Before the fifth meeting, the boy (based on the girl's advice) contacts Magister Avila. He is his physical education teacher and therefore his first point of contact for strength training.
In contrast to his parents, whom he completely abandons after a while, he developes a rather positive relationship with him. Throughout the narrative, Avila is portrayed as neutral to sympathetic, but he fails to establish a truly trusting relationship with the boy until the end. Since the fifth meeting is rather short, we have some space to take a closer look at their relationship:
Scene 00:39:20 - 00:40:11 Gym/Office
Right from the start, the practical aspect of the teacher's role in the school and thus in the lives of the students is presented here. The children "dancing" in front of him illustrate his difficult task (as opposed to, for example, the parents): he has sole supervision and responsibility for many. The problem of confusion is emphasized by his request to maintain the same distance and move slowly. The boy is almost lost in the crowd; he is one of many. This also explains his (initially) distant treatment in the office. Magister Avila is busy with paperwork, doesn't look at him, and sits with his back to the boy standing directly behind him. Despite everything, he finds words of encouragement for him.
Scene 00:48:55 - 00:49:11 Gym swimming pool
The two are once again very close to each other. Avila is now sitting directly facing the boy, almost touching him with his knees, but his gaze is directed past him, toward his newspaper. He is spending time with him personally and is supervising him in a purely technical way, but there is no sign of any social contact.
Scene 00:59:04 - 01:03:03 at the frozen lake
Here, the teacher's difficult situation is again portrayed. This time, he has to take care of several classes at once and also has slight translation difficulties. He waves his arms somewhat helplessly, lost in the midst of all the students milling around him, obviously not listening. His multiple responsibilities and divided attention are demonstrated by the great distance between him and the boy.
When things get serious between the boy and his "classmates," Avila also looks directly over (focusing through his pulled-down sunglasses), but other duties prevent him from following the events any further.
At least he seems to be aware of the boy's general situation, as the bullies express a certain caution towards him.
Scene 01:42:12 - 01:43:54 indoor public swimming pool (final meeting)
Magister Avila disappears from the screen until the finale in the indoor public swimming pool. This time, he and the boy are seen in direct social contact. Avila greets him by name. Unfortunately, he is once again distracted by his duties as a supervisor—this time highlighted by his head permanently out of frame. He pushes the boy in a friendly manner toward the indoor swimming pool. Apparently, a familiarity has developed between the two over their time together.
The teacher is the only adult seen with Oskar at the end, which indicates a certain significance of his persona in the boy's social circle. And as if to point out his character's greatest disadvantage, at the most crucial moment, when the situation seriously escalates, he is once again distracted and unable to help the boy.
Although Avila is portrayed as more active and positive than other characters, he can be seen as symbolic for the failure of the boy's social environment, of society and its public institutions in general. As the director himself aptly notes in the extras, all the adults are very close to the action, but do nothing, instead overlooking the children and acting passively. At least, that's how the boy see's them from his child's perspective. He feels abandoned, unimportant, and not taken seriously/not noticed. All the adults move and communicate on a "level above or beside" him. The invisible head of Magister Avila represents this.
The director also uses other visual means to depict this "decoupling" from the adult world, e.g.,
- Blurred image in the background/foreground: Teacher and police officer in the classroom (00:05:35 - 00:06:13). After his remark about the lack of smoke in the corpse's lungs, the police officer and teacher (far away at the front of the class) gain a little more focus, reflecting their increased attention to the boy. (But of course, there's something else going on here: the boy loses focus, and instead, his tormentors closely around him (the direct cause of his detailed knowledge) are now in full focus, turning threateningly toward him, tapping their fingers.)
- Depiction in different spaces/frames within a scene: Mother and boy (00:16:13). The boy is shown separated from his mother mimicking her uninteresting monologue, which is about the unknown killer. The dividing frames showing their detachment, her inability to give attention to him, her son, and his problems and his lack of trust in her.
The deleted Bulleribock scene can most likely be placed between the fourth and fifth meeting. [Based on the children's clothing and appearance, the fourth and fifth meetings may even have originally been planned as one meeting.] Unfortunately, for whatever reason, this scene didn't make it into the final film, even though it contains some very important and revealing information.
First, we see the missing connection to the girl's Bulleribock game in the following sixth meeting. It is a means for the children to establish direct physical contact and thus intimacy with one another. The boy hesitates a bit before symbolically "tapping" her back - now increasing the contact area with both hands, and a brief, revealing conversation ensues. Secondly in this conversation, it is then made clear that the girl indeed has no idea about children's games, which also explains why she was unfamiliar with the cube (although there was a veritable Rubik's Cube craze in the 1980s). This fact leaves us with the assumption that she actually was living like under a rock in the past, isolated and shielded from the outside world. Thirdly, the last shot shows how much fun she is having romping around and how she seems to have become the driving force behind it.
5th meeting - at the candy store
In principle, this meeting, which is relatively short and clear, can be seen as a kind of role reversal compared to the last one. This time, it's the girl who involuntarily presents her problems and receives unexpected support from the boy.
This meeting is the only one that visibly takes place in the midst of urban public life. This circumstance could indicate the girl's developmental progress in her natural interactions with an everyday environment, her socialization, and her diminishing distrust of strangers.
Buying candy for her is a nice idea and kind gesture by the boy. Basically, all kids love sweets, so it's a sure shot in showing his affection.
Since he is visibly disappointed by her rejection, she decides, recognizing his good intentions, to at least eat one piece of candy in front of him, even though she knows full well that it won't do her any good.
After watching this scene several times, I'm no longer so sure whether the girl originally planned to show him the consequences; quite the opposite. She is afraid of losing her only friend because of her vampire traits and will only change her mind on this much later.
Instead, she most likely intended to regurgitate it all up again in an unnoticed moment. Unfortunately, the boy's alertness thwarts her plans and thus witnesses the unpleasant consequences, witnessing what wasn't meant for his eyes.
After it's over, the girl turns to him and can only with difficulty utter a "Sorry." [At this point, I initially had difficulty determining which of the two was actually speaking. The English subtitles on my copy of the film even mistranslate, assuming it's the boy ("Are you alright?"), while the others read the correct translation as "Sorry."]
