Amy WangI'd Let This One In
June 18th 2009 14:38
Now, I saw 'Let The Right One In' a couple of months back. I'd written a review about it because it was so deserving of one! Here it is...
Let The Right One In is a modern interpretation of a star crossed love story, set in a small town in Stockholm where two young children overcome adversary under the most extraordinary circumstances. Filmmaker and screenwriter Tomas Alfredson and John Ajvide Lindqvist respectively create a unique analysis of the vampire genre, combining an original, dark and deceptively threatening fantasy with the evolution of a relationship equally disturbing. Underneath this disturbance however lies tenderness, a gritty realism, which actors Lina Leandersson and Kåre Hedebrant help achieve. The relationship between the two protagonists, Eli, played by Leandersson and Oskar, played by Hedebrant is provoked by a series of events, which contribute to the gradual development of an ambivalent bond between two outcasts. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema incorporates pale coloured tones and the significance of white snow as a motif to emulate Oskar and Eli’s emotional subtly. Johan Söderqvist’s score creates a chilling atmosphere to the film, adding drama and intensity, but also contemplation and unnerve. Altogether, Let The Right One In is a crafty combination of cinematic construction and emotional substance, made to reinvent the boundaries of romantic horror.
Let The Right One In opens on a repressive, wintry suburb in 1980s Sweden, frozen in time as Oskar is revealed, pale and clutching a knife. Oskar is a product of a broken environment, subject to a divorce, bullying from school and void of attention. He seeks refuge in Eli, yearning discipline and trust as he battles his mounting fear and loathe for his school bullies. Eli equally seeks companionship and eventually both find solace in each other’s loneliness. Afredson’s assured visual mastery of grey and grit, captures the stony and unyielding mood of bleak frustration within the people surrounding the two protagonists as the outside world becomes redundant to the pair’s love.
Let The Right One In forces you to grapple with the psychological weight and violent nature of the survival instinct, and because that weight is being placed on children who are barely at the threshold of adolescence, the gravity of their choices resonates in a profound way that adults could never convey. There is a constant, pervading tension surrounding Oskar as he is always susceptible to Eli’s blood thirst. Several times, assisted through animalistic sound effects, Eli is submerged in a beastly trance, almost unable to control her most fundamental urges. However, as much as those tense episodes come close to chaos, the two characters’ bond is greater. To Oskar, Eli is his first real friend who through love, gives him the courage and encouragement to face up to his demons.
Although Eli and Oskar’s relationship pervades the film, the other supporting characters ultimately propel drama and present adversity. Paternal love drives Eli’s father to murder, mutilation of his own face and finally suicide, all to protect and gain her love and respect. Their relationship is turbulent from the beginning, as his first murderous attempt fails to bring any blood back to Eli. Eli, her face hidden from the camera verbally harasses her father for failing to accomplish this simple task and the audience is left sympathetically drawn to the father’s contorted face. There is no uncertainty the father’s final sacrifice is overwhelmingly painful and powerful, his death saving his daughter. However his death also abandons her, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. Oskar becomes her only saviour and evidently, this catalyses their relationship into more profound grounds.
The tone and mood of the film is established by the subtle and bleached discolouration, which ostensibly creates a mundane world surrounding our two protagonists. Established by the opening shot of snow, gently floating in the dark night, we as the audience is transported into another world, where unease and shadow consume the minds. Numerous close-up shots are used to evoke intense emotion of sadness, guilt, anger and frustration. The camera is often placed behind doors, walls and barriers to create a sense of protection and secrecy as both protagonists are hiding shades of darkness within themselves. The sound used in the film successfully amplifies the natural sounds of its fictional and isolated universe, allowing audiences to only hear what the characters would hear such as brushing of teeth, wind whistling and isolated footsteps. However, most notable is the silence, the stillness that creeps along keeping the viewer mystified and engaged.
Let The Right One In is layered with meaning embedded in its characters, visuals, plotline and sound. It assembles the innocence of love and emotional desolation, while humanising the supernatural. Ultimately, it is a film that reflects human nature, challenges the conventions of the typical vampire genre and delves deeper by employing children as the representations of humanity and its flaws.
I give this film 4.5 STARS OUT OF 5. Amazing!
