Let the Right one In

Let the right one in or in its original Swedish title Let den Ratte Komma in has been described in purest terms as a story about ‘the loneliest little boy in the world’  by both director Tomas Alfredson and author  of the book it was based on.  The little boy in question is Oskar, bullied mercilessly by his peers and largely ignored by his divorced parents who pass him from one to the other as if forgetting this is a fragile child on the very brink of adolescence. Oskar spends most of his time day dreaming about finally getting revenge on his tormentors, looking out of his window into desolate suburbia, willing something-anything, to happen. Only one day something does happen. A pretty, mysterious girl his own age moves into the flat opposite, her name is Eli and soon she and Oskar begin meeting  in the frozen play area outside their apartment complex and Oskar believes he has finally met a kindred spirit. Yet there are sinister undertones to what appears to be a sweet yet naive romance between the two youngsters. For one, there is a killer on the loose in the town of Blackberge, Sweden and, as several bodies begin to turn up, Oskar must ask himself some questions about his new friend. Why are the windows to her apartment blacked out with cardboard? Why does she sometimes have a funny smell of decay? And why does she panic so much when Oskar cuts his hand, in a clumsy attempt of solidifying their friendship, allowing his blood to drip to the floor?

Based on the book of the same name by Swedish author, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the right one in is artful in the way it manages to summon up an atmosphere of dread and disorientation, that manages  not only to unsettle but amaze with its dark beauty. This is helped enormously by its setting in a wintry suburb of Stockholm, a claustrophobic town surrounded by a landscape that is beautiful on the surface but ultimately threatening and hostile in its unrelenting stretches of snow and ice. The same can be applied to the character of Eli, as we come to realise there is definitely more to her than meets the eye, a gruesome and horrible reality that we may wish we’d never learnt.  

Heavily marketed as a horror film, the film has deservedly garnered much critical acclaim as a film from this genre. Of course being a film about vampires, we would expect the film to play upon certain horror conventions. To some extent this is not an illogical conclusion as the film does indeed have moments that are genuinely frightening and is certainly not for those averse to occasional blood splatter and other intense moments designed to elicit a reaction of dread and terror. Yet to consider Let the right one in as merely a horror film, is to do it a disservice, as it is so much more than this. It is a film that manages to give us some sort of reality about the pain of adolescence and is therefore able to convey a story. One of a desperate friendship between two ostracized and isolated children and one that allows us to gain some insight into the characters it presents in all their, sometimes unpleasant, nakedness.

 Brutal but brilliant, and intense with feeling without ever becoming sentimental, Let the right one in is truly a remarkable piece of film making. A Hollywood remake is to arrive in cinemas very shortly but I can say without hesitation that it is wholly unnecessary. The reason being that Let the right one in is one of those rare films that does not come along very often. It has an unparalleled cinematic style and a disturbing yet fascinating atmosphere that could not have been derived to the same extent if the film were set anywhere else than in its native Sweden.With extremely strong performances from its two young stars, haunting and almost poetically beautiful cinematography and many superb moments, including an ending scene in a pool which I count among some of the most masterful scenes ever created in cinema, Let the right one in is a stunning film in every sense of the word.  The characters are treated with sympathy yet they are never allowed to become wholly innocent figures. Even the tormented Oskar eventually learns to stand up to his aggressors, with Elis help, and in doing so loses the last remnants of his childhood and is left at the end of the film world weary- no longer shielded from horror, on his way to becoming an adult. It is in this uniqueness and inventiveness that Let the right one in stands alone as a dark, yet ultimately tender parable of adolescence that will be talked about for years to come.

My Own Private Idaho

A film about two male hustlers working the desolate streets of Portland, Oregon seems proof that director Gus Van Sant was not afraid of alienating an average middle American audience. The fact that the film was loosely based on the Shakespearean play Henry IV also adds to its unconventional, art house appeal. The film shares some similarities with Gus Van Sant’s previous 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy which was also set in Portland and dealt with the similar theme of troubled, non directional youth.

