"Let the Right One In"

Hello again passengers, hope the journey has been smooth sailing or, in this case, railing, thus far. I watched Tomas Alfredson's "Let the Right One In," based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. First and foremost, it is an amazing film. Alfredson does an excellent job in singling out the love story between Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) and Eli (Line Leandersson). The film took an intimate look at the relationship of a pre-teen male and a pre-teen vampire female. The relationship developed by the two is one of caring, intimacy, and murder. Alfred chose this relationship as the main focus for the film. One should read the book to get the full description of some holes that the film left unfilled. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and director Tomas Alfredson do an excellent job in selecting the color palette for the film. I have no idea what 1982 Sweden looks like, but by the looks of the film, it's a damn beautiful place. Upon reading an interview with the director I learned that both he and the Hoytema studied art and eventually selected their color palette from a painting by Rafael from "The Sistine Chapel". Their choice of a frozen blue captures the spirit of the film and brings out the feeling of being alone and isolated in an area where the sun doesn't shine, but winks every now and then. Alfredson also limits the amount of dialogue and overall sound in the film to a minimum. When asked why, Alfredson stated, "If you have a wide shot over a city and you just hear a bird, your eyes will immediately scan over the frame to find the bird. Maybe the bird is coming in the next scene; a close-up of a bird in a cage. You can work with silence to bring certain things across. If you fill the entire soundscape with effects, atmosphere and music, you can hide yourself as a filmmaker. But if you put up just one voice, one bird, or any one thing, you are being brave because you are saying something. You are sort of making an argument." Alfredson speaks about horror as a dialogue, as opposed to a monolugue, with the audience. The audience must be active participants within the film. The way to do this is through suggestion and ambiguity. The film definitely has moments where the audience is left to ponder "What the hell just happened." As a film, "Let the Right One In" works on so many levels. I hesitate in calling this film a genre film, because I'm not all too positive that this is true, but it is definitely a classic with staying power.