Let The Right One In (2008) Låt den rätte komma in
Quote:
Twelve-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), the constant target of bullies, spends his time plotting revenge and collecting news items about the grisly murders plaguing his town. But things change when he meets a new girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson), a misfit vampire who steals his heart. As a serial killer continues to prey on teen boys in their small Swedish village, Eli helps Oskar find the courage to stand up to his tormenters.
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Language: Swedish with English Subtitles
1 Hour 54 Minutes
Available on Blu-ray: Yes
Available on Netflix Instant: Yes
The movie that we'll discuss over the month of April is Let the Right One In! Here is how it works, from now until the end of April you can view this film at any point in time and then come into the thread and discuss it.
Standard rules:
I strongly urge everyone to type out reviews and your thoughts of the film. Engage in discussion and try to expand your knowledge on the film. Look for metaphors, character development, camera techniques, etc. or anything that caught your eye that you would like to discuss. These films has a lot of themes and motifs that can be discussed. Don't be afraid to be the first one to speak out.
As always, be respectful or each others opinions. However, if you strongly feel a way about a film back it up. State why you feel that way and people will respect your opinion. Saying "This movie sucked!" isn't really going to convince people that you know what you're talking about. Talk about it in detail. Same goes for why you liked it.
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This is a great excuse for me to go out and finally buy this movie. I've watched it two times now but never bought it due to the subtitles fiasco. Anybody know where I can buy the Blu-ray w/ original subtitles?
Oh and CZAR, you better watch this with subtitles and not a dub.
Anyways, I absolutely loved the cinematography on this one, should've won an Oscar for that.
But my post serves mostly as a "subscribe to this thread".
This is a great excuse for me to go out and finally buy this movie. I've watched it two times now but never bought it due to the subtitles fiasco. Anybody know where I can buy the Blu-ray w/ original subtitles?
Oh and CZAR, you better watch this with subtitles and not a dub.
Well let me ask u or anyone else, can I rent this film with the correct subs? Ill go to blockbuster if I have to but I do want to make sure I get the right subtitles. Info anyone? Got Em!!
This is a great excuse for me to go out and finally buy this movie. I've watched it two times now but never bought it due to the subtitles fiasco. Anybody know where I can buy the Blu-ray w/ original subtitles?
Oh and CZAR, you better watch this with subtitles and not a dub.
I own the UK Blu-Ray for this (bought it cheap from a friend, woohoo! ), and it has the original theatrical subtitles on it. I don't know what's wrong with the other subtitles, but I didn't notice any glaring errors when I last viewed this copy. And the disc is region-free (even though the back cover says region-B). Maybe Amazon.co.uk has a copy? Or else maybe somebody can trade for it? (I'm keeping mine though, sorry).
I've got the movie out, but I don't have time to watch it right now. Maybe tomorrow.
Well let me ask u or anyone else, can I rent this film with the correct subs? Ill go to blockbuster if I have to but I do want to make sure I get the right subtitles. Info anyone? Got Em!!
This was a great movie. What do you mean correct subs? The english sub works perfect if thats what you're asking, lol.
My favorite part was in the beginning with Oskar acting out Deliverance.
Saw this about a year ago... everybody reacted to it like it was a "different kind of vampire film" or something because it was a very human drama about a girl who struggles to fit in (because she happens to be a vampire)... but in any case, I thought it was a solid film and would give it a recommendation for a blind-buy.
The film that it reminds me of most is Snow Angels with Kate Beckinsale/Sam Rockwell, if you guys are familiar with that one. Similar, desolate mood and setting, just not as focused on the relationship between the mother/missing child.
This is such a fantastic film. What struck me the most, other the top notch cinematography and performances, was how well they created a quiet, eerie mood that lasted throughout the entire movie. Plus, that ending was well, for lack of a better word, EPIC!
This was a great movie. What do you mean correct subs? The english sub works perfect if thats what you're asking, lol.
My favorite part was in the beginning with Oskar acting out Deliverance.
