Posted on: June 30th, 2010 RE-VIEW: Let The Right One In (2008)
Let The Right One In
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writer: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Released: October 24, 2008
Gross: $10,562,447
I love discovering gems. Accidentally finding something that makes me remember what it is to be in love with cinema. “Let The Right One In” falls so deeply and strangely in that category. This film moved me profoundly on so many levels of ‘cinephile’ that I’m still engrossed by the film this next morning as I write it’s review.
Classification of this 2008 Norwegian multiple award-winning film is difficult. It’s labelled as Horror, it IS about a vampire…a 12 year old vampire. But there are elements of a love story, coming-of-age drama and film-noir…it’s impossible to look at this as simply a Horror film.
12 year old Oskar lives with his divorced mother, often visits his young-at-heart father who offers no direction and is bullied relentlessly at school, especially by his nemesis Conny. Oskar dreams of revenge, playing out scenarios in his apartments back courtyard, regularly attacking a tree with his pocket-knife, uttering the threats he wish he could say to his tormentors. Oskar soon notices young Eli move into the apartment next to his with her father. The first thing they do is cover the windows with cardboard. We quickly learn that this is not Eli’s father, but her renfield, a man that collects blood for her, as she is vampire. Eli and Oskar begin to forge a tenuous relationship that grows deeper as the story progresses. Eli teaches Oskar to stand up for himself, Oskar teaches Eli friendship. Oskar eventually learns of Eli’s fate, taking us down a road both horrific and beautiful, as both characters struggle to find their place in the world and each others lives.
We are treated to two bravura performances by young Norwegian actors Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson (Oskar and Eli respectively), who manage to tackle the ideals behind loneliness, isolation, confusion, frustration and terror better than any actor that the Twilight series (or many of the films that fall in LTROI’s category) can throw at you. This film screams contrast, one minute you’re reeling at the viciousness that this young vampire can deal out on her victims and the next be struck by the tenderness tendered between these two characters even standing in the carnage of her crimes. It is quite simply an unequalled parallel in story-telling.
This is a stark and cold film. Set in winter. Bland greys. Very little color. And that’s the way it should be. Oskar and Eli are both trapped in their own darkness, for very different reasons. This dark veil is never lifted during the film. There’s no sense of real closure, no absolution for either character. We start this journey with them, and when we come to the films conclusion, we are as absorbed in their lives as they, but just as they don’t know where their road is leading, we don’t either. We leave them as unsure as they are.
The brutality of this film hit at my core, because it is so real. The bullying is real. It’s not over-the-top, it’s what bullying is…more mental rule than physical violence. Oskar delves within himself during these times, and I wanted to go to the place he goes then. He doesn’t try to run from his captors, he understands the consequences. He accepts his punishments as any lonely confused child would. Eli on the other hand has to kill. When she loses her renfield her hunger becomes too much to bear, and she does what comes naturally. Cold, somewhat calculated. It unsettles us a viewers to see vampiric violence portrayed this way. And there is no softening of the horror as was Kirsten Dunsts young vampire portrayal in “Interview With The Vampire”, Eli kills gruesomely. The sights and sounds of this twelve year old girl unnerve the audience, but to Eli, this is what she has done for more than 200 years…this is life. Or death.
The relationship between Oskar and Eli is tragic at best. Oskar finds himself slowly coming into his own sexuality, falling in love with Eli. Eli knows that there is no way there can be a relationship between the two, but allows herself to begin to feel for Oskar. When we witness the scene of Eli coming to Oskar’s window (”you have to invite me in”), and crawling into bed with Oskar, we almost forget that this is a turned creature that must kill to live. It’s two young teens, coming to terms with life and emotions that are confusing. Neither has anyone they can talk to about this, they only have each other. I, as well as almost anyone, could relate to what these characters felt in that moment. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives.
That is where “Let The Right One In” works so well. It balances the parallels between horror and coming of age so well, that it could be one of the best movies of either class. It’s story so fully envelopes you within the two characters, that there is no emotional disconnect when the credits role. Leandersson is such an amazing talent in this film, brings such a feeling of both menace and love to this anti-hero, that she steals every scene she is in. When Oskar dares her to enter his house without giving her permission to come in, and she does so, her transformation before our eyes is startling. Very little effect is needed (blood pouring from all orifices) for us to believe that she is in exquisite agony, on the verge of death, so convincing her acting is.
Some may find the subject matter disturbing. The visuals and stark reality of the storytelling distasteful. Those are the people that argue that the Twilight films portray vampires in an accurate light. This film shows the vampire myth in it’s true form. These are flawed tragic characters that must kill. Everyday. Add to that the confusion of youth, the harsh realities of adolescence and the bitter feeling of lose and loneliness, and you get not only one of the best vampire films in decades, you get one of the best foreign films I have seen in years. See this film as soon as you can.
(One word of warning about the DVD release. I have read that the DVD version of the film has incorrect sub-titles, I have yet to find if this has been corrected in a subsequent DVD/Blu-Ray release. There are moments in the film where Oskar and Eli communicate through Morse code and these are not translated on the screen in N. American versions. So, beware that you find the right version, if it’s available yet)
Head on over to Amazon and check out the DVD or Blu-Ray today.
3 Responses to “RE-VIEW: Let The Right One In (2008)”
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Wolfchild Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 2:32 pmThe English subtitles that are preferred for this film are those from the theatrical release. For some reason, Magnolia Films re-did the subtitles for the US DVD/Blu-ray release, and the results were not good. The subtitles have been corrected on the US release DVD, and that is the only version that Amazon now sells. I have heard that the subtitles have also been corrected on the US release Blu-ray, but I can’t confirm that personally. Also, if you have a NetFlix account, Let The Right One In is available for streaming with the theatrical subtitles, and I’m told that all of the physical DVDs they send out also have the theatrical subs. My website has a page that deals with the differences between the two versions of English subtitles.
And I will pick one nit: This film is Swedish – not Norwegian. It is set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg, and much of it was filmed in the far northern Swedish town of Luleå. Kåre Hedebrandt and Lina Leandersson are both also from Sweden, as are the director Tomas Alfredson and the author/screenwriter John Ajvide Lindqvist.
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moks Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 2:42 pmThanks for the info Wolfchild! And I appreciate the correction, it is indeed a Swedish made film!
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LET ME IN Trailer Seems Faithful « Giant Killer Squid - Film, Comics, News, Reviews and more Says:
July 1st, 2010 at 10:15 am[...] our very own Moks posted his re-view for 2008’s beautiful vampire film Let The Right One In, and coincidentally, today we get our [...]