Let the Right One In: The company of children

For discussion of Tomas Alfredson's Film Låt den rätte komma in
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lombano
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Re: Let the Right One In: The company of children

Post by lombano » Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:38 am

Excellent, well thought-out article.
a_contemplative_life wrote:
I think that Eli, the character she plays, touched something in his heart as it did mine, and like me he has found the character to be haunting and unforgettable. There is something very appealing about Eli and yet something very tragic, and that is what makes her so unique and Lina Leandersson's performance so special.
Yes, exactly.
Seconded.
gattoparde59 wrote: My relationship to the characters may have evolved over time, and what I thought initially is now unclear to me, but now I really identify most with Eli.
In some ways I'm the same. I have never wished I were Oskar, or that I were twelve again and met an Eli, etc - these feelings seem to me perfectly understandable and have been very well explained in this article, but they are not mine. To some extent I too have identified with Eli, and also with Oskar, and that is part of what draws me to the story.

PS Is the article's title a reference to The Company of Wolves?
Bli mig lite.

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Wolfchild
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Re: Let the Right One In: The company of children

Post by Wolfchild » Wed Mar 27, 2013 4:35 am

Necro-bump: This article had disappeared from its original location. The author kindly allowed me to host it on my own page.
...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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Ash
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Re: Let the Right One In: The company of children

Post by Ash » Wed Mar 27, 2013 8:13 am

Thanks Wolfie, I hadn't read that before (before my time here) nor the post to which it refers.
It does seem that most people here reference Eli & Oskar to memories of their youth. And it seems a large number of them do so because of their experiences of being bullied like Oskar.
"Whatever happens to a boy during the summer he's 14 ..... can mark him for life."
I would fall outside this observation in that I wasn't bullied and remember feeling quite self-assured and confident at Oskar's age; bizarrely, something that I fell far less as I grow older and presumably wiser.
For me the attraction wasn't in any of the characters, but in JAL's writing style, his story and the moral challenges and contradictions he forces us to face.

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Wolfchild
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Re: Let the Right One In: The company of children

Post by Wolfchild » Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:23 am

Ash wrote:Thanks Wolfie, I hadn't read that before (before my time here) nor the post to which it refers.
It does seem that most people here reference Eli & Oskar to memories of their youth. And it seems a large number of them do so because of their experiences of being bullied like Oskar.
"Whatever happens to a boy during the summer he's 14 ..... can mark him for life."
I would fall outside this observation in that I wasn't bullied and remember feeling quite self-assured and confident at Oskar's age; bizarrely, something that I fell far less as I grow older and presumably wiser.
For me the attraction wasn't in any of the characters, but in JAL's writing style, his story and the moral challenges and contradictions he forces us to face.
I think that is why I liked this article so much. I don't think that I was particularly bullied. There was some, but not such that it dominated my experience of childhood. I know many of The Infected say that the depictions of bullying and Oskar's ultimate, bloody triumph over it (via Eli) is the source of their affinity for LTROI. I still don't know why I got so Infected, but I'm pretty sure that it was not due to any exposure that I have had to bullying. For me it must be something else. For me, whatever the truth is, I think this article may be closer to it.
...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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Ash
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Re: Let the Right One In: The company of children

Post by Ash » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:09 am

As far as Lina's performance is concerned, I still have absolutely no idea if that was down to the innate (innocent) reading of her part, or inspired direction by Tomas Alfredson, or a
synthesis of the two. But I suspect it wouldn't have been possible for an experienced child actor to do what Lina did with the part. Having a child play the part of a child rather than an actor play the part of a child, was perhaps the true stroke of brilliance that pulled it all off so convincingly. Lina brought "lagom" to the role because that's all she was possible of doing, and there was no need for pretence or acting. A classic case of "less is more", and very Swedish.

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Daniel Ether
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Re: Let the Right One In: The company of children

Post by Daniel Ether » Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:06 am

i just read the article and i have to say its really, really wonderfull writen.
it explains so well what spawns the fascination for the characters and the story itself.
while bullying was such a problem for me as a child, its for sure one of the main reasons for my infection. but the points discussed in the article are also very very true in my opinion.
furthermore, the thing that got an amazing grip on me when it comes to LOTRI and the characters of eli and oskar is the idea of this condition free, honest love between two such lugubrious and haunted characters. a love absolutly free and far beyond of disdainful sexual and social compulsions. this really got me when i saw the movie and read the book. and this strange feeling, i cant explain to other people, of feeling so happy for two fictional characters. i always tend to be strangely emotional when its about fictional characters in good storys. but it was never so strong like when it comes to eli and oskar

i hope i found the right words... its really late now here at my place ;)
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Ash
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Re: Let the Right One In: The company of children

Post by Ash » Fri Apr 05, 2013 9:39 am

I'm still sticking by my proposition that what Lina didn't know about acting (her youth and inexperience) was the very reason why her performance was so convincing.
Lina hadn't been "infected" or limited by any presuppositions of how one should act on screen - so what we saw was purely natural and from the heart.
She made us be in the company of children, because that's what she was, unadulterated.

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