One of the best films of ‘08 ( I saw it in early December) the 80’s setting caught me off guard but the sterile,calm cinematography was entrancing,a lovely film.
I still really want to see this but haven’t gotten around to it yet mainly since I lack the funds
Felt i was fantastic as well. As Jacob pointed out the cinematography is wonderful and the story is told in a slow way which fits the mood perfectly. One of the best films in 08.
Check out the novel it’s based on. Really, really good. His new book is called Handling The Dead – about the dead coming back to life and going home, and how people deal with them. Another good one.
My favorite film of 2008, with little doubt.
Also, one of the few times I actually had to hold myself back from standing up in the theater and shouting, “YES, HOLY FUCK YES!”
If you’ve seen the film, I think you can figure out what particular shot caused that reaction in me. Hint… it involves a swimming pool.
I went insane over this one. Notes from something I wrote at the time have some spoilers:
This story could have been one big cliche, so I love how the filmmakers play everything straight, as though the events were taken from newspaper accounts. Has a cumulative effect of realism that builds as steadily as that omnipresent snow. A romantic score and matching cinematography, combined with the camera longeurs and icy, detached style associated with Swedish cinema, render a picture that might have been made during the 1970s.I read this as David Cronenberg filtered through Ingmar Bergman, with allusions and sly references that will thrill cinephiles. Oskar’s first meeting with Eli more than recalls a defining scene in Val Lewton’s 1943 psychological thriller Curse of the Cat People; the little girl picked on by her classmates conjures an imaginary female friend who appears in a whirlwind of snow. Another reference to Lewton’s earlier Cat People emerges at the indoor pool scene where Eli rescues Oskar from his tormentors (stunningly imaginative underwater shot).
Also recalls The Omen, Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, and Cronenberg’s The Brood. Not like film-fanatic reference points, but they do cleverly establish the spirit and style of this director. I can’t help seeing in Per Ragner’s knowing smile a resemblance to German actor Bruno Ganz, who played Jonathan Harker in Werner Herzog’s romantic 1979 remake of Nosferatu. A closer connection to that film arrives with the final shot, in which Oskar quietly sits on a train, traveling to God knows where with his true love—Eli the vampire—who is curled up in a trunk at Oskar’s feet, gently tapping messages from within. Clearly, Oskar has become Eli’s new caretaker. Thematically at least, this matches the last scene in Nosferatu, where Jonathan Harker furiously gallops at seaside and disappears into the distance because, now that he’s gone over to the other side, “he has much work to do.”
Pays homage to the cinema of the fantastic, in the process offering what I think is some pure cinematic poetry. An abundance of narrative subtext and symbolic possibilities is there too. Example: One might wonder if a bullied child could carry out violent revenge murders, then retreat into an imaginary vampire narrative as a defense mechanism. An opening scene of Eli’s caretaker expressing no small amount of jealousy about Oskar might allow for a subtext that explores incest or pedophilia. Are Eli and Oskar kindred “spirits” who have turned, respectively, on their sexual abusers and their bullies?
Oskar’s desperate need for romantic love, sexual awakening, and rescue from bullies makes him the ideal companion. In that context, we have clues to Eli’s strong hold on the older man/father/caretaker who perishes on her behalf. In turn, we also understand that vampires are, in the most extreme sense, forever in search of the ideal companion. So when critics and observers reflect on the sweetness of this movie, one wonders if they if they failed to notice that when Eli finally kisses Oskar, she opens her eyes mid-kiss to cooly gauge his reaction.SPOILER KINDA
Doctor,your diagnosis is wrong… Eli is a boy.A eunuch more like.
Kevlin – The cinematography in this film shows just how beautiful you can make melancholy, and I agree that the pacing of the film, while slow, is just the right tone – it creates the perfect atmosphere.
Brandon – Wasn’t the ending absolutely amazing? And it wasn’t overdone. Just enough gore, but not too gratuitous, and when Oskar’s and Eli’s eyes meet, whewie! Genius! I’m still thinking about this movie. I was thinking about it all day today. This will probably be my DVD purchase for the month.
Hey Bedaw. When were the other times?
The other times were heavily drug-induced, Eggman.
Speed Racer was one, though there’s a good chance I may have actually shouted in hallucinogenic glee during that film, and simply don’t remember.
I know its off topic but SPEED RACER WILL BLOW YOUR VERY MIND
I’ve heard arguments comparing Speed Racer to Godard, still haven’t seen it though.
