Let The Right One In, a review by Achim
MOVIE / DVD INFO:
Original Title:Year: 2008
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Rating: 15
Length: 115 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: Swedish: DTS 5.1, Swedish: Dolby Digital 5.0, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English
Stars:Plot:Twelve year old Oskar is an outsider, struggling to fit in at school and left alone to fend for himself at home whilst his mother works nights. One evening he meets the mysterious Eli. As a sweet romance blossoms between them, Oskar learns to overcome his tormentors and discovers Eli's dark secret and the connections to the gruesome events occuring across town. Together they must help Eli be gone and live, or stay and die.
Brutal, bloody and tender, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a disturbing and darkly atmospheric, yet poetic and unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence.
Extras:Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Gallery
My Thoughts:
While technically a vampire film (while the overview doesn't say so, I think this is not a spoiler...) the main focus is on the love story not on the horror. Yes, it's a love story among 12-year olds, but as they are pre-teen everything is very innocent and pure, without any sexual implications (as pointed out by the director during the commentary). It's all about the two characters getting to know each other and finding that they should be together. Oskar is heavily bullied at school and has to learn to deal with that situation, the relationship with Eli giving him emotional support on his path.
The story unfolds very slowly and quietly, even the few scenes of violence (rather graphical, too) are not emphasized by overly dramatic music or sound design. The whole film has a rather sad atmosphere, emphasized by the lack of color, border-lining on depressing (as my friend out it). Many ideas and concepts are shown or implied in the film which makes it a rather dark affair, providing many discussion points. Of course all that serves the story, it's just not something you want to get into lightly.
Very enjoyable was that they kept all (most) the well known rules for vampires, such as the bite marks on the neck, sensitivity towards sunlight and having to be invited in.
The last one provided a stand-out moment in the film to me, as I had never seen before what happens when a vampire breaks that rule.
I recommend listening to the director's and author's commentary. They talk rather slow (I assume partly because English is not their first language) and often simply explain what you see, but in other parts they discuss important ideas how things could be interpreted. For example they explain the meaning of the Rubik's cube early on in the film (it's a reference to
Hellraiser) and give one possible explanation of the ending.
Note:While the Blu-ray is labeled Region B it actually does play in Region A players, even the PS3 (which is PAL sensitive). The only feature I couldn't access was the Photo Gallery.
(From Achim's entirely random reviews on August 23rd, 2009)
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May 05, 2024, 09:55:24 PM
