I've been reading and enjoying a series of Swedish crime novels over the last year (discussed here, here, and here), so why not a Swedish vampire movie, especially when it came well-reviewed and they were conveniently showing it at Balticon? Let The Right One In
turned out to be a great way to spend a couple of low-key hours late Saturday night. I imagine this destroys my credibility as a party animal, that I'd blow off parties at 11:30 to go sit in the video room. It was worth it.
The film is a romance, though the protagonist, a boy named Oskar, is a mere twelve years old. Despite being so pale he looks almost albino, he's not the vampire. That would be his new neighbor Eli, of unclear gender, who, as (s)he puts it (via dubbing -- I've no idea about the original dialogue) has "been twelve for a very long time." Eli denies being a girl, though the character is played by an actress, and it was never clear to me during the film whether that denial was of gender or of humanity. The one time Eli ends up wearing a dress, it looks tremendously odd, but is that because the character is of the wrong sex, the wrong gender expression, or just the wrong (apparent) age for an adult style?
Oskar and Eli form a curiously loving alliance with a definite edge of prepubescent sensuality to it, though it never progresses to anything graphic. It's all done (and done well) with a charged atmosphere and confused sexual tension. It's rumored there's going to be an American remake, which I suspect will up the characters' ages several years and possibly un-blur the gender question (since much of the U.S. is not going to deal well with an underage genderqueer love story), quadruple the gore, and generally ruin the entire thing.
The two befriend each other over a Rubik's cube and tap out messages in Morse code between their apartment walls during the daytime. Oskar learns from Eli to fight back -- brutally -- against the gang of young bullies who have made his life a misery at school and, despite the creeping horror of learning what Eli really is, defends her. (I'm going to use the female pronoun from now on, because I "read" Eli as female while watching the film, however mistaken that may have been.) The repeated use of the notorious "squeal like a pig" line from the film version of Deliverance puts a nasty sexual edge on the bullying as well. Both Oskar and Eli are, for different reasons, shutting out most of the world. The title of the film refers to the need to drop those barriers in the face of the right person. But is a vampire the right person for Oskar? Is a human boy the right person for a vampire who is physically barred (as demonstrated in one intensely graphic scene) from entering a home univited? The movie is a series of gambles they will let each other in in various ways -- windows, doors, hearts, lives. The risks are high on both sides. (Yes, I almost said stakes.)
This is a problem I am somewhat familiar with on a personal level, though without the literally vampiric element.
The film unfolds at a very leisurely pace, so be prepared to drift along for quite a while as the director slowly builds things up. It is set during the winter, so the palette is mostly whites and blues, making the few moments of gore exceptionally effective by sheer contrast. It does, in fact, remind me of the Swedish crime novels. There's a certain level of cool detachment around the horror in both, though I feel like I'm projecting some sort of Scandinavian stereotype by saying so.
Lina Leandersson is beyond fabulous as a young-appearing vampire who is at once ancient and childlike, brutal and innocent; I would describe Eli as having knowledge but not necessarily maturity or wisdom. It's an interesting exploration of what immortality contained in a child's brain and body might look like, much more so than the miniature-adult vampire Claudia in Interview with the Vampire. Eli means well, but doesn't quite understand that Oskar does not share her power to hit back so decisively that it ends a conflict. Kåre Hedebrant is likewise convincing and moving as the nervous, introverted Oskar. I was impressed by director Tomas Alfredson's ability to draw such performances out of his young cast.
The ending both pleased me and left me wondering whether her relationship with Oskar was unique and special for Eli, or simply another iteration of a pattern. (I'm being vague to avoid spoilers. See the movie.)
This was a 2008 release; had I seen it earlier, it would have been on my Hugo ballot. Given that I've only seen one movie this year (Watchmen) that I think even remotely deserves to make the ballot, I'm tempted to try to invoke the limited-distribution (in the U.S.) clause to make it eligible again next year. I'm also rather curious to read the book on which the film was based, which was published in the U.S. as Let Me In.
I highly recommend this film. Convenient shopping link:
(Be warned -- the subtitles are supposed to be awful; make sure to get the English theatrical release version with the dubbing)
To my everlasting surprise, that movie actually made it out here, too. People were referring to it as "Twilight, Done *Right*".
