Last night I finished one of the most gruesome books I've read in a long time: Let the right one in by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist. It's a contemporary vampire story about a boy named Oskar who is being bullied at school and secretly wishes he could kill his tormenters. Enter Eli, a little girl that just moved in next door. She is sweet, understanding and only comes out at night. Then there's Hakan, Eli's supposed father who likes kids a bit too much and literally worships his "daughter". Add a little murder, prostitution, theft, drugs and pedophilia to the mix and voila, a truly gutwrenchingly great story.
Despite being a vampire, Eli is actually the most humane character of the bunch. Let the right one in is part social novel, part vampire story that bases its horror on the dark side of humanity instead of the supernatural, which adds more horror than some fangs ever could. This fascinating and original vampire yarn is extremely gory and shocking at times but at its core it is a beautiful and touching tale about friendship, loneliness and salvation. Despite its killer reviews, I doubt I'll be able to stomach the movie.
1 comment:
Don't pass up on the film because of the gorier parts of the novel. In adapting his novel for the screen, John Ajvide Lindqvist (along with director Tomas Alfredson) was fairly ruthless in removing everything not related to the love story between Oskar & Eli. Tomas described it as "taking the fillet" from the novel. The sub-plot with Tommy & Staffan is left out of the film entirely. Håkan is present in the film, but his motives are left open to interpretation, and many of the more shocking aspects of his role in the novel are absent from the film.
The child actors that they found to play Oskar & Eli are nothing short of amazing. Kåre Hedebrandt, who plays Oskar, will probably not match up well with your mental picture of Oskar from the novel, but I can guarantee you that once you have watched the film, you will see his face whenever you think of Oskar. Lina Leandersson, who plays Eli, turns in a performance good enough that it would make the career of any adult actor. John Ajvide Lindqvist himself has said that now when he thinks about Oskar and Eli, he pictures Kåre and Lina. High praise indeed.
Go ahead and give the movie a chance. I am certain that you will find it a rewarding experience.
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