Eli and the Wall: Interpretation please?

[jonjon_z]

It's "Death of Håkan" that is playing, not "Then we are together"

Ahh okay they sound so similar.. lol

[intrige]

Yeah I know XD Then we are together, Oskar in love and Death of Håkan sounds very similar to each other..

[drakkar]

Although I would hasten to add that I never thought Eli gave Hakan much of a consent in that face-touching scene. It's very subtle.

It was very subtle, but I believe there was an affirmative nod.

I and Covenant just watched this scene, and you can actually hear Eli also uttering a faint sound of consent together with the nod. This is my take, however.
Covenant sees it differently, he finds Eli's reaction it too weak to be a consent, more like placating Håkan, keeping him happy because she needs him to get blood for her, and by the bedroom wall Eli doesn't reach out for the wall because she knows (can hear) Oskar isn't in his room.

[gattoparde59]

To quote the original post:

Whatever is the case this a powerful and moving scene and I'm not sure why. Her only portal to the outside world is shut. The music, placement of her possessions, even the contrast of her small frame against the large wall, emphasize her sense of isolation, loneliness and despair.

That is how I see it, to emphasize how dependent Eli is on her caretaker and how much she is a prisoner. That she can't call for Oskar, for whatever reason, only underlines Eli's lack of freedom.

Another great example of how ideas from the book appear in the film version.

[TheVoxHumanus]

I still like my interpretation of the scene as Eli very briefly considering giving in and luring Oskar to be nommed. She's very, very hungry and desperate but stops herself because she actually cares about him. I think it's more consistent with her behavior in her life thus far (convenience vs. emotional attachment), and she makes the decision that her emotional attachment is more important than satiating her hunger.

I think this scene is important because it shows her breaking the cycle. I don't think it's entirely far-fetched to imagine Eli having other friends in the past that she's nommed.

[drakkar]

Hmm, I haven't thought of this before. Hence I have problems with this because unlike the book, film Eli has time to think. In the book Eli is tempted to nom Oskar while Håkan is away screwing up killing Matte. But she doesn't, when she comes to her senses. She had the opportunity once before, and then she chose to let Oskar go, and instead wait for someone (Jocke) to come by.
Hence I have hard times believing she would actively go for Oskar when sitting at the wall, just because she has the time to think.

[rgh]

Hmm, I haven't thought of this before. Hence I have problems with this because unlike the book, film Eli has time to think. In the book Eli is tempted to nom Oskar while Håkan is away screwing up killing Matte. But she doesn't, when she comes to her senses. She had the opportunity once before, and then she chose to let Oskar go, and instead wait for someone (Jocke) to come by.
Hence I have hard times believing she would actively go for Oskar when sitting at the wall, just because she has the time to think.

I agree that Eli would not be thinking of nomming Oskar here. I think the relationship is already too far along at this point to think of him as food.

In the book, I feel Eli almost did so solely because of proximity to him when the vampire urge overcame her conscious mind. Both the book and film indicate that Eli can lose control of her feeding urge, but that would not apply here.

Side note: In that initial incident when Oskar stroked her cheek, she had showered for him and seemed interested in him. I have always had a problem reconciling her actions with trying to have him for dinner. I have to believe the vampire in her took over and she was not really in control.

[TheVoxHumanus]

ah, but...

If you consider the possibility that her intentions were less than honorable even after showering for Oskar, it fits. It is entirely possible that Eli was grooming Oskar to be another helper, but later found herself actually emotionally attached to him.

I just really think that were Eli a real person, she'd be a lot more conflicted than "love at first sight". She could nom Oskar and simply move on, or she could groom him to be her helper, damning him to a life of servitude and obsession. Or she could be his friend.

The transformation from someone willing to exploit someone else's emotions into someone finding in herself a capacity for genuine affection after having been bereft of it so long is a lot more powerful for me personally than someone who is immediately infatuated with a kindred spirit. To me it makes Eli more interesting to consider that she has in her until the bitter end the capacity to nom and/or exploit Oskar. I really think a lot of her actions could be seen as both until the very end.

[crazychristina]

I think it gets a bit lost what a strange lad Oskar is. He's playing outside at night, in freezing weather. I suspect Eli does not often encounter anyone her own age on her nightly ramblings, and that Oskar was as odd for her as Eli was for him. She tends to prey on adults, who are not 'real people' for most kids. Different species. That Oskar demonstrated genuine compassion early on (in the film - offering his Rubik's cube, in the book - stroking her cheek) must have been a pretty mind-blowing experience for Eli, perhaps nothing like that had happened since s/he was a child with her/his mother.

[drakkar]

ah, but...

If you consider the possibility that her intentions were less than honorable even after showering for Oskar, it fits. It is entirely possible that Eli was grooming Oskar to be another helper, but later found herself actually emotionally attached to him.

I can agree with that, but I guess I'm too much of a romantic to maintain that view so late in the film . The grooming take I never accepted, both because of the dialogue between Eli and Håkan told me that he was an adult when Eli found him, and because Eli seemed to need adults to help her by and then grooming a child would not be a natural thing to do. Then rather nom him.

I think it gets a bit lost what a strange lad Oskar is. He's playing outside at night, in freezing weather.

I don't believe it it that very strange; I'm ten years older than Oskar, living in a neighbour country of Swede, and we did this all winter. Not so much alone, but that wouldn't be totally out of the question if no one else was outside. I didn't stab trees, though.