Let The Right One In

The 2008 offerings once more walk among us.
Satans Puppy
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Post by Satans Puppy »

lol You woulda been in the row behind us... the fella was Row D... I tried to slouch too as I'm quite tall but did find I had to sit up durin the subtitled films (still had problems seeing 'em :lol:)

Shoulda asked him to swap with his mate really as then he coulda sat on the aisle and kinda slouched outwards lol
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Post by Count Drunkula »

Satans Puppy wrote:lol You woulda been in the row behind us... the fella was Row D... I tried to slouch too as I'm quite tall but did find I had to sit up durin the subtitled films (still had problems seeing 'em :lol:)

Shoulda asked him to swap with his mate really as then he coulda sat on the aisle and kinda slouched outwards lol
Tall people and cinemas just don't mix! The problem I have with my knee (chondromalachia) is also known as moviegoer's knee according to my physio, so I guess I had it coming really.

Missing some of the subs during Let The Right One In gives me an excuse to watch it again though, and I did really enjoy it.
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Post by valido »

Recapping:

1) Best movie of the weekend by far

2) Definitely missed the crotch shot

3) Something about what the author said put me completely off the book(s). I felt this story was simply perfect as the movie tells it. I certainly do not want to know anything about the vampire background, or other vampires, or how Oskar and Eli will grow up. But if it must go the Ann Rice way, better the Moz than Korn ;)
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Post by jonbly »

MaxRenn wrote:Must disagree on this point Pup. That shot is a crucial plot point leading the audience to realise that Eli was actually a boy.
Two problems for jonbly here...

One, that shot didn't lead jonbly to the desired conclusion. There was clearly some damage, but it wasn't obvious to jonbly what the original state of play had been. Perhaps you all stared at the crotch of the young actress more intently than jonbly...

Two, Eli's gender (or lack of) just wasn't important to jonbly. Their love has no physical component, so why does it matter?
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Post by maxmum »

jonbly wrote: Two problems for jonbly here...

One, that shot didn't lead jonbly to the desired conclusion. There was clearly some damage, but it wasn't obvious to jonbly what the original state of play had been. Perhaps you all stared at the crotch of the young actress more intently than jonbly...

Two, Eli's gender (or lack of) just wasn't important to jonbly. Their love has no physical component, so why does it matter?
:lol:

How many times can you say jonbly in a short paragraph.

Maxmum finds it strange that jonbly refers to himself by name.
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Post by VictorCrowley »

Let the Right One In. Breathtaking. The first 'horror' film (and I'm discounting Pan's here as I consider that more of a fantasy/civil war fusion) to make me cry.

Anyone who has ever been bullied, anyone who has ever felt lonely, anyone who has ever lost someone they care for deeply? Cannot fail to be touched by this beautiful piece of work.

I felt a strong empathy for Oskar in particular and allowed myself to wallow in his dignified acceptance of his circumstances until letting Eli into his heart gave him the strength to take matters into his own hands. The thing was, despite watching the film on the superficial level of two lost souls finding one another and helping/drawing strength from each other I couldn't help but push a disquieting feeling to the back of my mind; that Eli (girl, boy, it being almost irrelevant given the non sexual nature of their relationship) was exploiting the child. She knew he was desperately unhappy and either had violent tendancies or was wishing he could inflict violence/fear (she mentions the first thing she heard him say was the opening lines of 'Squeal! Squeal like a pig!'). She knew this and chose to ...help him? I don't know. Her 'Igor' for want of a better word was comng to the end of his usefulness and needed replacing. The rage and contempt in her berating him when he returned empty handed after being disturbed by the dog was no 12 year old girl... it was the old, needful soul that Eli was. My heart doesn't want to accept that she effectively 'recruited' Oskar, and was playing cynical mind games in order to bend him to her will... but my head says it must be so (luckily the overwhelming feeling of accepting the film on a supericial level was what I experienced whilst watching but more and more this feeling of explotation is surfacing when i consider the film).

This is despite the writer making his comments about making the characters 12 to avoid the sexual element of their relationship and leave the 'love' at a pure, innocent level. But Eli was NOT 12, pure or innocent. Clearly, emotionally, Eli was far, far older. Her questioning whether Oskar would still like her if she wasn't a girl suggests a cynical move on her part in the past - that it would be easier to ensnare - nay, entrance - a male human helper if (Eli) were female. At the time of watching I took the question to have the answer 'because i'm not a 'girl', I'm a 'vampire'. But as I've said, I've been thinking about it and, eh, maybe this is open to interpretation, but my instinct (cynical being that I am) errs on the side of manipulation to ensure survival.

