(Let The Right One In)
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
My rating: 4.5/5
'Let the Right One In' is a swedish film about a 12 year old boy named Oskar. Oskar is picked on by the bullies at school and is neglected by his family. For all intents and purposes, Oskar is completely alone in his life, and as a result he has developed some pretty sociopathic tendencies. One night while Oskar is out he comes across his new neighbor, a twelve year old "girl" named Eli. Oskar and Eli quickly develop a friendship as they are both alone. But the one thing that sets Eli apart is that she just happens to be a vampire. Oskar and Eli help each other as they struggle to fit into everyday life.
First off, let me take a second to be twleve. How ugly is the kid that plays Oskar? Seriously, Those Swede's are not very attractive. Ok, now seriously. I thought this film was fantastic and tragically overlooked when it came to the oscars. Obviously it is because of the nature of the film, but one of these days those academy members are just going to have to get over their biases. I thought this film was superb in every aspect. This film perfectly supports my rant on my movie blog about how foreign films are more daring and more interesting. But let's take this one thing at a time.
I thought both Kare Hedebrant (Oskar) and Lina Leandersson (Eli) did great jobs, and both perfectly conveyed their characters and their struggles. I don't know if it's just me, but is it harder to see poor acting in foreign films? I have never seen a poor performance in a foreign film. Is it because they are talking in a different language, or is it because they are better actors....or is it because I haven't watched their popcorn blockbuster movies? Maybe I would be able to recognize it when I see it. Anyway, none of that is the point. Both of these two actors are fairly young and already seem to know what it takes to be a good actor. You act as much without words as you do with words, if not more so, and they both did that very well.
However, the thing that stood out to me the most was the directing. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Most foreign directors seem to be much more imaginitive, original, and stylistic than American directors. There were some things in this movie that were absolutely breath taking. When Eli kills the first guy under the bridge, and then breaks his neck, I thought that scene was incredible. Then the scene where the nurse goes outside and you can see Eli scaling the building in the background. That was also brilliant. My favorite scene in the movie though was the end scene in the pool, when that punk kid is holding Oskar under the water. That was so disturbingly beautiful I don't even know what to say about it. Completely original and mind blowing. I also loved his angles and how he used his space. Very smart directing on top of a very good story.
I loved how the movie made me care about a couple of creeps. See, I bet that sounded kind of harsh, but that proves to me that the movie did the same thing to you. When we see a child like that, we usually don't feel so much sympathy toward them. I mean, in school we also thought of these kids as "strange" or "weird" and tried to avoid them at all cost. The kid does have obvious issues but they are a result of his circumstances. Same with Eli. Yes, she killed people, but she did what she did only to survive. I felt such sympathy for both of these people because all they wanted was a friend, or somebody to love them. They wanted to belong somewhere and I love how they found that in each other. They didn't judge one another for their "downfalls," but the movie taught me that we really should not judge another person when we know nothing about them. Most people are just doing what they need to get by, and that was definitely the story with both of our main characters.
The sound was also something that strongly stood out. It was very well done and played a very important role in the overall effect of the film. You could very vividly hear her drinking blood, and when the dad slit that first boys throat, you could very vividly hear it draining into the tub thing. I also loved when they pick on Oskar outside after school. You can hear every single footstep crunch on the snow. It's effect was tremendous. I swore during some of the scenes I could even hear the snowflakes falling. I loved it. That also brings me to another point. The movie succeeded very well in setting the tone. You could seriously feel how cold it was in almost every scene. I have seen many movies that take place in winter, but both this movie and 'Frozen River' made you actually feel that cold. Very good filmmaking going on in Sweden.
I also love how this movie is considered a "vampire" movie, yet the fact that she is a vampire is just a side note. It's obviously important, but what's really important is the friendship and love that they find in each other. I love the fact that their is so much more to this story than just simply being a vampire tale. However, if we want to discuss it that way, the cover art for the movie has a quote from the Washington Examiner that says, "Best. Vampire Movie. Ever." And that is absolutely right. This is easily the best "vampire" movie I have ever seen and will ever be likely to see. Amongst all the violence and chaos, this movie is beautiful. I highly recommend this film. I have so much to say but I want to leave it open for discussion instead of just spewing it all out right now. So I will leave it at this. Oh, and how awesome is that title? I also heard that it is being remade as an American film, and this disappoints me greatly. First off, can we do nothing original? Secondly, American's don't know how to make "horror" movies, and we will destroy this one. Guaranteed.
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