When going through a large sum of movies to round up my Best of 2008 list, I really did not expect a miminalist Swedish love story between a Vampire in the form of a 12 year old girl and a bullied prototypical Swedish kid to stand out amongst the rest. Who would really, mostly because one would have to openly wonder whether or not a movie that fit under that description could possibly exist.
Yet it does. And it did.
It's name is Let the Right One In, and it's a remarkable movie that has a guaranteed spot in my favorite five movies of the year. Everything about it, from the two brilliant lead performances by the two child actors (Kåre Hedebrant as Oskar and the "wears sadness better than most Oscar winning actresses" vampire Eli as performed by Lina Leandersson) to the haunting music, from the subtle script to the brilliant direction (Tomas Alfredson...remember that name when he makes your next favorite American movie - he can set a scene like nobody's business), is phenomenal.
It's definitely not for everyone. Not into foreign film? Probably not for you. Not into movies with slow but thoughtful pacing? Avoid like the plague. But if you're an adventurous movie goer and want to see something truly excellent, check this out.
You'll be happy that you did.
Let the Right One In: A
2 comments:
Totally agree. Top 5 movie for me as well. I'm struggling to think of a better vampire movie in the last 20 years (perhaps all the way back to Werner Herzog's Nosferatu)?
I don't profess to be an expert of vampire movies, but it's the best one I've ever seen. Not a huge fan of the genre, and this one really blew me away. I think it was the fact it didn't rely on cliches (besides the genius handling if "Can I come in?"), it focused on building the story around the character not the fact she was a vampire, and that it used the Oskar as the primary character, almost giving us a character to imagine ourselves as in the world.
I'm still really bowled over by it.
Btw, Revolutionary Road was a very well acted bore at most times. Besides Michael Shannon in it, nothing is really energetic. Winslet and DiCaprio did a good job, but nothing special for them. It was very well made, just a standard premier picture when you get down to it.
You should definitely check out the Visitor though. That surprisingly was more excellent than the far more touted Road.
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