I saw this one a few months ago and while I found it aesthetically pleasing and the performances were all good (especially Lina Leandersson), but there were too many aspects of the story that didn’t add up to much and detracted from the overall experience – the random egg puzzle thing that falls apart, the whole castration/Eli-being-a-boy subplot that was hinted at but never explored. Especially the conflicting nature of how Eli’s castration was presented: she is shown at he real age once in the film as an old woman, but she is also shown as missing genitalia in a split-second shot, and the director directly said Eli was a castrated boy; so that just left me frustrated and confused.
Also, the whole story of the outsider kid being picked on I found boring since I’ve seen it presented so many times in so many other that films that I was just waiting for those parts to end and the film to get back to the Oskar/Eli relationship.
But despite all those parts I enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t want to see it again
Lemonglow – Interesting comparisons with Cronenberg and Bergman. I see the Bergman, but Cronenberg?
I’d like to see where this so-called director said Eli was a boy. But I just got out of the theatre seeing this, and found myself at some points asking “who the fuck directed this?” The scenes that cut strictly to music, and show a bunch of THINGS that represent stuff, and I got all the references, but I felt kind of hyped for seeing this more than from what I actually saw. I wouldn’t be dissapointed about this with alot of other films, but the side-plot seemed so sloppily imbedded into the main story of Oskar and Eli. I don’t know. Overall, I was dissapointed.
I did dig the more affectionate parts of the story, and how their friendship ends up. After the STUFF that happens during the pool scene, there were people in the audience who were like “aww” when it showed Eli. It was awesome. It’s like that friend we may have been lucky enough to have had at some point in our lives, if they weren’t vampires and using us to survive. Maybe it’s a story about the mechanisms of relationships in general. Especially those with the opposite sex. I want to read the book now.
Lester:
I was reminded time and again of numerous moments in THE BROOD, and in a few cases RABID, DEAD RINGERS, and CRASH.
Something about the underlying tone, the immediacy of human interaction and intimacy juxtaposed with a sterile and often grim setting.
It’s difficult to articulate.
>Eli’s strong hold on the older man/father/caretaker who perishes on her behalf.
No, that man’s a sexual partner – a pedophile (nowhere explicitly depicted in the film, but the book in unequivocal).
What’s most powerful about this movie is what’s most enigmatic about it – and that’s a very rare thing, in movies.
For all those wondering here is the interview with the director where he says Eli is a castrated boy.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38870
Lemonglow – I see where you’re coming from now. Good observations!
Witkacy. I am not familiar with the book, but I think it says something about the writer and director that, from only a few moments of action, I got the impression that something was truly amiss between Eli and her caretaker.
I still say it’s possible to find a subtext of revenge fantasy in which (or by which) Eli and Oskar turn against their sexual abusers.
The paradox here is that I’m also compelled to believe that Eli is no victim, merely because Eli is aware that a pedophile makes an ideal victim for a young vampire. Oskar is also Eli’s victim.
The most “successful” monsters tend to be seducers (See: Hitler, Satan, Dracula, et al), and Eli seduces Oskar because a brand new Renfield, so to speak, is required. That an audience is seduced into sympathizing with (or pulling for) this ostensible romance suggests that the screenwriter has done an effective job of manipulation. Nothing good is going on in this story, and only a dedicated vampire fetishist /role player can find the outcome a positive one.
It’s a nightmare with a troubling, open-ended conclusion about the welfare of a child. It’s perverse and vaguely repugnant in that context.
I called this Cronenberg filtered through Bergman, but in some respects it’s Todd Solondz filtered through Roeg.
I see the Roeg/Solondz connection more than the Bergman/Cronenberg connection. Like Man Who Fell to Earth, this film examines alienation in a most effective, albeit subtle way (Oskar’s mother and father’s indifference to his life outside the home, etc.) I think the relationship between Eli and Oskar wasn’t one borne so much out of Eli seeing Oskar as a victim, but more so as a kindrid spirit whom she can trust with her secret. For Oskar, he could more easily accept Eli’s nature. In a way, he WAS her (or him).
Doc Lemonglow – I got the same impression that you did, i.e. that Eli functioned as a seducer, in the present context. This film is especially creepy because, among other things, it’s a picture of a preternaturally cruel and predatory state of “childhood.” In this regard, I realize only now that it fits in many ways with Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy, which also depicts a child thoroughly committed to his murderous fantasies, and moving through his story comforted by an analgesic sociopathy, if by nothing else. This kind of story about predation among children I find much more convincing than the quasi-psychological/sociological BS of Lord of the Flies (though Peter Brook’s film of the book is beautifully shot and framed).
Doinel – You are correct. Hope he does it justice.