In the end, we can safely assume that both children are uncomfortable in this situation and could have made the same remark. He because he thinks he "forced" his candy on her, so to speak, with his visible disappointment, which may not be entirely wrong, but of course happened without his knowledge of her indisposition. Her, because she had to spit out his lovely gift so dramatically in front of his eyes, not secretly as planned.
Now she stands there, frightened, awaiting his reaction. And she will be surprised. And we will be too, because now their relationship takes another big leap forward.
Fortunately, the boy immediately understands the significance of the situation and is overwhelmed by her devotion. His embrace causes her to have serious difficulty understanding what is actually happening (see also the audio commentary). She is visibly taken aback and has to ask two questions to confirm the situation. He, on the other hand, apparently has no idea how much he sets her heart aflutter with his answers and his innocent counter-question, raising her hopes immeasurably (and thus passing his "second trial").
Of course, her "planned" action is a very thoughtful way of not rejecting him and of showing him that his gift had the desired positive message for her. The "unplanned" part (his realization of her sacrifice) reinforces this effect and makes the girl all the more lovable to him. But the significance goes even further: Her visible, physical suffering is not her real problem. (From his perspective it may be an annoying food allergy, but for her it's a secret she absolutely refuses to reveal.) The far more serious aspect is the sheer fact of her actions despite her fear of losing him. She consciously takes a risk to show him affection. A truly outrageous thought for a vampire girl.
In this context, we must now finally address the occasional, emotionally charged "hmms" between the two children. These represent short, audible expressions of their secret longings or the fulfillment of these inner wishes (Third Layer) and were placed by the director at key points to help the audience better interpret various situations.
Already in the first meeting, we hear two of them from the boy, expressing curious and delighted surprise at the girl's silent appearance (00:12:48) and her unintentionally revealing answer (00:13:14).
In the second meeting, from the girl, expressing a direct reaction to his interesting puzzle cube and simultaneously an indirect invitation to the boy to make contact with her (00:20:56).
In this fifth meeting, they express a hopeful and relieved reaction from the girl to his honest answers (00:42:07).
In the subsequent sixth meeting, it is a happy expression from the girl during the longed-for snuggle-up to the boy (00:55:19), and from the boy as a sign of his peaceful slumber during the final hand scene (00:57:39).
In the very special sixth meeting, this type of expression comes to an end. After that, there are no more "hmms" between the two children in the film; they seem to have vanished. This too has its meaning, of course; more on this in the next article.
There are similar expressions of this kind in the film, but in other contexts and towards other people. Among other things, for example, again at the very end, during the telephone conversation between Oskar and Martin. Here, one can hear how the boy reacts emotionally positive to the information that Magister Avila would like him to join training at the public swimming pool.
Cheers from Dietz
(and more later ...)
A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself
Last edited by Dietz on Sun Apr 20, 2025 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself
Before the actual sixth meeting, seven interlude scenes are strung together, the highest count before any meeting in the entire film.
The first two scenes, A and B, are very interesting. Here, the ideal relationships between the children and their respective "parents" at home are portrayed.
The director and screenwriter practically shove it in our faces in the audio commentary during the transition to the girl: "from one cozy apartment to the next". This may be meant ironically, but it pretty much sums it up, as we'll see shortly. The state of the two kitchens is particularly telling. One is richly furnished, with both eating together - an expression of the intact father-son relationship. The other is almost completely empty, cold and neglected, with Håkan eating his apple alone - an expression of the typically a-emotional "vampire everyday life".
The parallels continue: The one, who ultimately touches the other person, thus suggesting a connection, is later the one who turns away from that person. The girl touches Håkan on the cheek even though she's thinking about the boy at the same time; the father touches the boy on the back of the head even though he knows his neighbor and drinking buddy is more important to him.
A) The boy's happy visit to his father.
A loving greeting with a long hug, shared activities, etc. His question for his father's red jacket, which he puts on, snuffles on it, and thus wraps himself in his father's comfort and love (see audio commentary).
The difference to the kitchen scene with his mother (00:36:16 - 00:36:34) is also made clear, especially in the final shot: After they've eaten together!, his father gently touches the back of his head as he passes by – in stark contrast to his mother's noncommittal fussing. This is the contact the boy desires and which is reflected in his immediate glance back at his father: undivided attention and a loving connection.
B) Håkan's preparations for the second harvest attempt.
Both are also in the kitchen, with the difference that only Håkan is eating his apple. And here too I think, we see a "loving" vampire relationship. This is, of course, far from what the girl wants, but by vampire standards it's probably the best thing - it doesn't get any better than that.
Him: "There are people who know my face, who know that I live here with you."
As already mentioned, the acid jar demonstrates his almost superhuman devotion to the girl and his intention to protect her at all costs.
Girl: "Maybe you shouldn't."
An easily overlooked but telling statement, one that we must compare with her earlier outburst of anger (before the second meeting). Not only does it suggest her concern for him, but it also represents her willingness to forgo a possible next meeting with the boy for the sake of Håkans safety and instead endure hunger and pain.
Him: "What else am I good for? - Could you do one thing for me? Could you not see that boy tonight? Please?"
He returns her kindness with another kind but firm refusal, demonstrating his prioritization of her well-being over his own. His request demonstrates his concern for her and the potential danger he sees in her connection to the boy.
C) Håkan's second failed attempt to collect blood.
D) The girl kneels desperately in front of the boy's wall, raises her hand to knock, and slowly lowers it again. Although we can't see her face, we know what's going on. It takes all her strength to keep her promise. She looks like a picture of misery, filthy, slumped over with aching longing. The bare, desolate room is a metaphor for her (unwanted) lonely and emotionless existence.
A still life that foreshadows Håkan's fate. This scene comes directly after his failed attempt to make it clear to us that he simply had to fail; there was no other option. There is still a connection to him, but it is only a silken thread. On the inside she has already almost completely detached herself from him and has long since returned to her friend in her thoughts.
E) The boy begins his strength training with Magister Avila and is temporarily out of the direct reach of his enemies. He later finds his pants in the urinal. His opponents have now resorted to underhanded meanness, since they can no longer physically intimidate him. His behavior toward them has evolved further, indicating his increased courage and strength: Instead of hiding and avoiding them, he now even looks for, but cannot spot them. Cheerful and humming (as already subtly hinted by Avila's newspaper headline) he goes on his way home.
F) Håkan's death.
