dark edge to it, which puts films like the boy-bandish Twilight with the vampires with shirts off in the shade. For most of the film, Eli is to Oskar an odd effervescent influence, but he eventually realises what she really is and has to question himself and whether he wants to be with her despite this. Eli needs blood to survive and a series of brutal murders on the estate where she and Oskar lives put them both at risk, will their love survive or is she right when she tells him they can never be together?
Director: Tomas Alfredson was fairly well known in Sweden prior to this film as part of the Killinggänget comedy group, however his career really took off when he directed the acclaimed Four Shades of Brown an interwoven tale of betrayal and love, his success in this film convinced the author of Let the Right One in, John Ajvide Lindqvist, that Alfredson understood the tone and direction the film needed to go in to make the successful translation to screen. Alfredson's direction is brilliant in this film, he allows the film to pace itself and doesn't set it up with gory killings or other special effects unless they have a real impact on the story. The story is slow paced and character based, the longing shots of Oskar's innocence and Eli's world weary 12 year old face are brilliant, the block of flats where are heros live are a central part of the story and Alfredson makes them convincing in their kitschness, his characters are real and neither hero or villain, but people with moral issues that they need to address and balance with their own needs and wants. He makes what could have been a morbid badly told tale an utter triumph for all involved. Cast:
Kåre Hedebrant ... Oskar Lina Leandersson Eli Per Ragnar ... Håkan Henrik Dahl ... Erik Karin Bergquist ... Yvonne Peter Carlberg ... Lacke Ika Nord ... Virginia Mikael Rahm ... Jocke Karl-Robert Lindgren Gösta (as Karl Robert Lindgren) Anders T. Peedu Morgan (as Anders Peedu) Pale Olofsson ... Larry (as Paul Olofsson) Cayetano Ruiz ... Magister Avila Patrik Rydmark ... Conny Johan Sömnes ... Andreas Mikael Erhardsson Martin
My View:
From the opening sequence of snow falling in the dark, I was entranced by this film, its energy is in its slow pace and faith in its young actors which is utterly fulfilled. Kåre Hedebrant as Oskar is a revelation he is a weedy little kid who has been picked on for his whole life and his scenes of being bullied and the implication that he secretly has a wish to kill his bullies is wonderfully acted out, the simple changes in him through being loved and having someone to love in the brutal Eli are subtle but awesomely done, he tells her of the bullying and she tells him to hit the bullies back with everything he has and if that doesn't work she'll help him. We see him begin to smile, build confidence, take up weight training (albeit weights the size of twigs) and exercise to develop partly to beat the bullies and partly to impress his girl. Lina Leandersson is equally brilliant as Eli, the young vampire whose bloodlust leads to a turn of events which changes the lives of many people. For such a young actress she shows great maturity and you truly believe she has lived far longer than her 12 years simply by looking into her world weary eyes. The film is smart in the fact Eli becomes weary and weak and we can see this in her appearance when she doesn't have any blood to feed on, there is no need to spoonfeed the audience the ideas or concepts of this film, if you concentrate it'll all make sense.
In essence this is a love story about two outsiders who find solace in each other, it looks bleak and grim but has a stunning underlying beauty which is rare in films nowadays, its paced perfectly the two leads are exceptional and i'd say it is one of the best films i've seen this year.
I rented the DVD from Lovefilm but it is available on Amazon for £5.98 which is great value.
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Advantages: Realistic, thrilling film with an original twist to the vampire image. Disadvantages: The film is subtitled because the original is in Swedish
Advantages: Realistic, thrilling film with an original twist to the vampire image. Disadvantages: The film is subtitled because the original is in Swedish
Nov 4th, 2009
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (93%):