Unfortunately, it showed up pretty much as the height of the AIDS benefit insanity, and I was not able to sneak out and see it.
Posted by: Lara | May 29, 2009 at 09:39 PM
Susan, I saw this a couple of months ago, and I saw the subtitled version, which I did not think was awful.* I definitely read Eli as female, and in fact, when Oskar spies on her changing, both my husband and I were pretty certain that there was a brief glimpse of, er, girl parts, which we found pretty surprising. I'm pretty sure that she was denying being a girl either from a humanity POV, or from having been 12 for so long that she should technically be a woman.
We also read her relationship with Oskar as one in a long string... but will not say why, so as to continue to avoid spoilers for the others.
I felt that the movie was a little too slow at times, but I did enjoy the different take on vampires.
*Having seen the subtitled versions of Noir and The Story of Ricky, I have a higher-than-usual threshold for subtitles to be bad.
Posted by: AJ | May 29, 2009 at 11:49 PM
AJ... I have a higher-than-usual threshold for subtitles to be bad
It's especially disconcerting to watch a movie with subtitles when you understand both languages. I don't quite get why there are differences in what's being said when they don't have to be concerned with matching the words to within how long the actor's lips move. And we know that French likes using many long words to say what's noticeably shorter in English.
Posted by: Serge | May 30, 2009 at 02:01 AM
Serge,
I've been in that position once or twice with a film in French, which I don't speak fluently but can pick up enough of to realize when there are major discrepancies.
(rot13'ing a spoilery discussion)
AJ,
Qvq lbh nyfb guvax gung znlor gur thl jub jnf cebivqvat ure oybbq ivn fyvggvat guebngf va gur jbbqf ng gur ortvaavat hfrq gb or n avpr lbhat obl yvxr Bfxne?
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | May 30, 2009 at 06:42 AM
Serge, for some reason that only made sense to my husband and our friend Alex, when the four of us (me, hub, Alex, and his friend Ana) watched The Story of Ricky, it was decided that we should watch it dubbed and with subtitles on... I guess for a dose of double badness. The subtitles rarely matched the dubbing. For instance, in the subtitles, everyone was referred to by their Chinese names, but in the dubbing, they'd all been given Western names. And at several points, "God Damn You" was turned into "Assistant Warden!!!!" but that was years ago, so I can't remember which was dubbed and which was subbed.
Susan, I'm going to have to go figure out what rot13 is (I'm assuming "rotate 13" so that each letter is halfway across the alphabet?) and see if there's some sort of lazy translation tool, so I can read that and respond to you :)
Posted by: AJ | May 30, 2009 at 03:17 PM
AJ:
rot13.com. It works both directions.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | May 30, 2009 at 03:53 PM
AJ... "God Damn You" was turned into "Assistant Warden!!!!"
That person's Universal Translator needs a serious tuneup.
Posted by: Serge | May 30, 2009 at 06:17 PM
Susan:
Gung vf rknpgyl jung jr gubhtug! Uhfonaq pnzr gb gur pbapyhfvba naq gbyq zr, naq V nterrq. Vg'f ernyyl gur bayl rkcynangvba sbe jul ur jnf jvyyvat gb qb jung ur qvq sbe ure, hayrff ur jnf ure sngure, juvpu ur qvqa'g frrz gb or.
Serge:
It was said in an angry, fist-shaking manner AT the assistant warden. My guess is that the original dialog was along the lines of damning him, but that whoever did the translation didn't want to use offensive language... which is really hilarious, considering that it's widely considered to be the most over-the-top gory martial arts movie ever.
Posted by: AJ | May 30, 2009 at 10:15 PM
AJ... So, buckets of blood are okay, but harsh language isn't? That reminds me of an early-1990s issue of Cinefantastique that had a picture of the naked torso of a woman that was extremely bloody, and with her midriff chewed open. Pretty gross, but it was hard not to laugh at the photo: the magazine's editor had covered the nipples with little black squares, presumably because he wanted to spare our sensibilities.
