To flee is life. To linger, death.
Let The Right One In is a Swedish film about a twelve-year-old boy named Oskar and his relationship with a young girl named Eli. Oskar is bullied constantly at school. Sometimes it’s innocuous name calling; he’s called a pig despite his skinniness. Other times the bullying turns violent, as when he is whipped with a switch in the school yard, severely scratching Oskar’s face as he stands silently. “I fell on a rock” he explains to his mother.
One night, Eli moves nextdoor with her father. Her father is a loner who rejects invitations to hang out with the neighbors. Eli is a strange child, who smells funny, who isn’t bothered by the cold, and seemingly only comes out at night. But she is quite lonely, and quickly forms a bond with Oskar. Young love is a sweet, if awkward, thing.
Did I mention that Eli is a vampire?
Yes, Let The Right One In is a vampire movie. But mostly in the fact that one of the main characters is a vampire. For the most part, though, it is a meditation on youth, young love, and the nature of violence. These thematic elements elevate Let The Right One In above its “grr argh” brethren.
The relationship between Oskar and Eli is sweet, awkward and often disturbing. On the surface, the story is about two lonely twelve year olds falling for each other. But, being a vampire, Eli is in fact much older than she appears. While she could be a twelve year old in mind, there are dark hints that she may be manipulating Oskar for her own purposes.
What reasons would you apply violence? To feel powerful? To fit in with others? Revenge? For food? To protect the one you love? Or would you rather die than live with violence? We see instances of each of these in the film, to the varying reactions of the characters.
Sound is very important to the mood of the film. Vampire hunger mixes in sounds of a low growling as that of a rumbling stomach and that of lips smacking hungrily. The sharpness of the crunching of snow fits with the bleak winter landscapes. The score for the film is quite excellent, though sparsely used. The cinematography of the film is well done, mixing in elements of horror in appropriate scenes. The well-shot penultimate scene is simultaneously shockingly violent and hauntingly beautiful.
In short, I really love this film, but I don’t know how I feel about the events of the film. It’s sweet and beautiful, yet creepy and disturbing. There’s a great amount of ambiguity in the film, which works in its favor. Without going into spoilers, I’m conflicted about whether the ending is happy or sad. It will depend on your own perspective on things. I’ve watched it twice and still haven’t decided.
I think I may read the original novel, though I’m afraid the extra detail a novel can provide will remove that ambiguity…
Recommended, though I would highly recommend watching it in the original Swedish with English subtitles. And with the theatrical subtitles if at all possible.
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