Let The Right One In is a modern interpretation of a star crossed love story, set in a small town in Stockholm where two young children overcome adversary under the most extraordinary circumstances. Filmmaker and screenwriter Tomas Alfredson and John Ajvide Lindqvist respectively create a unique analysis of the vampire genre, combining an original, dark and deceptively threatening fantasy with the evolution of a relationship equally disturbing. Underneath this disturbance however lies tenderness, a gritty realism, which actors Lina Leandersson and Kåre Hedebrant help achieve. The relationship between the two protagonists, Eli, played by Leandersson and Oskar, played by Hedebrant is provoked by a series of events, which contribute to the gradual development of an ambivalent bond between two outcasts. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema incorporates pale coloured tones and the significance of white snow as a motif to emulate Oskar and Eli’s emotional subtly. Johan Söderqvist’s score creates a chilling atmosphere to the film, adding drama and intensity, but also contemplation and unnerve. Altogether, Let The Right One In is a crafty combination of cinematic construction and emotional substance, made to reinvent the boundaries of romantic horror.
Let The Right One In opens on a repressive, wintry suburb in 1980s Sweden, frozen in time as Oskar is revealed, pale and clutching a knife. Oskar is a product of a broken environment, subject to a divorce, bullying from school and void of attention. He seeks refuge in Eli, yearning discipline and trust as he battles his mounting fear and loathe for his school bullies. Eli equally seeks companionship and eventually both find solace in each other’s loneliness. Afredson’s assured visual mastery of grey and grit, captures the stony and unyielding mood of bleak frustration within the people surrounding the two protagonists as the outside world becomes redundant to the pair’s love.
Let The Right One In forces you to grapple with the psychological weight and violent nature of the survival instinct, and because that weight is being placed on children who are barely at the threshold of adolescence, the gravity of their choices resonates in a profound way that adults could never convey. There is a constant, pervading tension surrounding Oskar as he is always susceptible to Eli’s blood thirst. Several times, assisted through animalistic sound effects, Eli is submerged in a beastly trance, almost unable to control her most fundamental urges. However, as much as those tense episodes come close to chaos, the two characters’ bond is greater. To Oskar, Eli is his first real friend who through love, gives him the courage and encouragement to face up to his demons.
Although Eli and Oskar’s relationship pervades the film, the other supporting characters ultimately propel drama and present adversity. Paternal love drives Eli’s father to murder, mutilation of his own face and finally suicide, all to protect and gain her love and respect. Their relationship is turbulent from the beginning, as his first murderous attempt fails to bring any blood back to Eli. Eli, her face hidden from the camera verbally harasses her father for failing to accomplish this simple task and the audience is left sympathetically drawn to the father’s contorted face. There is no uncertainty the father’s final sacrifice is overwhelmingly painful and powerful, his death saving his daughter. However his death also abandons her, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. Oskar becomes her only saviour and evidently, this catalyses their relationship into more profound grounds.
The tone and mood of the film is established by the subtle and bleached discolouration, which ostensibly creates a mundane world surrounding our two protagonists. Established by the opening shot of snow, gently floating in the dark night, we as the audience is transported into another world, where unease and shadow consume the minds. Numerous close-up shots are used to evoke intense emotion of sadness, guilt, anger and frustration. The camera is often placed behind doors, walls and barriers to create a sense of protection and secrecy as both protagonists are hiding shades of darkness within themselves. The sound used in the film successfully amplifies the natural sounds of its fictional and isolated universe, allowing audiences to only hear what the characters would hear such as brushing of teeth, wind whistling and isolated footsteps. However, most notable is the silence, the stillness that creeps along keeping the viewer mystified and engaged.
Let The Right One In is layered with meaning embedded in its characters, visuals, plotline and sound. It assembles the innocence of love and emotional desolation, while humanising the supernatural. Ultimately, it is a film that reflects human nature, challenges the conventions of the typical vampire genre and delves deeper by employing children as the representations of humanity and its flaws.
I give this film 4.5 STARS OUT OF 5. Amazing!
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Although it's not made directly clear in the movie, that's not Eli's father, but simply a man she's convinced to do her dirty work. In the novel he's a pedophile, which gives their relationship a much darker edge. Also there's a revelation in the novel about Eli which is only hinted at and very briefly glimpsed in the movie ...
You can read two reviews I've written, the first here and the second one here (amongst other reviews of mine).
Hollywood is remaking it, to be called Let Me In. Sigh.
Comment by Amy Wang
Why So Cynical: The Unabashed Ravings of a Loudmouth Malcontent
Films, Films And More FIlms
That's really interesting that Eli's 'father' was a paedophile! It does change everything. What a strange exchange.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
When you read the novel and find out who/what Eli really is, that changes everything too!
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Great review.
Let the Right One In left me stunned at it's quality and depth. Great reworking of the genre that brings humanity to a supernatural theme. A must see film that sadly is already in remake status.