Sunday, November 23, 2008

Let the Right One In (2008)


Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a bullied twelve-year-old Swedish boy who lives in a mostly quiet Stockholm suburb. Alienated and disconnected from both his peers and the adults in his life, Oskar is shy, introverted and sensitive. Pensively, however, he pursues an unsettling hobby of cutting out newspaper stories about grisly killings and criminal acts of violence. This pubescent finds himself the routine victim of schoolyard tormentors who see in his emotional delicacy sheer weakness. His countenance as white as a sheet, his long, straight blonde hair and features making him look like an albino Scandinavian child of the snow, he finds himself alone in that bitterly cold snow. He lives a quiet schoolboy life teeming with little indignities and mundane angst-ridden horrors. He amusedly mocks his mother, mouthing his single parent's words one room removed from her. It is that kind of universal act that invites the viewer the blizzard of soothing darkness that is Let the Right One In.

Constructed as a patient, reserved character study before all else, this Swedish picture directed by Tomas Alfredson, adapted from the bestselling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, is at its best when it commendably balances the subtly (thematically and visually) depressive commonplace milieu so methodically formed and the inevitable sinking sensation brought on by the dread of supernatural horror. A tale nominally about vampirism, the film operates most cohesively as an arresting blend of these supposedly divergent threads: of the everyday, smothering horror Oskar endures and the fantastical splash of morbid but benign (to Oskar) inhuman horror. Let the Right One In is not a horror film per se, though it does carry within its bloodstream the occasional frights, darkly-lit sequences of pulse-pounding terror and memorable special-effects-aiding moments belonging to the macabre.

Though an eerie patina makes the entire film slightly askew with disorientingly long, steady and lyrical camera takes and compositions, that benign-to-Oskar force is treated as a viable love for him in Eli, a similarly pale girl, or a vampire, or something (Lina Leandersson in an uncanny performance) that acts as a kind of almost asomatous surrogate, a cosmically righteous avenger for Oskar. Contrasting with the fare Oskar, Eli's eyes are piercingly dark as though they belonged to a feline and her hair is a silky raven. In many ways, however, Eli is simply the darkest most extension of Oskar's conscious, which is awkwardly finding expression in the make-believe of stabbing a tree with a stick while demanding it “squeal like a pig,” a command Oskar is given by the tireless group of bullies. As he is fascinated by an open-ended serial killer investigation in the area, snipping out news stories about it and other dastardly deeds with a pair of scissors, the violence he suffers serves as an occasionally bloody foray into the purposeless awfulness of oppression and torture. Lashed about the legs and finally face by those who belittle his very existence, he explains away the cut on his cheek to his mother with all of the weariness and embarrassment of an especially meek boy struggling with his own ill-advised pacifism. In the late darkness of the wintry night, however, he pretends that the tree outside the building in which he lives is an evildoer he can vanquish and make submit with squealing. It is important to note that this is when Eli appears, as Oskar has most positively transmitted his own anguish into the possibility of retribution.

After impressing the impressionable Oskar with her aptitude for Rubik's cubes, and by extension wordlessly promising to gift him with a similar kind of order in his life that has been missing, Eli instructs Oskar that he must fight back against those who punish him. Later, Eli, after being fully revealed to be the creature of the night that stalks the sleepy suburb, will note the moment at which time she entered Oskar's world, as he poked the tree with his stick, instructing it to “squeal like a pig.” Eli notes that she kills because she must, in order to survive, whereas Oskar's flirting with the darkness from which she literally and figuratively flies and lunges comes from desire. Friendship as wish-fulfillment is a pervasive theme, especially in stories about children, and Let the Right One In is an altogether interesting twist on this common construction.

With Eli's macabre accents of bloodlust and particularly unnerving superstitiousness, such as having to be “let in” to the homes of others, supplying much of the film's more saucily sweet nutrients against the achingly wan mise-en-scene of Oskar's daily trudging through the bleak landscapes, his feet crunching the icy snow beneath him as he moves, and the factory-like monotony of unease at his school or the detached confines of his place of residence. It is a great credit to Alfredson that some of these scenes do not play as the repetitive rhythmic beats that in strictest narrative form they are, as the child actors are laved with finely gentle attentiveness and keenly inspired direction, refreshing the picture just when it seems to be stalling. Alfredson's approach makes the occurrences just appropriately off-center, centrifugally bringing the picture to its climax.

While the climax itself is not terribly magnetic, suffering from a predictability and conformation to formula as dated as Carrie, it is like the entire film—exquisitely photographed by Hoyte Van Hoytema—visually interesting and the epilogue strikes the precisely correct note. What finally matters is the central relationship of Oskar and Eli, and though the film spends more time than is necessary with the comparatively thinly-drawn adults who happen to share Oskar and Eli's inhabitation, its makers are securely knowing—that the picture's potency is derived from the two children. She serving as the caliginous, murky mirror of his own soul, he evidently providing her with the connection she has been missing for so long (her body may be twelve years old but like Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire that is only her body). Recalling films as disparate as the aforementioned Carrie, Interview with the Vampire and also An American Werewolf in London, Let the Right One In nevertheless signifies its own path. Yes, the familiar correlation between sexuality and vampirism is abundantly exploited, in this instance given a deftly fashioned pubescent context, but Alfredson reaches deeper. His film is about shapes, how they change, and the glee with which filmmakers can manipulate them. The frostily flat surfaces punctuated by creepy, sometimes bluish, sometimes sallow lighting, suggests a film determined to break free of its own foreordained standards, conventions and expectations, and of the lingering discomfort they leave for those still intrigued by this most provocative essaying of the inhumanity of humans and the humanity of the inhuman.

