About Let me in

[dubumang]

Warning Spoiler:

Hello guys, I've just joined! Anyway, i'm an immense fan of LTROI (book, movie) and now a fan of LMI. I just think that Reeves took the overall important points of the book and molded it in his own personal way. He really does love the book and everything about the original movie. It shows in his directing. Every shot is done with precision, nothing is improvised. Timing, pacing, and tension were perfected to tell these overlapping stories. In any adaptation, there will be things left out, and even some new concepts are popped in. Like someone mentioned the notion that Reeves concludes the film with Owen becoming Abby's blood servant, simply replacing her "father" (Hakan). I also reflected on that notion after seeing the film and I didn't feel the book necessarily intended that either. However, I wasn't put-off by it at all. In the picture that Owen sees in Abby's apartment, Hakan looks like he's 12 year old alongside an ageless Abby. It frightens Owen naturally. The scene was emotional and interesting, but I didn't feel it was important. Because Abby alongside Owen is a protagonist. It was done subtly enough that the overall tone of the film was still about alienation, loneliness, and heartbreak; and how these two protagonists would deal with their burdens together or apart. It definitely gave viewers more to ponder after the film. "Is she manipulating him? Or is this a perfect book ending to a tale of two lonely hearts?" Nonetheless, the theme throughout the film is so overbearingly "alienation and the desire for companionship" that, for me, it is only a side thought. Actually I like that there is a hint of a question at the end. It makes it a bit less of a "hollywood ending".

By the way, John Ajvide Lindqvist, I'm an immense fan of yours. Thank you for doing another adaptation! You're a great editor.

[N.R. Gasan]

JAL: ... I like the open ending in the novel. But I would still at some point like to give it my much happier ending.

Thanks for providing this interview, Cyber. :)

[N.R. Gasan]

And to you, John, thanks for providing us with your thoughts on LMI. Always good of you to come and hang with us here at "We, The Infected." :)

[hillerr]

Welcome to the ranks of 'the infected' dubumang.

Once infected by Eli, there is no cure.

[TΛPETRVE]

To some, there may be Abby .

[nithr]

i always knew this was a joke account and not actually john ajvide. nice to finally have it confirmed.

[TΛPETRVE]

Who confirmed what?

[EEA]

Thanks for putting what you think about Let Me In John. I still haven't seen the movie. I will try to give it a chance. It's hard though since I feel that the movie was made to soon.

[gary13136]

I have already posted my feeling about the remake in another thread, and I just happened to remember what I had hoped would be in the remake that wasn't in the original. And that is the scene where Eli buys blood from Tommy. I could almost cry, but I think I'll just let this little fella do it for me.

I feel like it's raining soup, and I'm standing here with a fork.

[jun2k]

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

Mr. John, nice to see you back again. Did you see the movie with Tomas A.?