The girl comes to the hospital of her own free will and even puts herself in danger in the process. Here she is forced to have her only conversation with a stranger (Jocke doesn't really count).
The complete lack of emotion and the neutrality of her relationship with now-deceased Håkan is also made evident by the fact that she immediately and without delay fulfills her deepest desire: now that she no longer has to keep her promise, she comes to the boy without hesitation. No doubts, remorse, or obligations stand in the way.
G) Lacke and Virginia
The director contrasts the fragility and tenderness of the children's meeting that follows with this immediately preceding comparison scene with Virginia and Lacke: Both adults lie next to each other in bed. The room is completely shrouded in darkness, making it almost impossible to see anything.
The visible sweat on their skin makes it clear to the audience what just happened between the two. Simply triggering the thought of this act, which must look "brutal" from a child's perspective, without showing it, is masterfully executed. Virginia is falling asleep and is awakened by Lacke's rough shaking. He then makes a remark about Jocke that is extremely insulting to her: "The nicest, kindest person you can imagine."
This makes it clear that he isn't giving her a second thought and, moreover, ranks her below the dead friend on his popularity scale. Their relationship is apparently not what Virginia previously thought it was (only her side of the bed is deep red). He also expresses brutal fantasies of revenge against the child who killed Jocke. This kind of harsh, insensitive behavior intentionally prevents the viewer from developing any sympathy or goodwill for him or his private life.
In general, the director tries his best to minimize any emerging sympathy for all the adults portrayed in the film. The entire scene stands in strong (if not even exact) contrast to the children's meeting that follows (tender touches, developing feelings, considerate interaction).
We'll discuss the obvious similarities between the Eli/Oskar and Virginia/Lacke themes in more detail in the next article.
6th meeting - in the Boy's apartment/bed scene
The howling wind outside reinforces the vulnerability and secureness of this meeting (in addition to the previous, uncomfortable Virginia/Lacke scene).
Eli: "Oskar!
Oskar: "Mmm...?"
Eli: "May I come in?"
Oskar: "Mmm..."
Eli: "Don't look at me. But you have to say that I can come in."
Oskar: "Yes, you can come in."
Eli: "Close your eyes."
Since when do friends come unannounced in the middle of the night, climb through the window and slip into bed behind you stark naked? This should seem strange to the astonishingly calm boy, but for her it's a logical and long-awaited development.
With Håkan's passing, she has shed the last vestiges of her unfeeling vampire shell and now immediately wants to get as close to him as possible in every way. We don't see it, but it's made clear by his remarks about her missing clothing and her ice-cold body.
She has now removed all disturbing "barriers" and entwined herself around him so to speak. She wants to share in his innocence, purity and affection, to wrap herself in them (like Oskar in his father's red jacket), she wants to wash away her own impurity, her vampirism, through him (of course she knows this is a futile hope). She wants to become as innocent and human as he is, wants to literally merge with him.
Emotionally, from this point on, things can't get any closer without her revealing her well-kept, unpleasant truth - figuratively represented by her bloody mouth, which she hides from him by ordering him not to look at her or to close his eyes and by remaining hidden behind him the whole time.
In the forum people wrote about why she wouldn't just wipe her mouth. She literally just can't. The evil "vampire mark" clings to her and cannot be shaken off, because that is what it means: her "eternal guilt", her monstrous nature, which she carries with her forever.
Oskar: "How did you get in?"
Eli: "I flew."
Oskar: "Sure... "
She has never lied to him and now is no exception. No more silence and no more excuses from her side; she tells the truth, which, of course, sounds absurd to him. Another indication that this is a moment of absolute clarity and purity for her.
Oskar: "But you're not wearing any clothes. You're as cold as ice."
Eli: "Sorry. Is that gross?"
Oskar: "No."
Yet another direct comparison to Virginia and Lacke, this time the conversation at Gösta's (01:09:33 - Lacke: "You're cold, fucking ice cold!"). Right there and then, Lacke will lose his girlfriend through his outright meanness and insults. He accuses Virginia of the exact opposite of the obvious facts – that she is unfeeling, even though he knows very well better. In contrast to Oskar here: he literally tells the (physical) truth, but immediately denies his own sensitivities so as not to offend Eli - another loving gesture and a subsequent reason why she becomes his steady girlfriend (and he will pass his third trial).
Eli: "Bulleri, bulleribock, hur många horn står opp??"
The girl's approach here is to act as if it's perfectly normal to knock on her friend's window in the middle of the night and slip under his blanket. She tries to equate the very intimate situation with the playful bulleribock scene on the snow hill. She probably immediately realizes that something is wrong here and that this image doesn't fit together. But already the boy "confronts" her.
Oskar: "Eli... Want to go steady?"
Eli: "What do you mean?"
He was already miles ahead of her in his thoughts. Or is he just catching-up vocally what is already plain obvious? She is alarmed by his request and doesn't understand what it means (or at least isn't sure about the possible consequences). She immediately drops her arm, her face takes on a serious expression, she raises her head and briefly blows air through the left side of her mouth to make it clear to us that the "bulleribock game" facade is gone now (blown away) and it's time to talk straight.
Oskar: "Well... Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
Eli: "Oskar... I'm not a girl."
Oskar: "Oh... But do you want to go steady or not?"
She remains honest at all costs and is immediately welcomed with open arms by him, for the second time that evening. The fact that she isn't a girl doesn't matter to him at all. But that doesn't calm her fears. Not yet.
Eli: "Couldn't we just keep things the way they are?"
Oskar: "I guess..."
Immediately after her question, we can hear him exhaling in disappointment followed by his unenthusiastic answer. She notices this, of course, and tries to reach an amicable agreement, because now things are really getting serious.
Her problem and secret conflict is clearly this: She, just like him, desperately wants to continue and deepen this friendship. But the closer their relationship becomes, the more likely the boy will discover her well-kept secret. This must not happen under any circumstances. So how to deal with this situation? Of course, she must definitely try to keep things on the same subtle (secret) level as before.
There are so many little things that could lead to immediate disaster. Friends, parents, acquaintances, teachers - basically his entire social circle, unknown to her, is potentially dangerous for her. She'll never be able to meet him during the day, never be able to engage in "normal" activities with him.
The girl is only safe as long as as few people as possible notice her and know where she lives; as long as she remains invisible to the public.
Eli: "Do you do anything special when you go steady?"
Oskar: "No."