But then... how far does one go in manipulating a situation to get what you want(need)? I was almost in tears when Oskar asked Eli what would happen if she entered without him actually verbalising the words and she proceeded to show him. Was she *that* confident that he'd see the blood as it oozed from her and grant permission for her to enter? I guess so. I was so moved by the pain he felt because of her pain, though. Damn, this movie was amazing at reaching out to connect with me. It's humanity, it's human heart was evident in almost every scene.

Even when the infected woman effectively 'killed' herself (in quite a breathtaking moment of spontaneous combustion - ooooh, I wonder if tales of spontaneous combustion in folklore are actually instances of vampires being exposed to ultraviolet light?!) that was so human. 'I don't know what's happening to me, but I know I can't bear to live this way' and ending it.

You know, I could probably blah blah for hours about this film, but I'll leave it here and just end by saying it was by far my favourite film of the festival - I loved that it presented vampire folklore we're familar with and had moments of pure violence (swimming pool scene was, in the words of our american friends, 'fuckin' awesome!') yet was essentially a human story of love. I don't even want to read the book - even if it'd clear up my misgivings about Eli's motivation.

Bravo, Frightfest, for bringing us this amazing piece of art.
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Post by MaxRenn »

VictorCrowley wrote:Let the Right One In. Breathtaking. The first 'horror' film (and I'm discounting Pan's here as I consider that more of a fantasy/civil war fusion) to make me cry.
Great post Mr Crowley - as an aside the first horror film to make me cry was Cronenberg's The Fly - The point you raise about Eli manipulating Oskar is an interesting one and a plausible reading of the film. However I don't think it is necessarily the only one and I think it is too ambiguious in this area to draw a form conclusion. Eli says to Oskar that she has been 12 for a long time, who knows what sort of psychological effect being physically frozen in time would have. Plus although not spelled out in the film (but hinted at in the book) Eli's transformation to a vampire has clearly been accompanied by some very heavy duty physical and mental trauma.

I recommend the novel, there is a very significant amount of material that has been trimmed.
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Post by Tragedygirl »

Going to write my review BEFORE reading everyone elses.

I never expected to be moved to the point of tears during a film at FF before. I am so glad you put this film on as it was a beautiful piece of work.

I found it quite hard to talk about afterwards as I felt choked up and tearful and for this and indead any film to provoke such an effect in anyone is a proof alone that this is one of those movies that touches your soul.

The two child leads were spellbinding, particular Oskar who was just heartbreakingly tragic really.

I have bought the book and cant wait to start it.

This has got to be one of the best films EVER shown at frighfest, thank you boys, thankyou.
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Post by halloweengirl »

This was a beautiful film and, yes, I did cry too. My husband got the book signed and had it dedicated to me so that set me off again outside the cinema! I thought the two leads were amazing and I can't wait to read the book. My fave of the Fest.
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Post by soulmining »

My favourite film of this year's festival, lived up to - nay exceeded - all expectations that I'd built up after reading the buzz about this film.

Stunning piece of work and the two kids were just so emotive. I had to buy the book straight afterwards as I want to read the expanded version.

Apparently his next novel (due out November I think he said) is going to be about zombies... but zombies that just want a quiet life and don't want to eat people.
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Post by jonbly »

soulmining wrote:...zombies that just want a quiet life and don't want to eat people.
So... zombie hippies, then?
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Post by lupogirl »

This certainly was the highlight film of the day.

Beautifully shot and with a wonderful story. Some amazing acting from the two children. Some scenes were very touching without it being crude.

The writer later on stage looked almost near to tears by the positive reaction to the film. What a interesting Q and A it was.
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Post by AndyJWS »

Beautifully shot and more fantastic young acting, but have a feeling this will work better for me when watched at home without the Fest starting to bear down on me during a second-film-of-the-day if you know what I mean :)

That said, wasn't shocked at all by Eli's twist because of some of the earlier dialogue, and, well, I've only ever heard Eli as a boy's name :wink:
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Post by AdeBrown »

Here's a thing. Someone who saw another screening said that the author and director said in Q&A that Eli was a girl.

Now the film could be ambiguous as some folk have observed, or rather not observed in the case of a crucial scene, and that works well but the way I heard the Q&A John Ajvide Linqvist said Eli was not a girl? Given his story about the title of his book, he may have differentiated the film's Eli but what do the panel think?
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Post by The Soapmaker »

AdeBrown wrote:Here's a thing. Someone who saw another screening said that the author and director said in Q&A that Eli was a girl.
Maybe they were talking about the actress? He did say quite clearly at Frightfest that the character Eli is actually a boy.

Not that it matters much - I'd say "vampire" outweighs "boy" or "girl" in the grand scheme of things.
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