Slashing The Seats

Swedish director Tomas Alfredson’s version of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel, Let The Right One In, finally limps on to British and American screens…just in time for the DVD release. That said, this is definitely a film that deserves a big screen, and a night-walk home through the park afterwards.

This is stunning, catching the ethereal beauty of a Scandinavian winter and juxtaposing it with the modern, concrete grimness of the cold war. Despite being firmly rooted in the 80s, the film spends a lot of time building an atmosphere that is both timeless and ageless.

Following the struggles of Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), as his new friend, the enigmatic and mournful Eli (a revelatory Lina Leandersson) urges him to fight back against the bullies who torment him. The film is multi-layered, at once brutal and fragile, with stunning, complex performances from the young actors that hint at the emotional depths inherent in adolescence and old age.

At its heart, this is a love story. Vampirism is a tool dusted with disease allegory, rotting both the body and soul of the sufferer. In the novel, Eli’s relationship with her strange ‘keeper’ is more explicitly about pedophilia, here the lines are blurred, his punishment more obscure, and wonderfully creepy because of it. Eli’s home life speaks of untold horrors, bringing a thin strand of Lovecraftian terror to proceedings that never quite leaves.

Likewise, the blood and guts are kept to a minimum, particularly the mesmerising climax. In the hands of a lesser talent, it could have been merely disgusting; here it is transcendent; witty and horrifying.

A literary, verbose and understated film, never flashy in its subtle knowledge of the Vampire’s film and folklore heritage; demands to be seen before it falls victim to an entirely unneeded Hollywood makeover next year.

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