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Let Me In / Let The Right One In

veggieguy12

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I saw the first film (the Swedish "Let the Right One In") about four times, through my own couple viewings and then showing it to friends - it goes without saying that I liked it. When I saw the trailer for the American remake, "Let Me In", I thought it would be corny. The reviews I read were positive, noting that it does re-create the original, but also has enough of its own character to be distinctive. Having seen it, I'd say that's understated; I actually prefer the American edition of the story.

(Full disclosure: I first watched "Let Me In" after being effected by marijuana.) I describe the two films to people as if you and I went to a social gathering, interacted with different people, observed & participated in the major events, and then told our stories: essentially, all of what we each saw happened, and was true - but our experiences diverge. I feel that "Let Me In" is a more sensitive, sad side to the vampire story, and more fitting to the main characters being adolescents.

I've now just seen some deleted scenes (with director's commentary) and the documentary behind-the-scenes/making-of feature, and I think my sense of the film was validated by what the director and actors say.

-- SPOILERS MAY COME UP --

It could be just a cultural difference, that I miss the subtleties of Scandinavian people interacting and expressing themselves (or not), but only with the American version did I think that it really sucks and is sad to be a vampire: Abby (or Eli, in the Swedish book & film) doesn't want to kill, but she HAS to; she doesn't get to make friends her age, and play in the afternoon; she would like to eat candy, it tastes good - but all she can consume is blood. And while everyone else ages and dies and changes with the world, she remains forever twelve years old, dependent, minimized, very powerful but dismissed by the adult world. She doesn't celebrate her birthday - it isn't any fun, she's twelve every year, forever. How very sad; she has nobody to relate to.

In watching this American version, I noticed her screaming at her 'dad'. (Is that in the Swedish film? Or the book? If it is, I missed it every go-round.) She rages because he's failed to deliver blood to her. This made me realize that this is why she keeps him around, but that she really doesn't care for him. I got to thinking, Who would, as an adult, be with a child, romantically? A pedophile. So, perhaps he loves her, but she despises him for this, though she must tolerate him if she wishes to avoid hunting people herself. (The films show an old photostrip of Abby/Eli with a young boy, who we can presume is the old man we see in the story - so my interpretation is wrong. But the book confirms that Eli's caretaker, Hakan, is indeed a pedophile, and she does in fact loathe him for it.)

My girlfriend has been telling me all the differences and additional bits that were not in the Swedish film. Too much to go into here, and pointless to just spill it all in a movie discussion, but it's quite interesting. The author, John Alvide Lindqvist, has developed and explained the physiology of becoming a vampire and surviving until the heart is damaged, to his credit.

I guess I'd like a fanedit to remove the shot of the photostrip, so my notion stands, that the young vampire's caretaker is a pedophile (and that's true to the book); other than that, the DVD includes only three deleted scenes which wouldn't really add much, though a faneditor could stretch the film just a bit longer by pulling some shots from the locker-room deleted scene, and reinstating the 'Be Me' scene to the film. I might also cut the Morse Code at the end, if possible; just let the audience surmise that the vampire is in the trunk the boy is transporting.

Otherwise, I found this a great movie, super somber and tragic. I felt it cleaned-up some of the flaws of the first screen adaptation (the old man would be a better provider at this point in his relationship with the girl), and the opening scene is really good and escalates the pulse, I think. Also, the vampire created by Abby is dealt with (in the American film) better and more succinctly than the vampire created by Eli in the Swedish movie.

What are your thoughts on this story, in either of its tellings? Or the book?
 

nOmArch

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I haven't seen the original version or read the book but I did very much enjoy the remake.

I think you are blurring the book and the movie a little too much. In the movie I'm sure the boy in the photo was her carer. Are we told anywhere specifically how old she is? because I just assumed she met her present carer in a similar manner to meeting Owen.

I think they did love each other it's just they are stuck in a semi dependent relationship which has now become more twisted over the years, he goes out tries to find her a body, he fails, comes home and she's mad. Live with someone for 40 years and it's possible to be that honest/horrible to each other particularly when the age gap, so to speak, gets bigger each year.

Whether they have/had a sexual relationship I think was left purposefully ambiguous, Although the way he looks at Owen all through the movie shows he is seeing himself in Owen and is also remember the good times and what it was like when he had just met her and why ultimatelyhe finally does what he does because he knows he is not needed anymore and she's better off without him. The fact he's labelled a pedophile is because he lives with Abby, is always moving and bad things are happening to other people around them all the time. If the Be Me scene is included I think it takes a lot of that ambiguity away and pretty much paints a big pedo target on him.

Also I think the morse code bit at the end shows that she's happy and has a playmate again; for a few years at least and is in a way about the happiest ending there could be simply because she's gonna have to do it all over again in another 40 odd years.

