About Let me in

For discussion of Matt Reeve's Film Let Me In

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johnajvide
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About Let me in

Post by johnajvide » Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:01 am

Hi again;

John Ajvide Lindqvist here. Came back from London yesterday after having seen Let me in two times.
I´ve read some of your comments here, because I was curious as to how you good people would react to it. Some of you beat me out of the water in regards to multiple viewings of Let the right one in. Myself, I´ve only seen it like fifteen times.
Ok, so here it goes: I really enjoyed Let me in.
I had seen clips and trailers beforehand, read some reviews and I was prepared for a good movie. But I liked it even better than I had anticipated.
I see that some people here more or less hate it, and for well thought-out reasons too. I respect that opinion and mine is of course no more right that anyone else´s. Since this is not ”my” movie to the same extent as Let the right one in (of course it´s primarily Tomas´movie, but you know what I mean), there is really no need for me to defend it or try to change anyone´s mind.
But if I was just a regular member of this forum – which I am – I think I would feel the need to voice my opinion.
I didn´t at all feel that it was a shot-for-shot or even scene-for-scene remake. Sure, some scenes have a huge debt to LTROI and the general tone of the film is similar (if darker), but I feel that LMI has very much its own life.
For me it was very intense and emotional, and like LTROI it made me cry a few times. But here´s the thing: not in the same places.
I think I have been very lucky that Matt Reeves felt such a connection to this story, because if you choose to regard it simply as a remake, it must be quite unique in having a director whose emotional ties to the story is so strong that it´s felt through the whole movie. I thought Kodi was great and I identified completely with Owen. I really liked Chloe too, and the fact that her Abby character is played out differently than Eli is for me just a strength that seperates the two movies from each other. As I said, this version tugged at different heart strings and I have no problem with that, as long as it´s tugging.
Yes, there was some CGI that actually made the swedish cats look quite neat, but as a whole I didn´t have a problem with Abby´s more ”vampiric” looks while feeding. I thought I would, but I didn´t. In the book Eli rips out Håkans heart, so …
I was also prepared to feel bad about changes made in the story, things that are not in the book, but no. Maybe it´s strange coming from me, but I´m quite a pragmatic. The changes worked for me as a moviegoer, and therefore they were ok. I wrote this book eight years ago, have written four after it, and it´s not sacred to me. If Reeves felt he had to change aspects of the story to make it flow, that´s fine by me. I even thought that some of the changes were really clever.
I don´t know. Maybe I am the person who is the most apt to actually be able to see the two films as seperate entities.I have myself been throught the process of breaking down the book into someting that can be done on the screen. Chopping favourite passages out, changing things that doesn´t work. Therefore I can sympathize with a another man´s labour, if it´s done in a respectful way, which I feel is the case with LMI.
And I finally got to see Virginia feed on her own blood …
My love for LTROI is unflinching. It was my first, it was my own script and it will always have a special place in my heart that nothing done from my writing will ever replace or eclipse.
But there is room for LMI, too. A smaller chamber in a different location. But definitely there.
I have seen opinions that differ from mine both here and in reviews, but as for me I salute Matt Reeves and I walked out of the cinema with a great sense of relief and joy.
I suppose the discussion will go on, and I might pop in again some time in the future.
Take care, you all.

John

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TΛPETRVE
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Re: About Let me in

Post by TΛPETRVE » Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:03 am

I hoped, no, I knew you would show up. Thanks for your insight! I think I can speak for all of us when I say we really appreciate that you not only bother reading what we're coming up with, but even take your time to throw in your mite, too.

Even 'though I'm from Germany, I had the luck of seeing it yesterday in a one-time screening at the local foreign language cinema. I will post my opinions later. Just for the record: I felt punked.
Att fly är livet, att dröja döden.

Do not ask why; ask why not.

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sauvin
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Re: About Let me in

Post by sauvin » Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:41 am

TAPETRVE wrote:I hoped, no, I knew you would show up. Thanks for your insight! I think I can speak for all of us when I say we really appreciate that you not only bother reading what we're coming up with, but even take your time to throw in your mite, too.

Even 'though I'm from Germany, I had the luck of seeing it yesterday in a one-time screening at the local foreign language cinema. I will post my opinions later. Just for the record: I felt punked.
What does "punked" mean?
Fais tomber les barrières entre nous qui sommes tous des frères

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TΛPETRVE
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Re: About Let me in

Post by TΛPETRVE » Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:44 am

Punked. Pranked. Taken for an idiot. Also: Not in this thread, it belongs to JAL :D .
Last edited by TΛPETRVE on Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Att fly är livet, att dröja döden.

Do not ask why; ask why not.

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drakkar
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Re: About Let me in

Post by drakkar » Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:40 pm

Thanks a lot! I was hoping for a qualified review, and suddenly here it was! :)
For the heart life is simple. It beats as long as it can.
- Karl Ove Knausgård

WhiteBackground
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Re: About Let me in

Post by WhiteBackground » Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:49 pm

Thank you. You are enlightening, as always.
"The one with enough courage and patience to dare gaze all his life into the darkness will be the first one to see in it a glimmer of light" (c)

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hillerr
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Re: About Let me in

Post by hillerr » Sat Oct 02, 2010 5:21 pm

John,

We appreciate your thoughts on Let Me In. To many of us, Let The Right One In is a very special movie to us because it touches on aspects of our lives as did your novel on things you felt while growing up. I think that's why we're so passionate about the original. To expect the remake to even approach Tomas' film probably isn't realistic at least to me because Tomas' film hit hard, hit deep and left me breathless.

Thanks for stopping by. Best to you and your family.

:D

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cmfireflies
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Re: About Let me in

Post by cmfireflies » Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:03 pm

Thanks for sharing.

I'll stop ranting about LMI now. :oops:
"When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it."

theguy1991
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Re: About Let me in

Post by theguy1991 » Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:33 pm

I still haven't seen LMI yet. But I will tonight. I really can't wait now that I've seen you're opinions on it John.

It makes my day to see you posting on here talking to your fans.

Cat
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Re: About Let me in

Post by Cat » Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:13 pm

Interesting. I know you are busy and you've said before that you can't reply to just any message here, but I'm very curious and would really appreciate if you could answer this. What did you think of the Father/Abby relationship? Did you feel it cheapened Owen's and Abby's? And do you think Reeves has forced us to believe that Abby is being manipulative and Owen is just a new blood procurer? Because, that's not not what I got from reading your novel or watching the original film at all. I feel that the core of your novel is that the two loneliest kids in the world find eternal and unconditional love in each other, and I think I'll be really sad if Reeves has missed that point because the remake had (or has) potential to be equally great as the original. And by the way, I haven't seen Let Me In.

Love your work, I'm currently reading Handling The Undead (just bought it yesterday).

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