I have no idea. Everytime I see this movie being talked about, I always see people talking about the incorrect subs on ths disk. I just wanted to make sure they corrected or whatever the situation is. Got Em!!
This is seriously one of the best horror and vampire movies of it's kind since Near Dark. The mood and atmosphere created in this movie is just amazing. the music creates the atmosphere and adds to it.
I think I'm in the minority in not liking this film. I watch mostly foreign films these days it seems like, but this one just didn't do it for me. Yes, it was unique and had excellent cinematography, but I just thought it fell flat. Then again, this is coming from a guy who also didn't like Pan's Labyrinth, so what do I know
I think I'm in the minority in not liking this film. I watch mostly foreign films these days it seems like, but this one just didn't do it for me. Yes, it was unique and had excellent cinematography, but I just thought it fell flat. Then again, this is coming from a guy who also didn't like Pan's Labyrinth, so what do I know
It's arriving today from Netflix, so I'll share my thoughts tomorrow.
I think I like foreign films much more than Hollywood because they are ballsy. For instance the last scene in Let the Right One In will not even be touched in the American remake. But all the same these decisions to take the films where they want to make for much better experiences.
This is one of the best foreign films I've seen in a while. Excellent cinematography and excellent acting by the two main youngsters. The plot was great and yes it was a different kind of vampire film, but I'm glad it was. Seeing the same type of vampire film over and over is getting old, it was refreshing to myself and the genre.
Watched it last night. It's the second time I ever saw it, and I think I enjoyed it better than the first time around. I must have been in the right mood and mindset, because I found it very fascinating.
Basic review:
Entertainment: 4/5. Kinda slow at parts, but it maintains a decent pacing with lots of short quick scenes. Some of the scarier and creepier parts occur sporatically and without warning. And ultimately, I found myself really engaged with watching the characters and the overall imagery.
Story: 4.5/5. It's a sumbline story; simple, but elaborate with its depiction of the characters and themes. The story is also very successful at presenting the content (vampirism) without relying on cliches, stereotypes, conventions, etc. Characters are really interesting and deep. Themes are strong.
Film: 5/5. Excellent photography/cinematography; there is strong and invoking imagery throughout. Acting and writing are darn near perfect. Production value (sets, props, costumes, special effects, etc) is strong and appears very distinctive and realistic. Music is not bad either.
Intellectual/emotional: 4/5. The relationship between Oskar and Eli was very touching (if not disturbing and creepy). The film also contains lots of strong themes concerning social taboos, violence and dark impulses, and rage. I couldn't stop thinking last time I watched it.
*My copy of this movie came with an issue of a magazine called "Little White Lies," containing an interview with the director Tomas Alfredson. He explained some ideas that helped put the movie into perspective for me:
Quote:
"As I see it, Eli is the embodiment of [Oskar's] anger. And how else could his anger be? I mean, could his anger be beautiful? If you harass somebody for long enough, what would his or her anger look like? If you beat someone for two years, and you were to look inside that person's thoughts and see his or her anger, it would look awful."
Quote:
"If we have a hard winter, you often ask yourself 'How the hell could people come here in the first place?' Why do they stay?' This is crazy! Twenty degrees below zero, or more. It's incomprehensible. Everything to do with life is artificial. And there the people are, boxed in above and beside one another, in their respective silences."
So with the opening shot, after the snow falls, the film shows Oskar looking at a reflection of himself in a window. I found that reflections occur throughout as a motif; this same shot appears toward the end, and there is another scene where Hakan sees himself in a reflection. At first glance, I thought these reflections made the characters look ghostly (or perhaps they are simply looking at ghostly images of themselves). There are also a number of scenes involving windows and people looking into them; Hakan looks through a window at the dudes in the pool before tying to kill one of them, then the kids look through a window at him, Eli looks through a window at Hakan, later she looks through a glass door at Oskar, etc. I believe that all these scenes are meant to represent the characters introspectiveness. Given that Eli represents Oskar's vengeance and hate, then they become reflections of each other through a glass barrier (and thus reinforce them as foil characters). When Oskar invites Eli into his home, they shatter the barriers of their bond (though when Eli steps into Oskar's innocent world, she starts bleeding; he has to invite her in and accept her in order for them to be together (hence the movie's title)). In other parts, like in the scene where Hakan is at the pool tyring to kill the one kid, I thought that the dark shapes in the windows above him represented his inner demons, which ultimately drives him to guilt (and I think
[Show spoiler]him pouring acid on himself is a figurative way of suggesting that he's drowning in his own vile deeds, turning him into something ugly. The image of him with half his face melted off helps reinforce this
). Ultimately, this whole movie is much about people on the outside looking in...