Not sure if all that makes sense but I might be slightly high myself right now. :)
 

veggieguy12

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nOmArch said:
...In the movie I'm sure the boy in the photo was her carer.
Yes, correct. I think that's a pretty safe assumption they meant for us to take.

nOmArch said:
...Are we told anywhere specifically how old she is? because I just assumed she met her present carer in a similar manner to meeting Owen.
Abby - and Eli, in the first film - says "I'm twelve...more or less." And later, "I've been twelve for a very long time."
I think she did indeed meet the "The Father" when he was boy - according to the movie. But what I was saying is that I thought it better to think that a young vampire's caretaker is a pedophile who she (the vampire) despises, not a person she met when he was a child. And the decades-old love of two children is the story of the movies, but not the book, I have learned.

nOmArch said:
The fact he's labelled a pedophile is because he lives with Abby, is always moving and bad things are happening to other people around them all the time.
Hes only labeled a pedophile by me, in my imagination - and wrongly, by what the movie shows, but in keeping with the book.

nOmArch said:
If the Be Me scene is included I think it takes a lot of that ambiguity away and pretty much paints a big pedo target on him.
"Be me" is something Abby tells Owen, that he should sympathize with this brutal killer, and not judge her - he has his own fantasies of killing people, doesn't he? The scene really has nothing to do with the guy Abby lives with.

nOmArch said:
Also I think the morse code bit at the end shows that she's happy and has a playmate again; for a few years at least and is in a way about the happiest ending there could be simply because she's gonna have to do it all over again in another 40 odd years.
Interesting take... adds to why I dislike it, I think.
Thanks for the feedback! You should watch the original film, for comparison; it's quite good.
 

nOmArch

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veggieguy12 said:
Abby - and Eli, in the first film - says "I'm twelve...more or less." And later, "I've been twelve for a very long time."
I think she did indeed meet the "The Father" when he was boy - according to the movie. But what I was saying is that I thought it better to think that a young vampire's caretaker is a pedophile who she (the vampire) despises, not a person she met when he was a child. And the decades-old love of two children is the story of the movies, but not the book, I have learned.

Ok so her age is unknown, so chances are it's a good couple of hundred years at the very least.

For me, no, a pedo looking after a vampire is just shocking for the sake of being shocking. doesn't work in my view. As you yourself say in the movie it's a much nicer/healthier relationship and the fact that the book plays is differently has no nearing on the movie version. And why shouldn't a vampire be capable of love? makes for a much more interesting character than a simple cold blooded killer.

"Be me" is something Abby tells Owen, that he should sympathize with this brutal killer, and not judge her - he has his own fantasies of killing people, doesn't he? The scene really has nothing to do with the guy Abby lives with.
Not directly I know, but I definitely got the vibe that other people thought he was a pedo when I watched it and showing Abby being raped and murdered provides a narrative pointer to why they might be together. like the photo it's a nod towards a particular line of thought.

anyway that's how I chose to interpret the movie and their relationship.
 

veggieguy12

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nOmArch said:
...showing Abby being raped and murdered provides a narrative pointer to why they might be together.
It's not a rape - it's a castration. Eli (or Abby) is born Elias. His father castrates and then consumes the genitals...and Elias lives as Eli from then on.
I do appreciate reading your take on the film; it's interesting how it differs from mine, which was informed beforehand by the foreign film and afterward by the novel. If you see the first movie version, please do write up your take on it, too.
 

nOmArch

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In the book it's castration, but in the movie...

In this video the Director explains why the scene didn't make the final cut and agrees that in the movie it looks like rape, which the interviewer also gives as his explanation of the scene, but in the book it's actually castration.

[video]http://player.vimeo.com/video/15573371[/video]
 

ThrowgnCpr

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I finally got around to watching Let The Right One In last night. I thought it was an absolutely wonderful movie, and the two lead kids were phenomenal. I haven't seen the American remake, and after seeing the Swedish version I was wondering why anyone would need to. But perhaps it's worth viewing? Note: I have not read the book.
 

Neglify

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The American remake is pretty damn good. Don't break your legs rushing out to see it though. Wait a few years so it can kind of be its own thing and memory of original isn't as fresh.
 

ThrowgnCpr

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Neglify said:
The American remake is pretty damn good. Don't break your legs rushing out to see it though. Wait a few years so it can kind of be its own thing and memory of original isn't as fresh.

Thanks Neg!  Won't be a problem to wait. I don't have a ton of movie-watching time these days and my to-watch stack is pretty tall... I've eventually give it a watch though.
 

thecuddlyninja

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^What Neg said. The original is fantastic and pretty perfect in my opinion. The remake is very good...but doesn't really have a reason to exist. I also think that Grace-Moretz did a great job with the film but casting somebody the lead would find attractive brings something more into the dynamic that muddles the thematic work IMO.

ssj and I toyed with the idea of co-writing subs and collaborating on an edit of this. I can mention it now I think since we decided the film wouldn't work for what we had in mind, but it's fun to imagine a world where that happened.
 

TM2YC

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Tomas Alfredson's films are great. So atmospheric. It's been five years and I'm impatient for another one!
 

ssj

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what neg and courtly said about both the swedish and american versions. the latter was unnecessary but pretty darn decent.

ninja and i are still looking for a suitable project for collaboration. [that french film you rec'd is next up on my netflix cue. rubbing me hands with gleeful anticipation. :)]
 

thecuddlyninja

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ssj said:
what neg and courtly said about both the swedish and american versions. the latter was unnecessary but pretty darn decent.

ninja and i are still looking for a suitable project for collaboration. [that french film you rec'd is next up on my netflix cue. rubbing me hands with gleeful anticipation. :)]

42db2abcf45e0baf4e2589a9705b665c.jpg
 

ssj

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fiercest. school girl. evar.
 
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