Eli: "So everything's the same?"
Oskar: "Yes."
We see the ambiguity of the dialogue. The real meaning (for us) arises from the reversal of what is said: Of course, nothing will stay the same; literally everything will be different when they wake up the next morning. The children have no idea of this and, in complete sincerity, assure themselves of the opposite.
Eli: "Then we'll go steady."
Oskar: "What?"
Eli: "It'll be you and me."
Oskar: "Really?"
Eli: "A-ha."
Oskar: "Good."
Apparently, he hadn't expected this clear answer at all. Both of them have now suddenly arrived at the moment they had so much hoped and worked toward: unclouded friendship without restrictions, with absolute honesty and devotion. That's why the children's mutual, emotional "Hmms" stop at this point in the story. They have reached the goal of their wildest dreams and can't imagine that things could possibly get any better from here.
Oskar has mercilessly surprised her again. She is overwhelmed by his affection and deep trust, but also by his complete innocence, his pure and platonic intentions: Now that all the important issues - from his perspective - have been dealt with, he immediately falls asleep, happy and content.
She can hardly believe her luck and can't take her eyes off him. She is glad that he doesn't suspect her secret and that everything will stay as it has been. This is exactly what she longed for. For her, this moment is the closest she will ever get to humanity and innocence. The inner vampire plays no role here and is forgotten.
And as if to prove this and the change in their relation, she runs her fingers from his back (previous bulleribock game position) down his arm to his hand, completely encircling it and stroking it.
In contrast to the fourth meeting, in which she protectively touched his hand: we hear no vampiric sound in the silence, but rather a very human clicking (after Oskar's "Hmm"), the same noise to when she surprised opened her mouth; we see no black fingertips (which are now hidden in his hand), but a normal girl's hand; he doesn't retreat his, but is holding on to hers tightly.
I only fully realized the special significance of this meeting as I progressed through the film's plot.
It occurs chronologically exactly in the middle and thematically too it is the heart of the film, so to speak; it assumes central importance, comparable only to the separation or the finale.
There have been five core scenes so far and five more will still follow. At this point star-shaped connections to other themes and story lines emerge, as can be seen from the preceding and subsequent interlude scenes.
In this meeting the overall plot reaches a temporary vertex, an intermediate plateau. Up to this point we have seen the delicate development of their friendship, leading to the point of their shared longings. In the course of this rapprochement both have influenced each other, changed and improved. She gained trust and became more human, he became braver and stronger.
No one was interested in the two children before. But that changes now. Passivity turns into activity. Action is met with reaction. Their relationship begins to have effects in the real world (or more concrete, onto their environment).
Lacke develops revenge fantasies (similar to Oskar) in response to Jocke's death.
The discovery of Jocke's body is a sign of the increased public attention and the consequences of Eli's hidden nature, which is now slowly emerging.
Håkan's end shows her progressing development of human emotions and thus the retreat of her previously dominant vampire nature.
The beginning of Oskar's training with Avila and his active resistance against the bullies is the end of his passivity, the start of resulting doubts in Martin and the first domino toward the end game.
His parents must finally decide whether or not they want to help him with his problems.
But the peculiarities don't end there:
The next morning Oskar opens the window (to check how Eli got in) and we can hear the small cardboard box fall again. Eli has apparently put it back in place, after it fell off the night before when she arrived. She then wrote her message and walked back through the hallway to her apartment.
Everything has been reset by the director; even the snow outside the window is new again (since Eli must have stepped on it the last night). The cards have been reshuffled. The next round, with changed rules and higher stakes, begins. The story gets a new quality.
He immediately finds her message. We can only see the little heart and read "Your Eli" - just like him.
At this point it's important to remember that the film is shown from Oskar's perspective. This means he can't yet understand the rest of the message. For him and us it's a little love message until the text is revealed. This is very clear from his thoughtful and brooding expression. At the end he finally begins to smile. The increasingly positive music score (minor to major) and the unusually overly positive mood at the beginning of the next scene (the rays of the midday sun break through the treetops) confirm our assumption.
This reveals the most important meaning of this sixth meeting: It not only marks the fulfillment of the children's innermost desires and thus the end of their mutual "Hmms". Already they are unconsciously (fourth layer) overshooting this goal into completely unimagined and unknown territories. Their friendship slowly begins to transform into love.
But Evil never sleeps and will now intensify its efforts to prevent the happiness of our two little protagonists. In the fairy tale context, this means an increase in the difficulty of the four remaining trials.
Cheers from Dietz
(and more later ... )
The first two scenes, A and B, are very interesting. Here, the ideal relationships between the children and their respective "parents" at home are portrayed.
The director and screenwriter practically shove it in our faces in the audio commentary during the transition to the girl: "from one cozy apartment to the next". This may be meant ironically, but it pretty much sums it up, as we'll see shortly. The state of the two kitchens is particularly telling. One is richly furnished, with both eating together - an expression of the intact father-son relationship. The other is almost completely empty, cold and neglected, with Håkan eating his apple alone - an expression of the typically a-emotional "vampire everyday life".
The parallels continue: The one, who ultimately touches the other person, thus suggesting a connection, is later the one who turns away from that person. The girl touches Håkan on the cheek even though she's thinking about the boy at the same time; the father touches the boy on the back of the head even though he knows his neighbor and drinking buddy is more important to him.
A) The boy's happy visit to his father.
A loving greeting with a long hug, shared activities, etc. His question for his father's red jacket, which he puts on, snuffles on it, and thus wraps himself in his father's comfort and love (see audio commentary).
The difference to the kitchen scene with his mother (00:36:16 - 00:36:34) is also made clear, especially in the final shot: After they've eaten together!, his father gently touches the back of his head as he passes by – in stark contrast to his mother's noncommittal fussing. This is the contact the boy desires and which is reflected in his immediate glance back at his father: undivided attention and a loving connection.
B) Håkan's preparations for the second harvest attempt.
Both are also in the kitchen, with the difference that only Håkan is eating his apple. And here too I think, we see a "loving" vampire relationship. This is, of course, far from what the girl wants, but by vampire standards it's probably the best thing - it doesn't get any better than that.
Him: "There are people who know my face, who know that I live here with you."
As already mentioned, the acid jar demonstrates his almost superhuman devotion to the girl and his intention to protect her at all costs.
