Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In is the best movie that I have seen in quite a while. I may even watch it again tonight.

An unsettling film, to say the least. First, it uses the bleak Swedish backdrop as a living part of the cast. Shots of snow show multiple layers of snow falling in different directions, a confused chaotic downward drift. That's the thing, all those layers, seemingly multi directional, but all of those flakes are falling. And that's just one shot.

So, Cinematography is amazing. Check.

The story itself is not easily summed up, though usually when done by others it goes; boy is lonely, new girl moves in, girl is lonely, boy meets girl, girl eats neighbors. (I'm talking major film reviewers boil it down to that) I won't be subjecting this article to that sort of inattentive dribble.

Yes, taking the aforementioned plot, the directors have seemingly pulled off a sixth sense style snatch and grab, and for the life of me no one seems to get it. The girl, Eli, moves in with an older man, who as the film unfolds, goes 'hunting' for her. He has a little blood collection kit that he takes out, kills, drains, and is supposed to bring the blood back to Eli. Alas, his age is showing, and the film shows us moments of tenderness between the two. He is her familiar, but he is not Renfield by any stretch. Eli's thrall is not magical, but emotional. He LOVES her, and wants to help her.

Now we can continue. Oskar is getting bullied, and Eli brings out the tiger in him. She tells him to "hit back harder". She unleashes his inner power and confidence, and forgives him his desire for vengeance. She harnessess these things to her own aims.
All the while, Oskar is falling deeper in love with her, and after the death of her former familiar, Eli begins spending more time with Oskar. It is so refreshing that these characters are only 12, and thus "pre" sexual. It is not the usual sensual attraction, but something deeper that drives these two together.

Eventually, Oskar is about to be drowned by bullies when Eli comes and kills them all. Oskar is not horrified by the scene (which is in true scandanavian style, horrific) but is happy to see Eli.

The last scene is where the Sixth sense comment comes in. It is Oskar, on a train, with Eli, in a box. He has become her new familiar. She is protected once more. The monstrous nature of the vampire is slightly revealed when we realize that she is not a little girl who was lonely and made friends with the lonely boy next door, but an old and cunning creature who took advantage of Oskars lonliness, further isolated him, and enthralled him for her own protection. She picked him as she saw her older familiar was getting too old, but he wasn't dead yet. What happens in the film is that the viewer becomes enthralled by Eli, and overlooks her devious and truly monstrous enslavement of these men. She exploits our sympathies that she 'lives on blood', and it is not her choice, but a compulsion that makes her kill.. She makes us forget that she is a monster. She is the most pure vampire that I have seen in a long time. This is why so many see it as a 'coming of age' film, and are decieved.

Remember, she is twelve, and has been for a very long time. Her appearance is a lie, she wears it consciously and inhabits it completely.

Such a brilliant film. I am a fan of vampire genre pieces, and was just recently saying that I wish something would come out with a real vampire, not this twilight bullshit that we've been seeing so much. Don't get me wrong, Interview, Buffy, True Blood, all favorites of mine, but sometimes you dont want to be seduced, you want to be devoured.

Also the usual thing is for the title to relate to the main character. In our human centric sexist way, we thing the protagonist is Oskar, but the title alludes to Eli, letting Oskar in, rather than the inverse. A little bit of a clue to all this comes from the title, which was adapted from the Morrisey song 'Let the right one slip in"

Let the right one in
Let the old dreams die
Let the wrong ones go
They cannot
They cannot
They cannot do what you want them to do
Oh ...

Let the right one in
Let the old dreams die
Let the wrong ones go
They do not
They do not
They do not see what you want them to
Oh ...


Let the right one in
Let the old things fade
Put the tricks and schemes (for good) away


Ah ... I will advise
Ah ... Until my mouth dries
Ah ... I will advise you to ...


Ah ... let the right one slip in
Slip in
Slip in


And when at last it does
I'd say you were within your rights to bite
The right one and say, "what kept you so long ?"
"What kept you so long ?"
Oh ...

Or maybe it is a warning to Oskar, or to us.

