let the right one in...

Politics is threatening to ruin Halloween. Incandescent Obama pumpkins and Sarah Palin beauty-queen bikini costumes abound.

I know that this is the most important election of my life-time, and that if Obama should not win we are all doomed to horrors unimaginable and a slow painful demise.

Still: don’t let these all-too-real fears ruin the best holiday of the year. This is the time for monsters and spooky escapes, and creatures that exist beyond our own all too mortal coils.
Let loose with the fantastic metaphors and visions of the darker bits within us all!
If you have no kids for carving jack-o’-lanterns or to trick or treat with,no party to dress up for, then by all means hit the cinema!

The best film I’ve seen in ages is also a horror film.
“Let the right one in” Is a surprisingly tender story of a bullied 12 year old boy who is befriended by a vampire, also –eternally- 12 years old. The story is told in a refreshingly minimal way that allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions, and uses sparse special effects to very good use. Set in a grim and unwelcoming Stockholm suburb, with a cast of adult characters who are warty, gnarled and have been buffeted by the world, the film is visually lush and gorgeous, with lingering close ups, details, bits of color. It is a study in the mundane and the wonder that can be glimpsed therein. Sparse in terms of characters and locations, most of the action takes place in the apartment complex that Eli and Oskar “Live” in. The two kids and their relationship, in detail, take up much of the film. This could not be less Hollywood in terms of treatment.

Oskar is a translucently pale fragile boy, who moves awkwardly through his days. He is brilliantly played by Kare Hedebrant; his character shifts from being dorky, slightly dimwitted looking and fearful to being exquisitely and preternaturally beautiful. He shifts constantly, shimmering between the sublime and the foolish. He is ethereal if mortal, while she is earthy and undead. He is fragile, she is a survivor. If this were Hollywood, he would always be beautiful, his relationships with his divorced parents uniformly bad, and his triumph over the bullies absolute. Happily we are in Sweden and things are more complex.

The scenes with his father, which seem to offer hope and salvation, lulls us, like him, into a sense of security and happiness, only to pull the rug out. There is an extraordinary scene between him and his mother, entirely silent, both brushing their teeth, that speaks volumes about the tender aspects of their relationship, and how well he is really cared for. This is my favorite cinematic moment in ages.


But it is Eli, played by Lina Leandersson, who really steals the film. At first appearing to be ordinary and somewhat unappealing- she boasts one of the ugliest wardrobes in a film, ever-this actress can do more with a raise of an eyebrow and a twitch of the corner of her mouth than one would think possible. She looks every bit the part of a gypsy ragamuffin, dark, unkempt, a bit unwashed and neglected. In appearance she ranges from being tiny, defenseless and messy to being strong, beautiful and fierce in the blink of an eye. At times she is overwhelmingly pretty and charismatic, and at other times it is switched off entirely, like a faucet. The special effects are used most on her- what I assume are huge contact lenses, double exposures with an older actresses face, various impossible athletic feats, she is a sad trapped monster with the desire to help and protect. As is the film’s way, much is implied about her without being said: is she Romany? Is the man who “helps” her by slaughtering victims and collecting their blood, someone she met when he was a boy? How many have there been?


Most of the usual vampire tropes come into play, but to very different ends than usual.
The scene where one of Eli’s victims self-immolates to avoid her vampire fate is full of a kind of gravitas and dignity that is unusual, given the theatrical special effect involved.

Things I didn’t like: not many.
The special effect involving digitally animated cats just really did not work too well- though the implications were horrific, and the music was bombastic and too loud. Why have a full orchestra for a film so full focused on spare details and microcosmic close ups? A string quartet, lone violin or cello would have made more sense and blended well with implied Eli’s Romanian heritage.
Lovingly directed by Tomas Alfredson this film is based on a best selling book by author John Ajvide Lindqvist, who wrost the film script.

Curiously “let the right one in” is the title to a song by British singer Morrissey, a song that never makes an appearance in the film. It is invoked and then, essentially denied. Odd indeed.

“Let the right one in” is currently showing at the Angelika Film center, Houston st.
NYC. visit http://angelikafilmcenter.com/ for more information.

Another good option:
An oldie-but-goodie.

“Rosemarie’s Baby” is at the Film Forum, also on Houston St., NYC for the next week-see http://www.filmforum.org/ for more info.
Polanski’s horror film about witches living in plush New York apartments is also a wonderful meditation on the strangeness of pregnancy. Mia Farrow is amazing as the tile character, as is Ruth Gordon as the inimitable Minnie. A true classic, totally visually stunning. The rather silly ending deflates it a bit- an example of Polanski-esque humor?

Remember, this is the man who made the wonderfully raunchy and silly romp “the fearless vampire killers”, a b-movie send up, starring himself and his bodacious wife Sharon Tate. This confection is a good choice-Netflix perhaps?-for those who prefer not to have nightmares….