Girl: "Maybe you shouldn't."
An easily overlooked but telling statement, one that we must compare with her earlier outburst of anger (before the second meeting). Not only does it suggest her concern for him, but it also represents her willingness to forgo a possible next meeting with the boy for the sake of Håkans safety and instead endure hunger and pain.
Him: "What else am I good for? - Could you do one thing for me? Could you not see that boy tonight? Please?"
He returns her kindness with another kind but firm refusal, demonstrating his prioritization of her well-being over his own. His request demonstrates his concern for her and the potential danger he sees in her connection to the boy.
C) Håkan's second failed attempt to collect blood.
D) The girl kneels desperately in front of the boy's wall, raises her hand to knock, and slowly lowers it again. Although we can't see her face, we know what's going on. It takes all her strength to keep her promise. She looks like a picture of misery, filthy, slumped over with aching longing. The bare, desolate room is a metaphor for her (unwanted) lonely and emotionless existence.
A still life that foreshadows Håkan's fate. This scene comes directly after his failed attempt to make it clear to us that he simply had to fail; there was no other option. There is still a connection to him, but it is only a silken thread. On the inside she has already almost completely detached herself from him and has long since returned to her friend in her thoughts.
E) The boy begins his strength training with Magister Avila and is temporarily out of the direct reach of his enemies. He later finds his pants in the urinal. His opponents have now resorted to underhanded meanness, since they can no longer physically intimidate him. His behavior toward them has evolved further, indicating his increased courage and strength: Instead of hiding and avoiding them, he now even looks for, but cannot spot them. Cheerful and humming (as already subtly hinted by Avila's newspaper headline) he goes on his way home.
F) Håkan's death.
The girl comes to the hospital of her own free will and even puts herself in danger in the process. Here she is forced to have her only conversation with a stranger (Jocke doesn't really count).
The complete lack of emotion and the neutrality of her relationship with now-deceased Håkan is also made evident by the fact that she immediately and without delay fulfills her deepest desire: now that she no longer has to keep her promise, she comes to the boy without hesitation. No doubts, remorse, or obligations stand in the way.
G) Lacke and Virginia
The director contrasts the fragility and tenderness of the children's meeting that follows with this immediately preceding comparison scene with Virginia and Lacke: Both adults lie next to each other in bed. The room is completely shrouded in darkness, making it almost impossible to see anything.
The visible sweat on their skin makes it clear to the audience what just happened between the two. Simply triggering the thought of this act, which must look "brutal" from a child's perspective, without showing it, is masterfully executed. Virginia is falling asleep and is awakened by Lacke's rough shaking. He then makes a remark about Jocke that is extremely insulting to her: "The nicest, kindest person you can imagine."
This makes it clear that he isn't giving her a second thought and, moreover, ranks her below the dead friend on his popularity scale. Their relationship is apparently not what Virginia previously thought it was (only her side of the bed is deep red). He also expresses brutal fantasies of revenge against the child who killed Jocke. This kind of harsh, insensitive behavior intentionally prevents the viewer from developing any sympathy or goodwill for him or his private life.
In general, the director tries his best to minimize any emerging sympathy for all the adults portrayed in the film. The entire scene stands in strong (if not even exact) contrast to the children's meeting that follows (tender touches, developing feelings, considerate interaction).
We'll discuss the obvious similarities between the Eli/Oskar and Virginia/Lacke themes in more detail in the next article.
6th meeting - in the Boy's apartment/bed scene
The howling wind outside reinforces the vulnerability and secureness of this meeting (in addition to the previous, uncomfortable Virginia/Lacke scene).
Eli: "Oskar!
Oskar: "Mmm...?"
Eli: "May I come in?"
Oskar: "Mmm..."
Eli: "Don't look at me. But you have to say that I can come in."
Oskar: "Yes, you can come in."
Eli: "Close your eyes."
Since when do friends come unannounced in the middle of the night, climb through the window and slip into bed behind you stark naked? This should seem strange to the astonishingly calm boy, but for her it's a logical and long-awaited development.
With Håkan's passing, she has shed the last vestiges of her unfeeling vampire shell and now immediately wants to get as close to him as possible in every way. We don't see it, but it's made clear by his remarks about her missing clothing and her ice-cold body.
She has now removed all disturbing "barriers" and entwined herself around him so to speak. She wants to share in his innocence, purity and affection, to wrap herself in them (like Oskar in his father's red jacket), she wants to wash away her own impurity, her vampirism, through him (of course she knows this is a futile hope). She wants to become as innocent and human as he is, wants to literally merge with him.
Emotionally, from this point on, things can't get any closer without her revealing her well-kept, unpleasant truth - figuratively represented by her bloody mouth, which she hides from him by ordering him not to look at her or to close his eyes and by remaining hidden behind him the whole time.
In the forum people wrote about why she wouldn't just wipe her mouth. She literally just can't. The evil "vampire mark" clings to her and cannot be shaken off, because that is what it means: her "eternal guilt", her monstrous nature, which she carries with her forever.
Oskar: "How did you get in?"
Eli: "I flew."
Oskar: "Sure... "
She has never lied to him and now is no exception. No more silence and no more excuses from her side; she tells the truth, which, of course, sounds absurd to him. Another indication that this is a moment of absolute clarity and purity for her.
Oskar: "But you're not wearing any clothes. You're as cold as ice."
Eli: "Sorry. Is that gross?"
Oskar: "No."
Yet another direct comparison to Virginia and Lacke, this time the conversation at Gösta's (01:09:33 - Lacke: "You're cold, fucking ice cold!"). Right there and then, Lacke will lose his girlfriend through his outright meanness and insults. He accuses Virginia of the exact opposite of the obvious facts – that she is unfeeling, even though he knows very well better. In contrast to Oskar here: he literally tells the (physical) truth, but immediately denies his own sensitivities so as not to offend Eli - another loving gesture and a subsequent reason why she becomes his steady girlfriend (and he will pass his third trial).
Eli: "Bulleri, bulleribock, hur många horn står opp??"
The girl's approach here is to act as if it's perfectly normal to knock on her friend's window in the middle of the night and slip under his blanket. She tries to equate the very intimate situation with the playful bulleribock scene on the snow hill. She probably immediately realizes that something is wrong here and that this image doesn't fit together. But already the boy "confronts" her.
Oskar: "Eli... Want to go steady?"
