After watching Let the Right One In last night, I really do wonder why it was ineligible for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. That at least is my assumption, other than the other reason: it's a horror film.
The easy (and probably correct) reason is that Let the Right One In is a vampire movie, and even if it is a really goddamn excellent movie (which it is), it's not about war torn countries or the holocaust or whatever it is that makes a Great Foreign Film. I don't know, but Let the Right One In leapfrogged its way up my list of "Best Movies of 2008"*.
It's really hard to make a good vampire movie. A fun vampire movie? Sure, there are tons of those: The Horror of Dracula, Return of the Vampire, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Count Yorga: Vampire Killer, Blacula, Vampire Hunter D, The Last Man on Earth, and Vampire's Kiss, to name a few. On the other hand, I can only think of four REALLY good vampire movies, ones that go beyond just being a good romp:
Near Dark, Nosferatu, Shadow of the Vampire, and Martin.
You can add Let the Right One In to that list. I bring up Romero's Martin because for long stretches of the film, you could conceivably make the argument that Eli, the strange little girl, is not actually a vampire. Only in the third act is it apparent that she is a supernatural being. Until that point there are "blink and you'll miss" indicators (i.e. the scene in Oskar's school basement).
More than anything, Let the Right One In is a story about a boy who doesn't realize how mundane his life is, how hopeless and pointless. Then Oskar (the boy) meets Eli (the girl) and their worlds open up. Eli's been relying on the help of humans to keep her alive (like Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire, she's trapped in the body of a twelve year old and won't ever age), not just by feeding on them but using them to find her places to sleep. When she meets Oskar, things change.
All of this works because of the casting. Director Tomas Alfredson chose two very young people, Kare Hedebrant (Oskar) and Lena Leandersson (Eli) and they have to do some very complex work to keep things moving. Both keep the film grounded, but Leandersson is particularly interesting because she never makes the switch from "vampire" to "human". She's always distant, always removed, so when she begins warming to Oskar it's strange, but you believe it.
Still, this is in essence a horror movie. Let the Right One In is accordingly quite bloody, even if the violence happens in brief fits and spurts (pun intended). To my surprise, the frequency of scenes involving people covered in blood doesn't take away from the tenderness of Oskar and Eli's story. In fact, one of the best moments between the two of them features someone covered in blood.
Let the Right One In employs one of the most forgotten vampire myths there is: a vampire cannot enter someone's home unless the owner invites them. I can only really remember The Lost Boys and Buffy the Vampire Slayer addressing this directly, but until Let the Right One In I've never seen what happened if that rule is broken. And it's pretty graphic, but it also functions as a key hurdle in the relationship between the two "kids".
I wish Matt Reeves all the luck in the world remaking this movie. The fact that it was in Swedish never bothered me but I realize the Cap'n is in the minority re: subtitles. Casting is going to be critical, especially for the leads. If you don't buy them as real, nothing that happens in the film is going to work. Let the Right One In is something of a minor miracle, and duplicating that is a mighty feat.
* For the record, they consist of (in truthfully any order you like): In Bruges, Let the Right One In, Redbelt, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Appaloosa, Man on Wire, Tropic Thunder, and yes, The Happening. That is, for the record, the last time you'll see the words "the" and "happening" together until march of 2010. You're welcome.
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