sauvin wrote:There was some reviewer, wish I could dig that reference up again, who said of LTROI that it neatly managed not to be everything that it is (or, with subtle enough difference, managed to be everything that it's not); it's a movie that prominently features a vampire, but it's not a vampire movie, it's a romance where things don't get "romantic", it's a coming-of-age story where nobody really "comes of age". This is as apt a description as any I've ever seen, and akin to what I tried to convey long time ago in noting that the kids are in "liminal" states, one being perpetually so, and conflated this liminal condition with a kind of Goedelian undecidability on many different fronts, chiefly emotional and moral. I'm thinking the fact that we can't pigeonhole it is a pretty strong component of our lasting fascination with it.
This component means we get to the end of the film without being able to resolve a lot that we have seen and felt. As you point out, it isn't just the cognitive elements that we can't resolve, but the many feelings we experience. So, indeed, this component is a strong part of our lasting fascination with LTROI.
What I'm about to post has to take into account that, lacking the component you describe so well, the film could have gone south after the captivating opening. You will read that I was infected with the first viewing, and infected within the first 15 minutes. My initial feelings were that it was because of Eli and because of my awareness of the bold graphic elements. I felt, too, that the music and the down-to-earth nature of the film contributed to it. It was upon many subsequent viewings and, especially, reading how others explained their infection that my understanding grew. In the end, though, the parts are still not greater than the whole. IOW, I could identify so many of the elements in other films; yet, they are just favorites, not capable of enthralling me.
After reading your post, a new element comes to mind (about not being able to pigeonhole it): The film does not follow the usual trajectory. No matter how indie and so forth other films are, there is an element of entertainment, a somewhat predictable arc of set-up, complications, and resolution. Not in LTROI.
So your post gives me a new way of understanding the film. Here follows some things I have written before as I continue to stumble toward a more complete understanding:
Response to Jeremiad 9/05/2013 (WTI)
"I remember the black background of the intro, the red Låt den rätte komma in, and the falling snow. The music came up. Eli and Håkan were in the taxicab. Eli got out and entered the building, like visiting royalty. It is only as I reflect on this now that I accept that the infection had already set in. From that point, it is about 5 or 6 minutes before Eli appears on the jungle gym and asks Oskar what he's doing. That was the point at which it became incurable--or no later than when she jumped down. The next almost two hours just swept me along. Why did I not find those first 12 or 13 minutes (counting the intro) to be slow? Right now it seems to have been several things: I was enchanted by the graphics; the measured pace as the story unfolded felt right; the music evoked feelings of longing, among others. Finally, it was Eli: a mysterious, imperious girl moving in, and then her ghost-like, eerie appearance on the jungle gym.
"I knew I wanted to see the film again, and I did so many times before I found WTI. Initially, I could only imagine it was because of the graphic beauty of the film and a wonderful feeling it gave me each time I watched it. I had worked out some other reasons by the time I joined the forum, but all of you have helped me examine--not only the film--but what it is about me that responds to it."
Response to Shane Marais 5/24/2014 (IMDb)
"As I see from the LTROI forum that I am a member of, most (almost all) new fans see the film by accident, not because of the hype, and it strikes a chord with them. Many wonder, 'What’s wrong with me? I’m not usually like this about a movie!' So the film has a way of hitting some of us on a very deep level (and all the levels in between). No one has really figured out why, but I think it is related to artistic integrity. By that, I don’t mean indie and art house honesty. Rather, I mean the emotional, musical, and visual elements are integrated in such a way that they multiply the effects on one another."
Since writing that, my understanding has moved beyond the obvious aesthetic appeal of LTROI. I understand that much of my love for Eli and Oskar comes from a deep well of longing in me, a longing for lots of things that life won't be able to come up with. That can also account in part for why the forum means so much to me--it, too, connects with some of my longings.
Hello!