The story of My Own Private Idaho follows two young men Mike and Scott who live and sleep on the streets of Portland, selling their bodies to men and women alike. Scott, Keanu Reeves, has adopted this lifestyle mainly as a way of degrading his father who is the wealthy mayor of Portland. Mike however River Pheonix, in an incredibly natural and gentle performance which would turn out to be one of the best of his short career, is hustling purely to survive as he searches the empty roads of Idaho for the mother who abandoned him as a child. Mike also suffers from narcolepsy which gives his character a child-like vulnerability and forces us to invest our emotions in him even more. Mike’s eternal struggle to belong and his endless search for the myth of maternal love is beautifully reflected in shots of desolate landscapes and rolling clouds, a world in which the concept of home is only a faded memory. These memories are replayed in stunted motion like undeveloped photos, haunting Mike in the brief moments before he passes out.  Scott initially accompanies Mike from Oregon to Seattle, to Idaho and eventually to Italy in search of the elusive mother Mike has never known. In one of the films most poignant scenes, Mike proclaims his love for Scott as the two sit around a campfire by the side of the road. This scene, which River rewrote himself, is heartbreakingly honest and affecting as we realise what a tender story of unrequited love this is. Although it is never made clear if Mike is even gay, we can see just how desperate he is for love and care- almost as if he is seeing beyond gender and circumstance all together. This is epitomised beautifully as Mike tells Scott that he could love someone even if he wasn’t paid for it because ‘I love you, and you don’t pay me.’

1991, dir. by Gus Van Sant

The fact that these characters are flawed makes us identify and empathise with them even more, up to the point where all we want is for them to end up in a happier place than where they started. Eventually Scott receives his inheritance and returns to Portland, once again leaving Mike alone to continue his solitary journey. For Mike, there is no way out as this is truly a boy with no background, no clear future and no where to turn except back to the streets with other disaffected young men like himself, or the empty roads of Idaho searching for what so many of us take for granted-home. He even says himself that for him the road will never end...’it probably goes all around the world.’ My Own Private Idaho is a truly profound film, with an immense yet quiet beauty that is as tragic as it is deliciously quirky, disarmingly funny and wonderfully alive with colour and dialogue. So much can be taken from each viewing and for those who are willing to watch the film with an open mind and allow themselves to be captured by its unique style and effortless portrait of one persons search for belonging; this is a film that will stay with them long after the credits roll. It also gave the late River Phoenix (who would die from a drug overdose at age 23) a chance to truly immerse himself in a role and show off his innate and incredibly versatile acting ability. A truly amazing film that breaks my heart every time I watch it, but in the greatest possible way.

Les 400 coups

‘Unbearably beautiful’ are the opening lines of Francois Truffaut’s short autobiographical film ‘Les Mistons’ which often accompanies screenings of The 400 Blows. After watching the latter film, I realised that this is the exact way I would describe it. It is beautiful beyond belief. Not just the stunning black and white photography and shots of 1950’s Paris, but through the acting, the poignancy of the story and mainly the characterization of Antoine Doinel.Here is a boy who is neither mean-spirited, delinquent nor criminal, yet he spends most of his days at school banned from spending recess with the other boys, chastised by his teachers who always seem to catch him at the moment he does something he shouldn’t, regardless of whether he is truly to blame. At home things are fairly dysfunctional yet stable-his mother is distant and vain and his father is well-meaning but ill-equipped when it comes to acting as a paternal role model, yet Antoine’s home life is not one that could often be considered ‘broken.’ He is simply a fourteen year old boy, who wants desperately to break free of the constraints of mundane academic routine and make his own way in the world. As is the truth of being a teenager, he is unable to fulfil whatever potential he holds as he is still young, un- educated about the world and still under rule from his frustrating, flighty parents and bitter professors. All he can do as some form of rebellion is to misbehave at school, play truant with his best friend Rene and indulge in petty theft- one such occurrence results in a final punishment as he is sent away to a correctional facility. 

Although not strictly an autobiographical story, there are many elements of the film that rang as true for Truffaut as well as both a contemporary and present day audience. In the same way Truffaut once suggested that we would all be gladly punished if being an adolescent were a crime, Antoine has so much build up around him and so much he is punished for without having anyone who will listen, that it is not difficult to feel as if he is being victimised slightly, that it all seems too easy. There is so much beauty, intelligence and internal angst in his character that is completely overlooked by characters in the film, due mainly to the brilliant acting of young Jean-Pierre Leaud. The film is now rightly considered a key player in French New Wave cinema and is still considered an important piece of film making since its release in 1957, doubly impressive since it marked Truffaut’s directorial debut.

The last events of the film accumulate in a pivotal breaking point where Antoine escapes the facility, moving as if he was born to run, until he reaches the sea, adulthood and an uncertain future in front of him and a life he can no longer go back to behind him. He looks into the camera, his face naive yet wise beyond its years, in an ultimate moment of adolescent disenchantment and turmoil.  Perfect.