Which other actors would make a great Eli?

[mackousko]

This kind of devastating means 'emotionally devastating', like it affects you very very strongly or produces a powerful reaction. Not slang exactly, just a metaphor. It is confusing though, a lot of English is like that

Thanx! I think, now i understand.

[ofelia]

This kind of devastating means 'emotionally devastating', like it affects you very very strongly or produces a powerful reaction. Not slang exactly, just a metaphor. It is confusing though, a lot of English is like that

That sounded like an odd word choice to me.

Actually, I always think of it in this context (a devastating performance) rather than in a physical one (a devastating earthquake). I don't know why.

Lina is beautiful and a really good actor. Here she is perfect. But if LTROI would ever to be.. let's say made into a Tv series. What would you cast as Eli, not replace Lina, she's allready there caharcterazing Eli as the first. She can't do it again, who would it be?

Yes, I think if they were going to make a different adaptation someday they ought to cast a boy, someone very different from Lina, just because that would make it more distinct from the original movie. I would love to see a miniseries of it that was much closer to the book, with more depth in the secondary storylines and more scenes between Eli and Oskar to show how they slowly fall in love (things like the candy kiosk scene). But it would have to be a boy as Eli.
I was thinking of Hævnen (In a Better World) the other day, I think I would cast someone like the actor who plays Christian. Not the way he looks, he isn't androgynous enough, but someone very serious and with a dark personality. The way he plays the character in that movie reminds me a lot of how I think of Eli. Lina is serious but in a very peaceful way somehow, I feel like Eli in the book is a little more violent minded, especially since you get more back story and know what horrible things he's had to go through. Then Oskar would come along and remind him how to be a kid again.

[metoo]

[drakkar]

I liked Lina as Eli a lot, all though in my head Eli s a bit different. More boyish, more smallnosed and slim haired. Lina is beautiful and a really good actor. Here she is perfect. But if LTROI would ever to be.. let's say made into a Tv series. What would you cast as Eli, not replace Lina, she's allready there caharcterazing Eli as the first. She can't do it again, who would it be? Lina is femenine, both as a girl and a very femenine boy. It would pass, but Eli was not femenine, he was masculine, and careless of gender and clothing. He didn't chose the yellow dress because it was a dress. But because it would be something no one would miss. The dress being worn and old and brobably at the back of the jars or lockers. If Eli was casted with a boy, as they were actually trying to do, it would also have fitted.

I saw a lot of boyish traits from Lina, but her running and generally feminine look (in some scenes, at least) gave her away enough for large parts of this forum misspelling Eli as "she".

[sauvin]

I was being lighthearted when saying that all I need is Lina's performance. It does no harm to dream. However when it crosses over to acting on your dream like LMI I get less lighthearted because without Lina we wouldnt be having this discussion nevermind having a remake.

Lina's performance may well prove iconic over the years if people start referring to the Swedish LTROI as some kind of seminal work, that's true. What's also true is the same might have happened with another actress. I'm not disparaging Lina's performance in this movie (quite the opposite, actually), but if another actress had played Eli in this movie, somebody with ability comparable to Lina's, I think it's more than vaguely possible we would be having this discussion, and this board would still have existed. Lina's performance was just a part of the overall magic.

Who wouldve made a good Jack Torrance in The Shining.

The truth is, Jack Nicholson was a poor choice for this movie in terms of faithfulness to the novel, and in terms of the story the novel told. The novel was about a writer who took the caretaking job to try to rebuild his life after his bottle habit nearly broke him, to try to rebuild his marriage and to try to do some writing. A simple, honest, decent man who loves his family becomes more and more possessed by whatever haunts the hotel as the hotel becomes more and more inaccessible and remote because of heavy winter. People seeing Nicholson in this role don't get to see this slide into insanity because the actor already has this reputation and appearance of being a little "off". In terms of storytelling faithfulness, the 1997 TV miniseries is superior because, if you've never seen the 1980 movie or read the novel, you do get to see Torrance's progressing possession.

Who wouldve done a good job doing Sigourney Weaver's part in Alien.

Just about any competent actress who can be tough, sexy and smart. I have the highest regard for Weaver as an actress - she can make a believer out of me almost no matter what role she takes on - but I think Jodie Foster could have kicked her Ellen Ripley butt, for example.

I feel Lina should be given the same respect these iconic roles should be given.

Agreed, and the flip side of the argument I've just offered is the fact that Dakota Fanning or Jodelle Ferland or Chloe Grace Moretz didn't play Eli; Lina Leandersson did. Other actresses could have done just as well in most regards, but Lina brought something of herself into the movie, something that nobody else could have. Fanning and Ferland and Moretz would have, too, but they didn't because Leandersson was there first, and the subtleties that these other actresses would have brought to the screen would have changed the movie's overall impact in small and indescribable ways.

Let's not forget that standing behind Leandersson was Alfredson, directing almost every little gesture, every step, every facial expression. Without intending any slight towards Leandersson whatsoever, I believe Alfredson could have elicited a stunning performance from any actress of similar ability.