Posted by: Serge | May 31, 2009 at 01:36 AM
AJ,
Vg znxrf jung V gubhtug jnf n cbfvgvir raqvat vagb fbzrguvat engure perrcl, gubhtu: ybbx jung ur'yy or va guveglvfu lrnef. Gung znxrf zr fnq. V qba'g jnag gb oryvrir vg. V jbaqre vs vg jnf fcryyrq bhg va zber qrgnvy va gur obbx. Fur qvqa'g unir gb unir cvpxrq gur thl hc jura ur jnf n xvq, gubhtu, be gb unir orra va jungrire sbez bs ybir fur naq Bfxne ner va; sbe nyy jr xabj fur unf rabhtu inzcver zntargvfz/ulcabgvfz/qbzvanapr gb whfg npdhver "Erasvryqf."
Gur jubyr vqrn gung ur vf gur shgher bs Bfxne chgf n irel plavpny fcva ba gur gvgyr, gbb: gur "evtug bar" vf whfg fbzrbar jub'f hfvat lbh naq jvyy riraghnyyl qrfgebl lbh. Fb zhpu sbe ybir!
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | May 31, 2009 at 07:16 AM
Susan,
Pnyy zr plavpny, ohg V pna bayl frr guerr cbffvoyr bhgpbzrf sebz gurve eryngvbafuvc.
1: Bfxne orpbzrf nabgure Ervasryq
2: Bfxne tebjf hc naq qrpvqrf ur jnagf n jbzna uvf bja ntr, jub ur pna or jvgu jvgubhg frrzvat yvxr n crqbcuvyr
3: Bfxne trgf ghearq vagb nabgure 12 lrne byq inzcver naq gur gjb bs gurz yvir va n crecrghny fgngr bs gjrrarff, juvpu vf zl vqrn bs Uryy.
Naljnl, vs bhe uhapurf ner evtug, naq vs gur obbx cbegenlf guvatf va gur fnzr yvtug, gura gur bevtvany gvgyr bs "Yrg Zr Va" frrzf zber nccebcevngr, nf vg pbairlf gur fbeg bs pbzznaqvat cerfrapr gung fur jnf va Ervasryq'f yvsr, naq jvyy cerfhznoyl or va Bfxne'f.
Be V pbhyq or bire-guvaxvat guvatf :)
Posted by: AJ | June 01, 2009 at 01:51 PM
1: Bfxne orpbzrf nabgure Erasvryq
Gung'f jung V jnf thrffvat/qernqvat/fbeebjvat bire.
2: Bfxne tebjf hc naq qrpvqrf ur jnagf n jbzna uvf bja ntr, jub ur pna or jvgu jvgubhg frrzvat yvxr n crqbcuvyr
V'z guvaxvat Ryv jbhyqa'g or ovt ba yrggvat crbcyr yrnir, rfcrpvnyyl crbcyr jub xabj ure frpergf.
3: Bfxne trgf ghearq vagb nabgure 12 lrne byq inzcver naq gur gjb bs gurz yvir va n crecrghny fgngr bs gjrrarff, juvpu vf zl vqrn bs Uryy.
Lbhef, creuncf, ohg vf vg gurvef? Gur dhrfgvba sbe zr vf jurgure Ryv vf na nqhyg zvaq genccrq va n puvyq'f obql (yvxr Pynhqvn va Vagreivrj jvgu gur Inzcver) naq sehfgengrq gurerol, be jurgure fur'f bayl tbg n puvyq'f njnerarff naq ynpx bs sbergubhtug, juvpu V guvax vf ng yrnfg fbzrjung fhttrfgrq va gur svyz.
Naljnl, vs bhe uhapurf ner evtug, naq vs gur obbx cbegenlf guvatf va gur fnzr yvtug, gura gur bevtvany gvgyr bs "Yrg Zr Va" frrzf zber nccebcevngr, nf vg pbairlf gur fbeg bs pbzznaqvat cerfrapr gung fur jnf va Ervasryq'f yvsr, naq jvyy cerfhznoyl or va Bfxne'f.
Ohg gung'f bayl gur gvgyr gur obbx jnf choyvfurq haqre va Ratyvfu. Va gur bevtvany Fjrqvfu, vg jnf gur shyy Yåg qra eäggr xbzzn va.
Be V pbhyq or bire-guvaxvat guvatf :)
Jung, lbh unir fbzrguvat orggre gb qb? :)
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | June 01, 2009 at 02:51 PM