Låt den rätte komma in

I recently viewed Let the right one in (2008), based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. A co-worker of mine absolutely loved the film, so my assistant and I were dying to see it.

Had I not been exhausted every time I tried to watch it last weekend, I could've easily made it all the way through in one sitting, as I did last night. I liked it. I didn't love it, but I definitely liked it, which is far more than I can say for my assistant! Perhaps if she gives it another go she'll change her mind.

It's a strange film, marketed as a love story between a 12-year-old bullied boy and a vampire, but as is suggested by the reviews of the novel, there is a great deal more to the story than the interactions between Oskar (boy) and Eli (vampire).

I watched the dubbed version, which alone made the movie a little odd, because a lot of the voices sounded the same. Most of them were very feminine (to me anyway). The dubbing also imparted a bit of artificiality to the script, as the voices in many circumstances didn't match the tone of the scene, much less the character.

Moving past all of that, I found the story to be quite touching. My interpretation of it was that of a sweet, rather innocent and true friendship that was somewhat warped by the innate differences between human and vampire. I suppose the beauty of the story was exposed when those differences were successfully cast aside, paving the way for the bonds of friendship and love to overcome and conquer fear.

I've come across several reports stating that the original DVD release (likely what I watched) differed from the theatrical version. Most of those reports describe alternate subtitles, and as I viewed the dubbed version, I can only imagine that the offending subtitles referenced in said reviews were used to dub the version I watched. Who knows. Since I liked the movie anyway, I'm not too concerned. Sorry for the run-around explanation.

I, like many other viewers, adore the closing scene. It is a heart-stopper. It put the bow on my stamp of approval for this movie.