About Let me in

For discussion of Matt Reeve's Film Let Me In

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jetboy
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Re: About Let me in

Post by jetboy » Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:34 pm

lakingsfankurt wrote:I've recently discovered the fantastic world of JAL thanks to Let Me In. Having not been able to sleep one night I was flipping through the guide and started watching LMI. I missed the first 20 minutes of the movie, but I was so impressed with Kodi's acting that I watched the rest of it anyways and recorded the next showing. After IMDB'ing the movie, I saw there was a book, so downloaded it and read it. Even as a single parent with a full-time job, a 12 month old and other obligations, I finished the book in a week.

Then I found this board, and after reading a few reviews, just went and bought the movie LTROI. I was very impressed with both movies, although LTROI is now my favorite. They are both the same and different, and I think that is why I like them both.

The only thing that absolutely drives me crazy in LMI is that damn photo strip with Abby and a young Thomas. As one of my friends that also is familiar with the movie said; if the "father" was with Abby for 35+ years (just a guess, he looks to be at least in his late 40s), why did he all of a sudden regret his role and "maybe I want to get caught". It just ruins the father's character for me. I'm sure there are plenty of good explanations as to why he finally had enough, but it just seems to me that if that was the case, it would have occurred sooner or he would have just left.

I know there have been numerous interpretations of the photo strip and what it might mean. It isn't so much the interpretations and the exact meaning of the relationships, but why it was their in the first place. To me it radically alters Owen's view of Abby versus Oskar's view of Eli. With Oskar, you have the unknown beginnings of a relationship with a vampire, something that has never been done before ... will she stay with you, will you stay with her? With Owen, seeing the photo strip you know that at least in this case Abby and Thomas have stayed together a long time (whatever their actual relationship may have started as), you don't have the uknown. So why the change, why the necessity to go that route? When I saw the film the first time, I thought that Abby was deeply hurt by the way her and Thomas's relationship ended up, and was determined to start over with Owen and "do it right". I'm oversimplifying, but hopefully you get my point.

I feel that the photo strip was added to appease the portion of the American audience that would have been up in arms with a "Haken" type character (pedophile). After reading LTROI, I was rather pissed about having the photo strip in the movie and came to conclusion above. Otherwise, why the change, why the need to establish that the father had been there since he was the same age as Abby.

Anyways, other than that part of LMI, I love the movie, love LTROI movie better and love LTROI novel the best!

Glad I found this board ... I've read Harbor now and looking forward to Paper Walls coming out in the US later this year.
Actually that element can also be seen in the first movie but much more ambiguously. Its a hot topic here (or has been) and many dont like that take because it makes Eli be much more manipulative than the screen shows. When I saw the first one it dawned on me near the end or maybe after the movie that Oskar is on his way to becoming Hakan and Hakan couldve been around since he was Oskar's age, and someone else before him and so on and so forth. Its not my official take but I nevertheless saw it as a possibility.

The difference between the two movies concerning the relationship between Oskar/Owen and their guardian characters is that in LTROI its more of an either/or thing. There are unprovable clues that can be taken both ways. For instance when Eli says hit back, is she saying that so he will stick up for himself because she cares or is she preparing him to do violence to others, or when Oskar lifts weights, is he becoming a more confident being so he can impress Eli or is he unknowingly preparing to lift heavy bodies for draining. Its littered with with scenes that can be seen as going in two opposite directions at the same time. To me its awesome that the movie can do that and it really opens the movie up in an epic way but I still prefer that Eli be true to Oskar.

I dont know why they used it in LMI but I think they did it in LTROI because it fits the theme of opposites that are everywhere. I think LMI did it to create ambiguity also.

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Wolfchild
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Re: About Let me in

Post by Wolfchild » Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:11 am

lakingsfankurt wrote:I've recently discovered the fantastic world of JAL thanks to Let Me In. Having not been able to sleep one night I was flipping through the guide and started watching LMI. I missed the first 20 minutes of the movie, but I was so impressed with Kodi's acting that I watched the rest of it anyways and recorded the next showing. After IMDB'ing the movie, I saw there was a book, so downloaded it and read it. Even as a single parent with a full-time job, a 12 month old and other obligations, I finished the book in a week.
'Round these parts, we call that, "Being Infected." 8-)

Welcome.
The only thing that absolutely drives me crazy in LMI is that damn photo strip with Abby and a young Thomas. As one of my friends that also is familiar with the movie said; if the "father" was with Abby for 35+ years (just a guess, he looks to be at least in his late 40s), why did he all of a sudden regret his role and "maybe I want to get caught". It just ruins the father's character for me. I'm sure there are plenty of good explanations as to why he finally had enough, but it just seems to me that if that was the case, it would have occurred sooner or he would have just left.

I know there have been numerous interpretations of the photo strip and what it might mean. It isn't so much the interpretations and the exact meaning of the relationships, but why it was their in the first place. To me it radically alters Owen's view of Abby versus Oskar's view of Eli. With Oskar, you have the unknown beginnings of a relationship with a vampire, something that has never been done before ... will she stay with you, will you stay with her? With Owen, seeing the photo strip you know that at least in this case Abby and Thomas have stayed together a long time (whatever their actual relationship may have started as), you don't have the uknown. So why the change, why the necessity to go that route? When I saw the film the first time, I thought that Abby was deeply hurt by the way her and Thomas's relationship ended up, and was determined to start over with Owen and "do it right". I'm oversimplifying, but hopefully you get my point.

I feel that the photo strip was added to appease the portion of the American audience that would have been up in arms with a "Haken" type character (pedophile). After reading LTROI, I was rather pissed about having the photo strip in the movie and came to conclusion above. Otherwise, why the change, why the need to establish that the father had been there since he was the same age as Abby.
While LTROI left Håkan's origins and relationship with Eli open to interpretation, one of them would certainly have been that he had been with her since he himself was 12. I think that some of the things that we are shown on the screen contradict this interpretation, but it is possible. I also think that this was Matt's interpretation - that Oskar was just destined to become another Håkan. When he sat down to write LMI, it didn't occur to him leave a lot of room for other interpretations. Since in Matt's mind itwas Thomas' story to be a part of Abby's cycle, when he needed to a reason to have a rift between Abby and Owen (to lead up to the bleeding scene) it must have seemed logical to use Thomas' backstory to shock Owen into a feeling of... I don't know - betrayal, anger, jealousy, so that he storms out in a huff.

By hewing so closely to his own interpretation of Tomas' film, Matt left a lot less room for those fans of LMI who want to insist that Owen is going to be somehow different to Abby than Thomas was.
...the story derives a lot of its appeal from its sense of despair and a darkness in which the love of Eli and Oskar seems to shine with a strange and disturbing light.
-Lacenaire

Visit My LTROI fan page.

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RapeSoul
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Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:38 am

Re: About Let me in

Post by RapeSoul » Wed Nov 13, 2013 3:05 am

I love both movies, thanks for letting us know what you thought about Let Me In!
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