Let The Right One In
This 2008 vampire film, widely considered as the biggest cinematic sensation to come out of Sweden since the heyday of Ingmar Bergman and labeled as an instant classic by many, is a film that at times is both poetic and touching, while at others comes off as so oblique that it is almost frustrating. On the surface, it appears to be a love story between two 12 year old kids, one a boy named Oskar who collects serial killer news articles while wielding a switchblade that he intends to use on the bullies that torment him at school (but never does) and the other a girl named Eli, who has just moved in next door with an older man presumed to be her father who only comes out at night. In actuality, Eli is a genuine vampire, and the man living with her is her āhelperā of sorts who goes around as an (inept) serial killer committing murders and draining the victimās blood so as she doesnāt have to take the risk of going out herself. While the film leaves out some of the more extreme notions of the novel upon which it was based (Eli is a transsexual and her helper is really a pedophile doing her bidding because he is so in love with her), there are other things about the story that come off as so vague that it leaves the viewers scratching their head, such as, where are the cops and why arenāt they getting involved, since due to the nature of events they should easily have tracked Eli down?? Or, was the issues with Oskarās father that of mere alcoholism or something deeper when a mysterious male stranger walks in out of nowhere and starts drinking with him?? That being said, much of the film works because of the acting and chemistry between the two underage leads, with Kare Hedebrant as Oskar coming off as vulnerable and sympathetic, and especially Lina Leandersson as Eli bringing a depth that is impressive for someone only 13 at the time of filming, projecting a sadness and aura that could seemingly only come from 200+ years of existence as a child, and easily making the viewer come to care for her as she struggles to recapture some of her humanity through her connection to Oskar and also the way she becomes overcome with emotion while carrying out the horrible acts that a vampire needs to do to survive. The film suffers from a pretty tepid pace, kind of a melancholic slowness that in some ways rewards the viewer and in other ways makes one restless, but it is the value of the development of their relationship and the realization that Eli is not necessarily evil but is certainly scarred by her past that makes that the heart of the film, with the vampire elements coming off more as icing on the cake rather than placing it among the all time classics of the genre, with most notably the most thorough examination of the old notion that a vampire must be INVITED into someoneās home in order to enter (and thus part of what the title refers to), all the way up to the final confrontation with the bullies thatās done in actually a pretty original way. Overall, a very good film that works better as a human drama than as your normal, run of the mill vampire flickā¦
8/10