We, The Infected

I just had to post this. I was browsing through a copy of one of the "Lonely Planet" travel guides. This one was "Sweden: Lappland & the Far North". What caught my eye was a list of Swedish movie suggestions. It was entitled "Feel-Bad Films". It stated that most people associate the Swedish film industry with the "godfather of gloom" Ingmar Bergman, and that many filmmakers have followed in his footsteps. Among the example of feel-bad films was LTROI.

I don't recall feeling bad at all.

What kind of drug was I on that day?

I wonder if the writer of this piece ever saw "Smiles of a Summer Night". Sure ain't "feel-bad".

I would think that most viewers would feel good and bad, happy and sad at various times in the film. ( A related example: while there are funny parts to "Forrest Gump," I found the movie more sad and tragic than comical. Voltaire's wit and polish makes "Candide" funny, but in a sardonic manner.) That having been said, both Oskar and Eli in LTROI suffered and that made me feel terrible. The "happy ending" debate has another thread, but the ending seems to be a very temporary happiness, extremely temporary if you subscribe to the idea that the train scene is an internal compensatory fantasy for a miserable end.

The Amor Vincit Omnia theme makes LTROI happy, other themes not so much.

Interesting. To me the ending is great. It made me feel happy as both Eli and Oskar riding together in the train. Is an uplifting ending. A perfect ending.

Aside from the ending, Let the Right One In is definitely not The Sound of Music. The sentiment in the story is mingled with horror and black humor: the signature style of John Lindqvist.

The movie subject is grim. Abuse, neglect, rejection. If it weren't for the ending LTROI would be grim. I think the writer of the travel guide doesn't give enough weight to Oskar's rescue.

Still, even the ending can be grim. Just ask Conny.

I would be surprised by this if I hadn’t seen firsthand some negative and somewhat unexpected reactions to a first viewing of LTROI.

I don’t remember feeling bad either though, not even for Conny.

In my opinion LTROI is very melancholic but not sad. The writer of the travel guide shurely meant that melancholic feeling you get by watching this cold nordic movie. But that is only how the pictures are working not the story, which is for me a more or less happy one.