Lester, literally just finished viewing this seconds ago and have to say its fukken win. Im going to wait a bit and let my thoughts on it settle before I post my thoughts on it
Good movie, bound to have some followers. Never, ever watch the american remake…there’s no way they’ll do justice if remake ways are concerned…
Here’s what they’ll do (speculation)
-Change Oskar to a mid 20’s but teenage lookin’ waif-man with an abusive household (check).
-Obviously change the girl. For a busty, albeit scary lookin’ young actress who can’t act.
-Change the melancholy mood of childhood to…harsh overcorrected daiylight and dark interiors, something in tune with current cinematographic trends.
-Give the parents more screen time, and cast mid life actors currently on the CW.
-Shaky cam R us (courtesy of matt reeves aka Cloverfield).
-Add fucking top 20 songs during the school scenes.
-Give the murders a cathartic edge, and ratchet up the orchestral score by Tyler Bates or mid range composers during anything interesting. The original used sound to good effect, and made us concentrate on the atmosphere. This isn’t that type of movie.
-It’s not a horror film, it’s a drama that uses vampire elements without resorting to cliches. It’s the reason why the movie works, and it isn’t Twilight. They will try to make it like twilight since the box office rules what template gets made.
It’s a shame it’s being remade, the only aspect I can see improvement is in the pacing. The movie should have adhered to thriller conventions instead of stops and starts. If there’s one thing the americans understand, it’s pacing.
Still cringe at the remake of oldboy, another genre offering that transcends it’s mere trappings. Watch the original, always.
its fukken terrible that they are planning to remake it, I honestly dont even want to imagine it. I finally gathered my thoughts on the film though and surprisingly came to many similar conclusions to those on this thread. I posted about it over on my blog:
Thoughts on Let The Right One In
But to quickly add, I’m wondering what your guys’ thoughts are on the whole question regarding androgyny and identity? I’m especially thinking of Eli and his dynamic to Oskar as a materialized fantasy. I find that the film is almost using postgenderism as a allegory for self-identity free of social definitions, or being molded by parents, society, etc. I think this is especially true in the physical castration as well as the whole care-taker dynamic going on between the two that almost resembles the relationship between child and parent, more so then romantic lovers. For the most part, I think this falls in line with much of the discussion here already especially the notion of how Oskar is being manipulated as a victim by Eli.
I forgot to address this last night, mainly because I was so tired but, I honestly didn’t “get” any Bergman reference. Why are people connecting the two? Am I simply missing something?
I don’t think I’m saying anything revelatory when I note that Bergman is fond of having us look at his characters looking at each other.
There is also an icy stillness in those best moments where one character opens up to another.
I saw some of that in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. No references, just stylistic similarities.
Double that on Lemonglow. Perhaps it’s the dark atmospheric tone, the despair felt by the protagonists that reminds me of the stylistic renderings of Bergman. Virgin Spring and Seventh Seal come to mind. Either way, glad to see you liked the film Crap Monster. Enjoyed your review on your blog. I wanted to toss in a thought to see what you all think about Eli being a boy: Perhaps it’s symbolic of Oskar himself – a mirror reflection of a boy emasculated. A dichotomy of sorts – Eli representing the manifestation of Oskar’s murderous fantasies. The end of the film depicts Oskar running off with Eli. She’s in a box. Could this be symbolic of Oskar moving on, his murderous impulses suppressed? What does the future hold? Still pondering this film.
Lester Burnam
Saw this last night, and I think it’s one of my new faves. It came out around the same time as Twilight, and the critics were telling everyone to see this Swedish gem instead. I can see why. It’s a beautifully shot film that has all the necessary ingredients for both an original and quality vampire film as well as a tender story about adolescence. It’s the story about a 12-year-old boy named Oskar who lives in a snow-blanketed working class Swedish town. He is relentlessly bullied at school by three boys and entertains fantasies of murder, so much so that he vicariously emulates stabbing his victims by plunging knives into trees and looking into a mirror or his reflection in the window saying “Squeal like a pig!” It’s reminiscent of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. He also saves newspaper clippings about a serial killer terrorizing the community by killing people and draining their blood. This catches the attention of his new 12-year-old neighbor Eli. They bond on a jungle gym at a park outside their apartment complex, where Oskar turns Eli onto the Rubik’s cube. She solves it, then shows Oskar how to do so as well. Oskar eventually learns what Eli really is, and who the serial killer is. Eli and Oskar’s relationship elicits some strong emotions, ones I haven’t felt from watching a film in quite some time. Definitely one of the best I’ve seen in awhile.