[jetboy]

Lina's performance may well prove iconic over the years if people start referring to the Swedish LTROI as some kind of seminal work, that's true. What's also true is the same might have happened with another actress. I'm not disparaging Lina's performance in this movie (quite the opposite, actually), but if another actress had played Eli in this movie, somebody with ability comparable to Lina's, I think it's more than vaguely possible we would be having this discussion, and this board would still have existed. Lina's performance was just a part of the overall magic.

Yes, many "ifs" but why question what has already given you and us satisfaction? Theres so much crap in the world that I feel we should be happy that someone did it right, all involved. And no, Im not willing to concede that its "vaguely possible" that someone could fill her shoes.

Agreed, and the flip side of the argument I've just offered is the fact that Dakota Fanning or Jodelle Ferland or Chloe Grace Moretz didn't play Eli; Lina Leandersson did. Other actresses could have done just as well in most regards, but Lina brought something of herself into the movie, something that nobody else could have. Fanning and Ferland and Moretz would have, too, but they didn't because Leandersson was there first, and the subtleties that these other actresses would have brought to the screen would have changed the movie's overall impact in small and indescribable ways.Let's not forget that standing behind Leandersson was Alfredson, directing almost every little gesture, every step, every facial expression. Without intending any slight towards Leandersson whatsoever, I believe Alfredson could have elicited a stunning performance from any actress of similar ability.

Yeah any actress couldve brought something to the role. Any director, screenwriter, score writer etc couldvve brought some thing different to the role but correct me if Im wrong but arent you here because of the movie first and foremost, not the book?

[drakkar]

Still, surprisingly many on this board addresses Eli as if he was a girl. I think this should be dealt with in an eventual readaptation of the book.

[sauvin]

... I'm not disparaging Lina's performance in this movie (quite the opposite, actually), but if another actress had played Eli in this movie, somebody with ability comparable to Lina's, I think it's more than vaguely possible we would be having this discussion, and this board would still have existed.

Yes, many "ifs" but why question what has already given you and us satisfaction? Theres so much crap in the world that I feel we should be happy that someone did it right, all involved. And no, Im not willing to concede that its "vaguely possible" that someone could fill her shoes.

Why question it? Because what drove me to the IMDB boards three years ago, and drove me here not long after, was in understanding I had been emotionally broadsided by a piece of fiction, but not understanding how or why. Speculating into how differing actresses (or actors) might have impacted the movie's overall effect may play a differential part in gaining some insight.

Yeah any actress couldve brought something to the role. Any director, screenwriter, score writer etc could've brought some thing different to the role but correct me if Im wrong but arent you here because of the movie first and foremost, not the book?

Yes, but how is this question relevant?

[lombano]

Tehilla Blad plays the young Lisbeth Salander in the three Swedish adaptations and also in a different Swedish production. I think she has intense enough eyes to be introduced as a threat to Oskar.

Welcome! Yep, she definitely could be introduced as such. She has also been suggested for playing one of the Wolves of Skansen in an adaptation of Little Star.

Yes, I think if they were going to make a different adaptation someday they ought to cast a boy, someone very different from Lina, just because that would make it more distinct from the original movie. I would love to see a miniseries of it that was much closer to the book, with more depth in the secondary storylines and more scenes between Eli and Oskar to show how they slowly fall in love (things like the candy kiosk scene). But it would have to be a boy as Eli.

I agree that any further adaptations should be very different. I keep thinking "black humour musical comedy."* I wouldn't want something too close to the book; the book already exists, the point of doing another adaptation would be doing something different from the source material as well.

*For example, in the book Haakan wonders about giving the corpses to the folks running a crematorium, and that maybe their enthusiasm for it is such that they wouldn't notice an extra corpse. This could be done in an adaptation, maybe they're merrily singing along and are glad to have extra cremation material. Or Monty Python's "Always look at the bright side of life" playing in the background while the bullies are beheaded. Or maybe Oskar and Eli go trick-or-treating on Halloween, with "trick" meaning them stealing candy (at which book Oskar is proficient), and "treat" meaning Eli nomming someone, etc.

Still, surprisingly many on this board addresses Eli as if he was a girl. I think this should be dealt with in an eventual readaptation of the book.

In all fairness, book Eli says he's not a boy.

It would pass, but Eli was not femenine, he was masculine, and careless of gender and clothing. He didn't chose the yellow dress because it was a dress. But because it would be something no one would miss. The dress being worn and old and brobably at the back of the jars or lockers. If Eli was casted with a boy, as they were actually trying to do, it would also have fitted.

I know I've said this approximately a zillion times, but I disagree with that interpretation of that scene. Nevertheless I agree book Eli was far more masculine than film Eli.

[PeteMork]

...
In all fairness, book Eli says he's not a boy.

It would pass, but Eli was not femenine, he was masculine, and careless of gender and clothing. He didn't chose the yellow dress because it was a dress. But because it would be something no one would miss. The dress being worn and old and brobably at the back of the jars or lockers. If Eli was casted with a boy, as they were actually trying to do, it would also have fitted.

I know I've said this approximately a zillion times, but I disagree with that interpretation of that scene. Nevertheless I agree book Eli was far more masculine than film Eli.

I agree with lombano. His position is well-stated near the beginning of this thread: http://www.let-the-right-one-in.com/for ... ?f=4&t=506