Eli: "What do you mean?"
He was already miles ahead of her in his thoughts. Or is he just catching-up vocally what is already plain obvious? She is alarmed by his request and doesn't understand what it means (or at least isn't sure about the possible consequences). She immediately drops her arm, her face takes on a serious expression, she raises her head and briefly blows air through the left side of her mouth to make it clear to us that the "bulleribock game" facade is gone now (blown away) and it's time to talk straight.
Oskar: "Well... Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
Eli: "Oskar... I'm not a girl."
Oskar: "Oh... But do you want to go steady or not?"
She remains honest at all costs and is immediately welcomed with open arms by him, for the second time that evening. The fact that she isn't a girl doesn't matter to him at all. But that doesn't calm her fears. Not yet.
Eli: "Couldn't we just keep things the way they are?"
Oskar: "I guess..."
Immediately after her question, we can hear him exhaling in disappointment followed by his unenthusiastic answer. She notices this, of course, and tries to reach an amicable agreement, because now things are really getting serious.
Her problem and secret conflict is clearly this: She, just like him, desperately wants to continue and deepen this friendship. But the closer their relationship becomes, the more likely the boy will discover her well-kept secret. This must not happen under any circumstances. So how to deal with this situation? Of course, she must definitely try to keep things on the same subtle (secret) level as before.
There are so many little things that could lead to immediate disaster. Friends, parents, acquaintances, teachers - basically his entire social circle, unknown to her, is potentially dangerous for her. She'll never be able to meet him during the day, never be able to engage in "normal" activities with him.
The girl is only safe as long as as few people as possible notice her and know where she lives; as long as she remains invisible to the public.
Eli: "Do you do anything special when you go steady?"
Oskar: "No."
Eli: "So everything's the same?"
Oskar: "Yes."
We see the ambiguity of the dialogue. The real meaning (for us) arises from the reversal of what is said: Of course, nothing will stay the same; literally everything will be different when they wake up the next morning. The children have no idea of this and, in complete sincerity, assure themselves of the opposite.
Eli: "Then we'll go steady."
Oskar: "What?"
Eli: "It'll be you and me."
Oskar: "Really?"
Eli: "A-ha."
Oskar: "Good."
Apparently, he hadn't expected this clear answer at all. Both of them have now suddenly arrived at the moment they had so much hoped and worked toward: unclouded friendship without restrictions, with absolute honesty and devotion. That's why the children's mutual, emotional "Hmms" stop at this point in the story. They have reached the goal of their wildest dreams and can't imagine that things could possibly get any better from here.
Oskar has mercilessly surprised her again. She is overwhelmed by his affection and deep trust, but also by his complete innocence, his pure and platonic intentions: Now that all the important issues - from his perspective - have been dealt with, he immediately falls asleep, happy and content.
She can hardly believe her luck and can't take her eyes off him. She is glad that he doesn't suspect her secret and that everything will stay as it has been. This is exactly what she longed for. For her, this moment is the closest she will ever get to humanity and innocence. The inner vampire plays no role here and is forgotten.
And as if to prove this and the change in their relation, she runs her fingers from his back (previous bulleribock game position) down his arm to his hand, completely encircling it and stroking it.
In contrast to the fourth meeting, in which she protectively touched his hand: we hear no vampiric sound in the silence, but rather a very human clicking (after Oskar's "Hmm"), the same noise to when she surprised opened her mouth; we see no black fingertips (which are now hidden in his hand), but a normal girl's hand; he doesn't retreat his, but is holding on to hers tightly.
I only fully realized the special significance of this meeting as I progressed through the film's plot.
It occurs chronologically exactly in the middle and thematically too it is the heart of the film, so to speak; it assumes central importance, comparable only to the separation or the finale.
There have been five core scenes so far and five more will still follow. At this point star-shaped connections to other themes and story lines emerge, as can be seen from the preceding and subsequent interlude scenes.
In this meeting the overall plot reaches a temporary vertex, an intermediate plateau. Up to this point we have seen the delicate development of their friendship, leading to the point of their shared longings. In the course of this rapprochement both have influenced each other, changed and improved. She gained trust and became more human, he became braver and stronger.
No one was interested in the two children before. But that changes now. Passivity turns into activity. Action is met with reaction. Their relationship begins to have effects in the real world (or more concrete, onto their environment).
Lacke develops revenge fantasies (similar to Oskar) in response to Jocke's death.
The discovery of Jocke's body is a sign of the increased public attention and the consequences of Eli's hidden nature, which is now slowly emerging.
Håkan's end shows her progressing development of human emotions and thus the retreat of her previously dominant vampire nature.
The beginning of Oskar's training with Avila and his active resistance against the bullies is the end of his passivity, the start of resulting doubts in Martin and the first domino toward the end game.
His parents must finally decide whether or not they want to help him with his problems.
But the peculiarities don't end there:
The next morning Oskar opens the window (to check how Eli got in) and we can hear the small cardboard box fall again. Eli has apparently put it back in place, after it fell off the night before when she arrived. She then wrote her message and walked back through the hallway to her apartment.
Everything has been reset by the director; even the snow outside the window is new again (since Eli must have stepped on it the last night). The cards have been reshuffled. The next round, with changed rules and higher stakes, begins. The story gets a new quality.
He immediately finds her message. We can only see the little heart and read "Your Eli" - just like him.
At this point it's important to remember that the film is shown from Oskar's perspective. This means he can't yet understand the rest of the message. For him and us it's a little love message until the text is revealed. This is very clear from his thoughtful and brooding expression. At the end he finally begins to smile. The increasingly positive music score (minor to major) and the unusually overly positive mood at the beginning of the next scene (the rays of the midday sun break through the treetops) confirm our assumption.
This reveals the most important meaning of this sixth meeting: It not only marks the fulfillment of the children's innermost desires and thus the end of their mutual "Hmms". Already they are unconsciously (fourth layer) overshooting this goal into completely unimagined and unknown territories. Their friendship slowly begins to transform into love.
But Evil never sleeps and will now intensify its efforts to prevent the happiness of our two little protagonists. In the fairy tale context, this means an increase in the difficulty of the four remaining trials.
Cheers from Dietz
(and more later ... )
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself
As I noted at the beginning of the thread, I was initially unsure why certain secondary scenes were chosen for the film in this way and not another. As we know, the selection process was extremely lengthy and laborious. What we see here represents the essence of what the screenwriter and director ultimately agreed upon.