The romantic in me thinks maybe Eli will change Oskar and they will be happy together forever, but then I remember her former familiar and I realize that she had the chance last time and didn't do that, probably time and time again, this is not a love story, but a monster movie, and it may well be one of the best that I have ever seen.

I am enthralled~

Noriko's Dinner Table

***** (5 Stars)

"Noriko's Dinner Table" is the follow up to "Suicide Club" and I absolutely loved this movie. Everything I like about movies and literature are wrapped up in this movie.

If you love philosophy (especially eastern philosophy), psycho-drama, suspense, deeply relational movies, and either speak Japanese or don't mind subtitles, this is the perfect movie for you. If not, you probably won't like it much. This movie will undoubtedly go far over the heads of the majority of viewers, not because they won't understand it, more probably it will be an attention span problem. Clocking in at 159 minutes, I don't expect many people to put in the effort, but I did and am very happy that I did. If you watch this right and catch the important bits, the ending will make you gasp. You really don't know what's going to happen.



Spoilers ahead-

Here's an interesting note, Noriko is the name of the girl, she describes her name as meaning a foreign perfume, but actually the Japanese name Norika has to do with perfume. Noriko means Order/Law child. Possibly to show her own ignorance of her self, her misunderstanding of even her own name.

Mitsuko, Noriko's adopted name and possibly Kumiko's real name means child of the light, possibly a reason why Kumiko is referred to as the Sun Goddess at one point. Similar in nature to Amun-Ra perhaps.

Yuka, the younger daughters name actually means fragrant, when put into context of the story and Noriko's misunderstanding of her own name meaning something with perfume, becomes all kinds of interesting.
Yoko Could be Sunshine Child also.
Yoko (with a short vowel 'o') occurs rarely as a Japanese name. In such cases, it may be written with the characters for "reputation; praise; honor; glory" (yo) and "child" (ko). Other possibilities include "substitute; change; replace; period; era; generation" (ko) and "child" (ko).
However, Yoko is a common English transcription of the widely spread Japanese name Youko (pronounced with a long vowel 'o').
The Japanese name Youko may be written with the characters for "sunshine" (you) and "child" (ko). Other possibilities include "ocean" or "leaf" for 'you' and "child" (ko). Youko is pronounced with a long vowel 'o'.

Tetsuzo, the fathers name probably comes from Tetsu- meaning philosophy. I don't know the meaning of the added 'zo', but it is possibly due to Tetsuzo being an identifiable name, having the link to philosophy. Tetsuzo's role in the film definitely takes a philosophical turn, whether it be his allegorical cave like expansion of his understanding of the world beyond his small town, to his desire to understand things that he himself has no use for "eg suicide club" in order to further his goals. He wants his family back, but learns to accept them for what they are, and not what he wishes them to be. He becomes the very essence of Zen Philosophy in a sense.

Taeko, the mothers name reflects who she eventually views herself to be. Seemingly self satisfied in having such a "happy family", her art reflects her own distorted view of her life. Eventually the discord between her identity as Taeko, the child of many blessings, and the reality of her life as a woman with two runaway children and a distant husband becomes to much for her, eventually resulting in her suicide.
The Japanese name Taeko may be written with the characters for "many; much" (ta), "blessing; grace; favor" (e) and "child" (ko). Other possibilities include the characters for "strange; unusual; superb; excellent" (tae) and "child" (ko).

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Think "Rashomon" meets "walking a mile in her shoes". Taking a cue from existentialist karma, the characters must live within each others lives in order to forgive each other and themselves. "Yuka", or whomsoever she becomes in the end, in the end finds neither "reality" or "self delusion", simply will experience her new role as an experiencer. In the beginning, she was victim to her fathers, sisters, and mothers selfishness. Yuka is the rabbit, in the end she becomes the lion. It is not the choice that is the goal, as in western cinema, but the path she will experience will be hers. There is no goal, there is no "quixotic quest", there is no reality, there is no Suicide Club.

That's part of what I get from it anyway.
I would expect only a small percentage of people to enjoy this film, but we each have our roles to play.
Recommended most for people who neither like nor dislike any movies.