Last night, I finally got around to viewing Let The Right One In, a Swedish film that got hugely popularized around the time of the larger global release of Twilight. While its fairly safe to say both works can be placed on opposite sides of a particular spectrum, both works indeed center around vampirism, a subsequent adolescent romance, and a release in the Fall of last year. Many critics cited the former Swedish release in retaliation to the overly promoted Twilight based upon a generic young adult novel series as well as starring some teen heart-throbs. While the latter work focuses more on a simple teen romance and the element of supernatural fantasy as spectacle, Let The Right One In merely uses vampirism as a narrative device to elicit questions of morality, violence, and androgynous identity.
A large portion of the viewers criticized the film for its seemingly pastiche “underdog getting bullied” setup that finds resolution through romance, or physical retaliation. While on the surface this seems valid, when one realizes the obvious moral ambiguity surrounding the main character dynamic, it seems somewhat illogical. If anything, it seems the pastiche is being used purposely to offer a critique or satire. By film’s end, both Oskar and Eli have committed violent acts that are ethically wrong but seem to go ignored. Eli kills countless victims and Oskar assists in this outcome several times. What is interesting is how the film successfully sets up the characters in a way in which the audience comes to naturally associate with Oskar and Eli on an emotional level. Their romance is childlike and seemingly innocent but presents a moral dilemma. Viewers easily ignore the violence in the narrative because they sympathize with Oskar and Eli almost wanting them to succeed. The way in which the violence is portrayed on screen parallels this notion, almost all the violent acts happen off screen or in the shadows. The viewer knows the extent of the gruesome acts yet is allowed to keep a distance.
Violence seems to play a central role in the narrative. Oskar is depicted as completely obsessed through his daily newspaper clippings of massacre, war, and serial killings. The film opens with him emulating his tormentors by saying “Squeal! Squeal like a pig!” and then proceeding to stab his knife into a fictitious victim. Overall, it exemplifies the notions of a murder fantasy similar to Van Sant’s Elephant and its examination upon events such as Columbine. In this manner, the film could offer a more individual examination into contemporary issues of angst and social isolation.
The violence presented on screen seems to also illustrate a sense of general ignorance in its participants and on-lookers. As stated before, visually and narratively speaking, the violence is largely kept at a distance. It occurs regularly and is quite graphic, allowing the viewer to become naturalized to it. This is similar to how society in a contemporary context has become conditioned to daily images of war, crime, and murder through various media outlets. The act of violence itself has become natural and is no longer shocking nor spectacle. This is especially true of Oskar who simply smiles after destroying his bully’s ear, and when he literally waits calmly as Eli tears apart his tormentors at the swimming pool.
The largely impressionable state of Oskar is another key area of focus. Oskar seems to exemplify the notion of a clean slate, or the innocent child waiting for proper parental guidance. The narrative offers very intriguing dynamics to this notion on several levels. On the surface level, there is a definite dichotomy presented between his divorced mother and father. While much of his screen time with his mother is passive, cold, and lifeless, his time with his father is exemplified by joy, engaged activity, and sense of pastoral purity. His mother on the other hand, who seems to provide the main home and setting for Oskar, is set against a dilapidated urban backdrop. Oskar’s state in his mother’s home seems to be characterized mainly by discontent. He has no friends, is bullied, and resorts to fantasies to cope. Its also of interest how Oskar’s mother fails to see the obvious signs that her son is being violently harassed. If anything, there seems to be a large sense of urban isolation and desocialization similar to that of Edward Yang’s Terrorizers. Thus on a primary level, Oskar mirrors his physical surroundings.
On a secondary level and one touched upon previously, is how Oskar seems to change his actions (or lack of) based upon the dominant parental figure. While under his mother, he seems to emulate her sense of ignorance and inaction by not retaliating against his bullies. He becomes introverted and finds solace in personal fantasy instead of social interaction. After his relationship with Eli develops, physical retaliation against his tormentors comes quickly, and violence in general becomes naturalized. While Oskar is never actually turned into a vampire, the whole idea of vampirism seems to allegorically fall right into the notion of manipulation/assimilation. This is also seen in the bully’s assimilative relationship with his older brother and a possible connection between the father’s violence and Eli.
Eli himself, provides an interesting dynamic that can be seen from different angles. First off, it is important to realize that Eli is not a girl, he states this himself and is also briefly shown in a voyeuristic shot to be castrated. His relationship with Oskar can both be seen as an adolescent romance, but also one of parental manipulation. As Eli is ageless, if one uses the original novel as a reference point, he is 200 years old. Thus not a child and technically, a pedophile. This is of interest mainly because it enters in the notion that Oskar is not merely a lover, but a victim to Eli. Also, when Oskar seemingly replaces Eli’s dead father for nourishment and daytime security, one should ask, who is actually taking care of who?
The relationship between Eli and his father also raises some intriguing questions. One of the only times they are seen in frame together in the mise-en-scene, is when they are seemingly arguing over a recent murder. Both figures are blurred by the fogged window, leaving their relationship ambiguous. While on an obvious level, the father figure seems to naturally hold the upper hand in a power-dynamic, it seems that the opposite is true through the narrative. He apologizes to an angry Eli for failing to bring blood and is later killed on his second attempt. Its ambiguous whether or not the killing was in mercy, for nourishment, or for his consistent failures. To add, the film never actually confirms if he is indeed the biological father and what his relationship to Eli is exactly.
Eli also seems to exemplify an androgyny surrounding identity through the usage of postgenderism. On one hand, he is depicted as feminine, childlike, innocent, and a lover. On the other hand, he is in fact a “he”, aged, sociopathic, and a violent oppressor. His relationship with both his father and Oskar is unclear at best, and the question regarding his past is never explored. Furthermore, when comparing Eli to Oskar, Eli himself can be seen as fantasy manifested. Eli for Oskar, provides an escape from his urban misery and fulfills his murder fantasies of revenge. Also, the castration of Eli is never explored but could be linked to the notion of escape through gender androgyny. The physical escape of one’s own genetic identity is most definitely a powerful statement, and can serve as a metaphor for self-created identity or self-definition free of societal or parental guidance/influence. The physical erasing of Eli’s father’s face with acid could be linked to this as well, by erasing himself, he is destroying his ties to Eli. Violence then could exemplify influence, and a strong connection between the two characters can easily be drawn.
Overall, its a very impressive film. On a purely entertaining level, it doesn’t disappoint and many of the narrative’s actions are cleverly shot with long still shots that rely on mise-en-scene rather then rapid editing. The pool scene especially comes to mind, as well as how Eli and Oskar are often shot together in a seemingly voyeuristic manner. The performances by both young leads is also quite commendable, both exhibiting deep complexities to their individual characters as well as an impressive dynamic as a couple. It lacks the excess of Hollywood’s high production but instead relies on captivating subject matter, raises questions on moral/ethical ambiguities, and clever cinematography.
Tags: horror, let the right one in, sweden, tomas alfredson, vampire