The film was edited to a millimeter scale, so to speak, and the sound is so sophisticated that we'd better wear headphones. There are no coincidences or insignificances.
In this context (I repeat myself), it's important that we remember the role the adults play in the film. Everything is seen and told through the eyes of Oskar, a child. The distant and strange adult world exists solely to provide the background and contrast to the main plot. We are introduced to individual characters only insofar as they are intended to help us better understand the children and their relationship with one another.
The director therefore tries his best to nip any emerging sympathy with the adults in the bud – they are unimportant and would distract from the main plot. These efforts, of course, also apply to the so-called "Nobel Prize Committee": the Lacke-Virginia theme complex, including Jocke, Morgan, Gösta and Larry. As an example, Lacke's permanently grumpy expression with drooping mouth corners and his rather unpleasant behavior throughout the plot are enough.
We will follow the director's example and only draw comparisons to the adults when they arise from the children's story. Therefore, we will only address the obvious in the following.
The people in this circle of friends seem to have known each other for some time, and we suspect they meet regularly at the "Sun Palace." At second glance, the restaurant is a veritable gathering place for Blackeberg's less well-off population. Everyone (except Virginia) looks relatively shabby, partly unshaven, with greasy hair and worn clothes (for comparison, we have, for example, Håkan, Oskar's parents and teachers).
The group's clothing is the first thing that catches the eye and also carries a message: their proverbial "thick-skinnedness", insensitivity, and passivity toward the concerns of their fellow humans is particularly well illustrated by the many layers and barriers of their jackets. Larry, for example, wears a casual jacket under his leather jacket and a cardigan over it all, (not to forget his dawn cap which he never takes off). Lacke, Jocke, and Gösta look similar. (Clearly visible in Lacke's case when he sits next to Håkan.)
Everyone hangs around the bar, indulges in their pleasures (alcohol, smoking) and engages in seemingly endless discussions about all sorts of important and unimportant topics (the death penalty in the current legal system?, Russians and rattlesnakes?). Sure, they may be sociable, but when it comes down to taking care of their friends, they don't have the drive to act - see Jocke's disappearance. They just sit and wait.
The director goes into greater detail with Virginia and Lacke in particular. This makes them all the more interesting for our purposes, as we now need to determine what exactly he wants to tell us about the two children based on the adult scenes.
They are designed as a counterpoint to Eli and Oskar. Perhaps not as a complete black-and-white opposite, but as a couple who take a different path. (According to the audio commentary, he sees them as variants who grew up without the resulting predicaments of vampirism and school violence.) Let's take a look at the respective characters:
Eli and Virginia:
Like Eli and Oskar, both have very different hair colors—black/blonde (the audio commentary explicitly mentions actress Ika Nord's specially bleached hair).
Both experience diametrically opposed relationships and emotional trajectories, with the associated red/white color change.
Both make different decisions about their continued existence as vampires.
Oskar and Lacke:
Both wear cowboy boots and scarves.
Lacke develops revenge fantasies, Oskar gets rid of them.
Of course, just like Eli and Virginia, both experience a contradictory relationship.
Their characterizations are very contrasting: Lacke is immature and passive, while Oskar behaves very maturely at times and becomes active.
Oskar has four bullies, Lacke has four friends.
These, as well as all the other similes and contrasts in the film, help us better understand various aspects and messages. Through comparative analysis, we can draw conclusions about the characters and their inner motivations. Black-white/blonde, red-white, violence-tenderness, callousness-love, loneliness-connection, loud-quiet, good-evil, active-passive, secret-public. The director has scattered clues throughout the film like breadcrumbs for us.
A rather obvious example is the relatively rapid suicide of vampire Virginia in contrast to the almost eternal existence of vampire Eli. A perhaps not so obvious example is the comparison of Lacke's suitcase with Eli's apartment.
In Virginia's case, the obvious parallels with Eli are almost unavoidable. Since we anticipated the girl's color change over the course of the plot right at the beginning, we can now delve into Virginia's theme in more detail.
She is the epitome of innocence, purity, love, and joie de vivre. In contrast to Eli, she is in a romantic relationship at the beginning, has various friends, and leads a rich social life. She and her apartment are depicted in every possible shade of red, which is intended to emphasize her pronounced humanity and emotional richness. Virginia's first appearance upon entering the "Sun Palace" is particularly striking in terms of color – she and everything around her is red.
One might assume that she's the exact opposite of Eli, but I think Virginia and Eli are much more alike than they seem. Without the forced vampire, Eli could almost be Virginia's exact spitting image. Oskar's sadistic bullies must be seen as the opposite, but the ethical aspects belong elsewhere.
Over the course of the plot, her relationship with Lacke falls apart, triggered by Jocke's death, Lacke's insulting remark in the bed scene, and finally by his rant at Gösta's. In the end, she becomes a vampire, and her color scheme changes drastically from red to white. This reflects her lost love for Lacke, the sudden loneliness and hopelessness that arise from the nasty realization of the consequences of her new role as a blood-sucking vampire - her "dehumanization" and thus separation from the social fabric so important to her.
She makes a conscious decision against this new role, which would require her to abandon her innocence and combine deadly violence with her humanistic conscience and joy of life. She redeems herself from this impending fate and ends her life with sunlight.
This is her most striking difference from Eli, who is willing to continue her life despite all adversities and, with Oskar's help, slowly and steadily changes color from white-gray to red over the course of the film. A sign of her transformation from an ice-cold, emotionless and lonely to a human, feeling, social and loving vampire girl.
Oskar's and Lacke's starting situation is similarly contradictory. Lacke begins with everything: a girlfriend, four friends instead of four tormenting bullies (Jocke instead of Jimmy, Larry instead of Conny, Morgan instead of Martin, Gösta instead of Andreas), and regular social contacts at the "Sun Palace." However, he doesn't seem to appreciate this, because everything is somehow naturally there and comes to him. He doesn't have to do anything for it.
In the restaurant, he stands up briefly, Virginia comes to him, and they hug. As he says goodbye to Jocke, he stops, Jocke comes to him, and they hug. His world is well-arranged, and everything is going according to his ideas; he is content. But it is fragile and begins to crumble piece by piece when his best friend Jocke disappears. From this point on, his passivity, his helplessness, and his confusion become apparent, leading to his loss of everything. Only at the end, when he has nothing left, does he realize how good his life was at the beginning and perhaps even all the things he did wrong.
