The Scene That Didn't Quite Work

[Tom]

It was the crotch shot scene. Tomas Alfredson had said it was meant show Eli was a castrated boy. But the scene was so quick and shocking that you can hardly tell what just happened. It might work for the people who had read the novel, because they already know Eli's backstory. But for average folks, it was just confusing.

[ofelia]

It definitely would be confusing for non-readers, especially because Oskar looks momentarily surprised, and then the next second looks like he's forgotten all about it...?? I would expect him to ask some questions at least. I know it took him a lot longer than that in the novel to get over it.

[TigerEyes]

It definitely would be confusing for non-readers, especially because Oskar looks momentarily surprised, and then the next second looks like he's forgotten all about it...?? I would expect him to ask some questions at least. I know it took him a lot longer than that in the novel to get over it.

true, but would you tell her/him if you saw it yourself? I would be worried if they might freak out and get angry at me for peeping at him/her.

[a_contemplative_life]

I must be in the minority because it wasn't ambiguous to me. And since he was peeping, I don' t think he would have mentioned it to Eli, at least not right then.

[sauvin]

I must be in the minority because it wasn't ambiguous to me. And since he was peeping, I don' t think he would have mentioned it to Eli, at least not right then.

You may well actually be in the minority. I saw the movie before reading the novel, and had NO d%#n idea what to make of it. All I got out of it was "this little 'girl' who says she's not a girl is also not a boy! This, um, 'being' has no gender at all! Is THAT what JAL's brand of vampirism does to you...?"

[Tom]

I think Oskar's peeping was simply an act of curiosity.

[Nightrider]

I did not the read the novel before watching the film and was only peripherally aware of LTROI....
When the scene briefly appeared on the screen the meaning of it was as clear as day...
I knew instantly that I have just seen a laceration scar...which to me only meant one thing in the context of the movie....
In my opinion, it was a very telling shot and whatever questions I had, made me read the book and subsequently discover other works of JAL.
Winning!

Vitaly

[Tom]

I did not the read the novel before watching the film and was only peripherally aware of LTROI....
When the scene briefly appeared on the screen the meaning of it was as clear as day...
I knew instantly that I have just seen a laceration scar...which to me only meant one thing in the context of the movie....
In my opinion, it was a very telling shot and whatever questions I had, made me read the book and subsequently discover other works of JAL.
Winning!

Vitaly

Well then, good for you.

[Nightrider]

Well then, good for you.

Touche..I guess...

[cmfireflies]

I'm another one that didn't get it. However, I'm torn on whether or not the scene "worked."

Possibly, film Oskar didn't "get it" either and the film is suppose to be from his point of view. However, the subplot of Oskar accepting Eli as a boy I think got lost in the film. Maybe around half got it? And in that half some amount of film-viewers believed that Eli was evil and didn't get "love" from it. I think for a small but vocal minority it "ruined" the film for them, either because they can't recommend a movie with undertones of sexual abuse or more commonly, because the idea of two boys striking up a romance is somehow worse than murder

If really pushed, I would say that the controversy isn't worth the split second of staying true to the book. I'm not saying the scene is bad, or even the movie would be improved if the entire backstory was left in, LtROI the film to me is a distillation of the novel, and not everything needed to be left in. I dunno, I think the castration scene would pair well with the peek scene but I also think that the castration scene would have disrupted the flow the film and maybe overshadowed the romance between the kids. Heh, if it were left in people would probably complain that we never saw Eli's sire suffer an agonizing death. So, I dunno.

One thing that's a pity is that the controversy of that one shot overshadowed the entire film for a small number of people. I do want want more people to watch and appreciate LtROI but I don't want it to lose its specialness to appeal to the masses, and if we started to cut everything from movies that disturbed people, cinema would be in a sorry state.