a_contemplative_life wrote:dongregg wrote:I know from this forum that Eli/Elias is a boy, but it's hard for me to think of Eli/Lina that way. Still, I'm getting more used to it. It is what it is.
I'm curious for your opinion--at what point in the film would you say Lina appears the most "boyish"?
Thanks for your question, a_c_l. Using Amazon streaming version to mark the approximate times:
1:04:59 to 1:05:52. Elias appears most masculine at the bathhouse when he is dressed as a boy--jacket, gloves, wool cap pulled down low. Watching the exchange between Martin and Oskar; Elias sauntering along, loose like a boy, while Oskar skips and kicks his heels; Elias' command of the situation up to when he turns to Oskar and says, "Hurrah."
00:55:07 to 00:58:05. Oskar's bedroom: Elias lets his clothes fall wherever; lying behind Oskar, Elias has a serious demeanor about his mouth and eyes, even though trying to start a game of bulleribock; propped on his elbow at 00:56:13--"What do you mean?"; and especially the tentative way he caresses Oskar's arm--Elias' hand seems large and muscular, especially so when Elias entwines his fingers with Oskar's.
This is a tender scene that could happen between two young boys. I think the main visual elements are the eyebrows, serious demeanor, Elias' self-possession, and the physical appearance of Elias' shoulder and hands. I think, too, that the impression is aided by lack of boy-girl behavior. The words are few and to the point, the way boys talk. There is no coy smiling, no kissing, no hugging and cuddling. As Shakespeare might have written, no "slap and tickle" that often characterizes the mock-aggressive play of boys and girls.
These are impressions I have had all along. I've reviewed the script and parts of the movie, and I'm hard pressed to come up with any more scenes. Elias is really presented as a girl so thoroughly that it's hard to see him any other way throughout almost the whole movie.
I agree with other forum members that casting Lina for the role largely obscures any intended impression of Elias as androgynous. Just using Elif's voice didn't change much. Oh, I will say that Esmeralda Nikolajeff (tree scene around 01:08:38) has a wolfish look of a desperate predator, but the pink sweater confuses that impression. (I'm guessing it's Nikolajeff and not a digitalized Lina.)
I basically think the issue of Elias' gender fails in the film. It plays a puzzling rather than an illuminating role. Nothing in the film hinges on it one way or the other. It doesn't sufficiently account for the fact that Elias is on one relationship track while Oskar is on another. That is accounted for throughout by Oskar not realizing until very late that Elias is a vampire.
I would love to hear your up-to-date thoughts on this. I know it's a topic that you and others have given a lot of attention to on the forum.