27 comments:

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

I would just like to note before the discussion begins that I saw Let the Right One In at The Bridge Cinema in San Francisco on Wednesday evening. The Bridge is on Geary, near Blake, and is one of the few single-screen auditoriums in San Francisco that still runs new releases. I had never been to the theatre before, but it was a joyful experience to mingle with fellow film-lovers and to see this picture at that theatre. A movie will be using the theatre in the late winter/early spring as a setting, so it will shut down for a little while. If anyone who reads Coleman's Corner is going to the San Francisco Bay Area in the future, and you want to see a film while supporting a very worthwhile theatre, I recommend trying out The Bridge. It only runs films at night except on weekends, so you can literally park right in front of the theatre! (I actually parked half a block away on Blake, as I did not want the car dinged by anyone driving on Geary.) Unfortunately, a tree blocks the view of the marquee, but oh well.

Anonymous said...

Yes the pictures's "potency" does indeed derive from the two children, as you note, and it's the visual tapestry that's really the thing here. (again as you rightfully point out). It seems you have given this film a very strong review in the end, something I feel LET THE RIGHT ONE IN fully deserves. It's a sensory, intoxicating film that builds to a an excellent climax, and it seems to being in the issues of coming-of-age, innocence and retribution. I thought the swimming pool sequence was highly-operatic.
In looking again through your review, I found these two senrtences, beautifully penned, conform to my own opinion:
"Nominally about vampirism, the film operates most cohesively as an arresting blend of these subvergent threads: of the everyday, smothering horror Oskar endures and the fantastical splash of morbid but benign (to Oskar inhuman horror)....LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is not a horror film, per se, though it does carry within it's bloodstream the occasional fights, darkly-lit sequences of pulse-pounding terror and memorable special-effects-aiding moments belonging to the macabre."

And congrats on a wonderful follow-up comment about that landmark movie palace where you saw the film. I'd love to visit there myself.

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

Thank you for the kind words, Sam. Yes, in the end, despite a few reservations, I thought rather highly of the film and saw it as a very meritorious effort by all involved.

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

The landmark theatre is a good one! :)

K. Bowen said...

I like one that everyone else likes. Wow.

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

It had to happen eventually, KB!

Anonymous said...

God, I wanna see this so bad! Great descriptive review.

Anonymous said...

What does "caliginous" mean?

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

Dark.

Sorry, caliginous is one of my five favorite words. Well, at least usually.

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

Thank you, Christopher.

Anonymous said...

Well, you know I loved this movie. I'm glad to see that you agree with me. You have exquisite taste in film. :D

A very eloquent and insightful review of the movie. I agree 100%.

I haven't been able to read much lately due to the crazy work project I'm on, plus gigs now, and I always need to make time to read your stuff since the writing is so detailed and in-depth (and dense). But I had to stop and read this, especially since I get tonight and tomorrow off. :)

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

Thank you, Alison, I'm glad you found the review worthwhile, and especially heartened to hear you agree. :)

Thanks for the kind words. Happy Turkey Day, to carry on over from the Thanksgiving thread.

Anonymous said...

great family movie. good holiday feeling. the bridge theatre is actually going to be used for the right one part deux vs milk. it is a new action movie where sean penns character comes back from hell and causes an earthquake that wipes out san francisco.

Anonymous said...

Remarkably detailed and insightful review. I've been reading some of your stuff and it seems like you sorta write your reviews in the style of the film in question. Really awesome job. I'll keep checking in.

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

Um, okay, Bruno...?

Stewart, thank you for the kind words. Yes, I do attempt to convey the fabric of a film by the manner in which I write about it. Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

I saw this last night. I'd say I agree with you just about 100%. I never really loved it but you can't help but admire the thing. Very subtle movie. And that is even more suprising because of it being a horror movie. Sort of. Gotta think about this one. Fine review.

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

Thank you, Moses. Yes, it's quite the lucidly dreamlike film that seeps its way into your mind and makes you ponder it for a long time. I have this strange feeling it's going to age well, but I'm not sure, either. I don't believe it's perfect, but it is a uniquely thoughtful film, from beginning to end.

Anonymous said...

So it's not a horror movie per se? Bummer.

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

You should seek it out, nonetheless, Horror Fanatic. It certainly features elements I suspect you would greatly enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Alrighty.

Great review, btw.

Anonymous said...

I loved this movie. I loved everything about it.

Great review!

Coleman's Corner in Cinema... said...

Yes, that is understandable, ben.

Reflecting on this film some, I do find the androgynous nature of Eli quite fascinating; the equally valid application of her name to the male and female; her asking Oskar about the importance of her gender in their relationship. Part of this may be read as what I at least significantly consider the "wish-fulfillment" aspect of the film. It is a chilly, fascinating film, and I'm still thinking about it over the past six weeks or so.

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