Perhaps it's too stereotypical of me, but one of the first things I think about when I think of Sweden is Ikea (I know, isn't that sad?). Ikean furniture has a distinctive look; they're all clean, sharp, angular, blocky, kinda modern-looking. Just about everything in this film is the same way, and I believe it corresponds to the director's comments about everything being artificial, with people being boxed in. There are square and cubes all over this film; it's the most cubic film I know of (take that "Tron!"). Most of the buildings shown on screen (both interior and exterior) are big and boxy, with smaller square windows, square balconies, bricks, square pictures, etc. Even the trees look like big long rectangular bars, because they're so perfectly straight. When Eli first appears, she stands on a cubic playground thing. She later plays with a Rubick's cube. Later on yet, they show a pet store with cats and other animals in glass boxes. The pool is perfectly square too. The only place that is not cubic is the lake and Oskar's dad's home (which looked very messy, in contrast with the mother's home). Ultimately, it is in human nature to counter nature with artificial creations, like these buildings and places, and with social rules and norms that people expect everybody else to obey and conform to. But since Oskar is an outcast, he is more comfortable outside of these places, such as at the lake where he finds the courage to whack Conny, or at his father's house. Elsewhere, he is forced to conform to the rest of society; he has to go to school and obey his teachers, his mother, and even the bullies. Come to think of it, the part where Oskar is stabbing a tree (you know, one of the perfectly straight ones) could be an expression of his contempt for this conformity (in addition to being just totally disturbed and upset).
At a couple of points, I noticed that some long shots of the characters looked blurred. It looks to me like the camera focuses on certain buildings and puts the people out-of-focus, blurring them slightly (might only be noticable on Blu-Ray). I think this might help reinforce the idea above.
In accordance with the artificial-looking settings, I believe that this film also presents a microcosm of sorts. Oskar and Eli are both outcasts, but everybody else is involved with the community, and thus a part of "normal" society. This is especially true of the old folks (Lacke, Jocke, Virginia, and that whole lot) who bicker about politics (which in turn reflects on the themes of outsiders, as they discuss Soviet Russia) and spend most of their time huddled together smoking
I felt that the restaurant scenes almost resembled an opium den, thanks to all the smoke and the big dragon on the window. Later on, I saw that Oskar drank a glass of milk, and the glass had a red dragon it it as well. It made me wonder if the milk he was drinking was a visual motif indicating that he was consuming some kind of figurative opiate that made him conform to the wishes of society (because this was the same scene where he lied to his mother about the cut on his face). Throughout the film, Oskar does what others tell him just to get by. He can't very well tattle on the bullies, the parents and teachers would probably side with them and chastise Oskar; I know because I went through that same experience. Outsiders don't get justice; the bullies are so integrated in this film's social structure that they are considered the norm, and to defy them is to defy society (especially at a kid's level). Thus, Oskar had to find his own strength to resist, and he found it by meeting and joining with Eli.
Oskar and Eli are one and the same, figuratively. I think they even said so. They are effective foil characters; they embody the same anti-social spirit, and the same desire to do violence and taboo things. But they are also different; Oskar is a boy and Eli is a girl (even though she says she isn't...hmmm...), Oskar has white hair and she has black, and Oskar appears exotic and pale while Eli is more normal-looking. I also believe that their appearances contrast with their characters; Oskar is pale and distinctive-looking, but he is a normal kid more or less, whereas Eli appears like a normal girl but is something else. For that matter, Eli's hair is dark but she takes on the role of a guardian for Oskar, while Oskar has white hair but he embodies dark impulses and rage.
