BY EMIL TIEDEMANN
North Americans have seen more than their share of vampire movies, so we've come to expect the expected when another one premieres on the big screen. But leave it to the Swedes to break the long-set mould, with the haunting, yet placid Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson's theatrical take on a 2004 novel by fellow Swede John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also tackled the screenplay.
North Americans have seen more than their share of vampire movies, so we've come to expect the expected when another one premieres on the big screen. But leave it to the Swedes to break the long-set mould, with the haunting, yet placid Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson's theatrical take on a 2004 novel by fellow Swede John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also tackled the screenplay.
The producers were intent on finding young actors who displayed chemistry onscreen, accurately casting two 13-year-old unknowns, Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. The former portrayed Oskar, a 12-year-old boy who spends his free time daydreaming of bloody retaliation on schoolyard bullies. Leandersson makes us forget that she's barely a teenager, with her role as a somewhat androgynous vampire named Eli, who has been "12, about" for the last 200 years. Eli and her "guardian" Hakan (Per Ragner) have just moved in next door to Oskar in a sombre apartment complex in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg, where Hakan is committed to murdering locals in order to salvage their blood so that Eli doesn't have to.
Oskar leads a lonely exsistance, something he has in common with Eli, the two of whom converse at the nearby playground before eventually striking up an alliance and going "steady." Alfredson is sporadically loyal to Lindqvist's novel--which is set in the early-'80s--delivering an almost pederastic tone to the children's relationship, one that leaves my "Americanized" eyes awkward and uneasy at times.The film seems to climax during a disturbingly graceful pool scene that left me ecstaticly jolted, and lends some much-needed energy to its slow pace. John Soderqvist composed a melodic score for this film, light at times, dark at others, setting every tone of every scene, and delivered by the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra.
In a year that saw massive attention and fascination for Hollywood's own vampire contribution, Twilight, Let the Right One In distanced itself from big-budget glamour and poised itself as an alternative, highlighting its foreign authenticity (it was filmed and set in Sweden, and comes sub-titled) at the risk of feeble international ticket sales. Unlike Twilight, Alfredson's film will not expand into a blockbuster franchise, or produce any teen-girl glee or even action figures for that matter, but it will leave you more satisfied than its exploited rival, I'm sure. Although this film's stars aren't even high school students yet, this is a very-adult movie, one that tangles with its own essence to trigger self-awareness in its audience. Mission accomplished.
4/5 stars
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