So if Oskar "lets the right on in" by inviting Eli, what does it mean to let the wrong one in? I believe there are a couple of scenes where this happens: one is when Virginia comes back to her house after being bitten. Now that she's contaminated, she really can't be a part of everybody's society anymore; she has become an outcast. That's why all the cats attack her. Incidentally, in one deleted scene she tries to drink red wine, but winds up puking it up; I think that was meant to suggest that she tries to remedy her new bloodlust with something artifical, but fails. The other scene where somebody invites the wrong person is the part where Oskar's father invites a friend over; he blatantly interrupts quality time with his son in favor of somebody who drinks and smokes. Thus, I think the father invited vices and perhaps even sin into his life.
In regards to inviting people and the glass and everything, Oskar also shuts out his mother toward the end by closing the door on her. It's a new barrier he sets up, this time one against social conformity, so he can be with Eli.
Water also occurs as a motif of sorts. There are two scenes with the pool; in both, Oskar is kicking to stay afloat (in the last scene in particular, his teacher is marching in place like a military instructor or something, further showing how they're trying to instill social discipline to him). I believe this could be a figurative way of saying that Oskar is struggling to stay on top of things in his life, and to stay afloat in society. When the bullies threaten to push Oskar into the frozen lake, it's as if they want to push him back in life and halt his progress (heck, Oskar would have died if he fell in the lake).
[Show spoiler]And the final scene is quite appropriate, as the bullies really do try to snuff him out, but are massacred on their own turf. This last scene goes to show that Oskar and Eli's outsider ways have totally penetrated all social barriers, violating all sense of what is right and wholesome while wiping out their enemies and freeing them
.
Everybody has violent tendancies at some point in their lives. Perhaps even deep down, we have some kind of wicked urge to do sadistic harm to others. Just about every human in this movie expresses a wish to do harm; the bullies and Oskar, obviously, but also Goesta claims that he wants to "tear [Eli] limb to limb." Eli (and perhaps some of the adults) is the only one who seems really remorseful over her violent impulses, but she is in a position where she has to kill in order to survive (thus she is further separated from society, and as a figurative dark side to Oskar, further shows how he is displaced from society). There is also a deleted scene where Oskar and Eli seem to take pleasure in being vicious to each other (sort of anyway).
The part where Oskar pulls his coat out of the toilet reminded me of the time when some kids threw my gym shoe in a toilet...and I had to wear it the rest of the class...
I have no idea. Everytime I see this movie being talked about, I always see people talking about the incorrect subs on ths disk. I just wanted to make sure they corrected or whatever the situation is. Got Em!!
The original U.S. blu ray and dvd release of this movie contained "dumbed down" subtitles. There were enough complaints that later pressing of the movie contained the original subtitles as seen in the theater. If you are looking to rent or purchase this movie check the packaging under subtitles and if it says "english theatrical" then you know you have the version with the original correct subtitles. The copies with the lesser subtitles list them only as english on the back of the box.
The original U.S. blu ray and dvd release of this movie contained "dumbed down" subtitles. There were enough complaints that later pressing of the movie contained the original subtitles as seen in the theater. If you are looking to rent or purchase this movie check the packaging under subtitles and if it says "english theatrical" then you know you have the version with the original correct subtitles. The copies with the lesser subtitles list them only as english on the back of the box.
Ok I will definitely look into it for sure. Thanks. Got Em!!
Didnt click for me. I wont poo-poo it because this is the discussion thread and I'll let you all share your positive thoughts. I'll continue to read the thread because I enjoy hearing other peoples impressions and opinions.
The good...
The cinematography was really creative and effective. The sound editing and design were superb, really. The growling stomach effect really demonstrated Elis suffering well. The score was really good. Performances, for the most part were all pretty good.
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April Movie of the Month: Let the Right One In
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