Oskar begins roughly where Lacke ends – lonely and abandoned, with compulsive aggression (revenge), anxious, passive, and hopeless. But he's willing to give anything to escape his hellish life. He recognizes his happiness in Eli almost immediately and doesn't let her go until the bitter/happy end.
Lacke's proverbial carefree, ignorance and naivety are evident right from the beginning: He unashamedly urinates in the open, in public, right in front of the apartment building (00:04:45). Oskar, on the other hand, does so hidden from the bullies in the locked school toilet stall (00:15:20), which demonstrates his immediate predicament and the resulting anxious vigilance, isolation, and longing for a different, better life. (The first deleted scene is fitting here.)
Their different approaches and priorities in life are also visualized by another example: Lacke constantly wears his lighter around his neck - a symbol of his careless, hedonistic traits; he's always ready for a smoke break. Oskar, on the other hand, always wears his wristwatch - an expression of his sense of responsibility and consideration.
The two also share a common diverging phenomenon, comparable to the opposite red-white development of Eli and Virginia, only somewhat more subtle. More on this in a later article. Until then, you still have some time to puzzle it over.
A) at the frozen lake
After Oskar has successfully defended himself against the bullies, he looks almost gleefully at Conny, who is kneeling in front of him, injured and screaming in pain. He enjoys his victory and the feelings that come with it – the shift from oppression and intimidation to liberation and encouragement. He has visibly grown, his self-confidence has increased, and he smiles happily and triumphantly, with the blue sky behind him.
At the sight of Oskar's smile, our feelings are rather mixed, and the warning soundtrack also raises doubts about whether we should feel unconditionally happy for him.
A bleeding left ear compared to a scratch on the left cheek represents an escalation. The red stick could very well be his knife next time (‚spoiler alert‘).
Both events will certainly trigger reactions in the future, which in turn will create further problems.
Lacenaire pointed out in the forum long ago that in real life, the correct course of action in this situation is to seek help from a grown up. Oskar would have had the opportunity to do so, too: In the school scene before the second meeting, the teacher clearly points the class to the school psychologist - but here, of course, the film is about a dramatic climax.
At the same moment, just a few meters away, Jocke's body is discovered by two children. This simultaneity seems to be particularly important to the director: Conny and the children scream like scalded cats at the same moment.
Both incidents are the result of conflicts that have been simmering "beneath the surface," and they are interrelated. They are reactions against forms of imposed violence. (Oskar reacts to the physical violence imposed on him; Eli reacts to the natural violence of starvation imposed on her.)
Furthermore, the director perhaps wants to indicate the logical sequence and end of the escalation: from the teasing/scratch – via the bleeding ear – to the corpse.
We see a qualitative shift from passivity to activity, from secrecy to obviousness in the story.
The director reinforces the reference to the commonality of the events through:
a) the red stick as a symbolic link, which had previously been used to hide Eli's victim. Instead of allowing his tormentors to push him "passively" into the ice hole and shove him under the ice, Oskar seizes the tool himself and defends himself against the planned violence.
b) the simultaneity of their occurrences
c) the signal-like screaming, which is symbolic for the birth-like emergence of the bloody resistance. The public now knows about Oskar's problems and the fatal outcome of Eli's (naturally unknown) vampiric predicament.
At the end of the scene, Larry walks unfazed past Jocke's corpse to make two things clear: The apathy of the world depicted in the film applies not only to the children, but also to the adults themselves. At this point, Lacke knows for sure that Jocke is dead.
B) Oskar comes home
... and witnesses the angry phone conversation between his parents about the incident at the lake. He stands in front of the apartment door, listening to his mother's angry voice like a sweet melody, without the slightest hint of remorse on his face. Her nagging has the same meaning as Conny's screaming—the wailing reaction of those around him to his actions.
Unfortunately, we hear that, despite everything, his parents are only concerned with themselves and their developing inconveniences ("Oh yes, they will blame us!"). They have no interest in dealing with him and the causes of his problems.
His mother wants nothing to do with any of this and is unwilling or unable to discuss it objectively with his father – evident from her dismissive gestures and the fact that she immediately hands the phone to Oskar.
The same is true for his father. The brief phone conversation with him is meaningless for the boy – it's about trivial matters ("Is the bike working? We'll see.") rather than his own concerns.
C) Oskar in the gym.
Emboldened by his success, the boy continues his strength training with double effort. He doesn't rest on his laurels, possibly anticipating a reaction from his opponents.
seventh meeting - at the public swimming pool/in the "forbidden" basement
Martin seems to have doubts about his previous actions. His monologue and his fake waving, however, seem ambivalent. This short sequence helps us better understand his later role as a traitor.
Meanwhile, Eli is waiting for Oskar outside the swimming pool, watching him through one of the huge windows. As brief and inconspicuous as this scene may be, it tells us a lot about what's going on inside the girl.
We see her standing with her right hand against the see-through and "hear-through" barrier. A great improvement compared to the desperate wall scene before the sixth meeting. This time, she doesn't look like a neglected heap of misery, but rather like a very prettily dressed girl: hat, jacket, gloves, shoes, and (as we briefly see later) a bag slung over her shoulder, paired with the already slightly visible edge of her new pink sweater, symbolic of her developing emotions. She is barely distinguishable from children her age, visible proof of her intention to transform herself as closely as possible into a human being and, of course, to please Oskar.
However, she doesn't seem to be particularly happy looking through the window. Apparently, she'd like to splash around in the water with him and the other children.
But something else seems to be going on inside her. Her right hand isn't just resting on the glass, but directly on Oskar, or, seen from inside the window, on his reflection, as if she were watching over him. Her gaze is somewhat suspicious and searching, scanning the pool area instead of resting attentively on him, as one might expect. It's perhaps a bit far-fetched, but perhaps she's trying to track down the fools who had the audacity to threaten and hurt him.
His hopping around in front of her on the way to the basement shows his excitement about the success story at the lake and his secret plan with the blood brotherhood. They both arrive in the cellar and suddenly stand in the dark. Oskar is so excited while telling her his news that he almost stutters and forgets to turn on the light. There has been speculation in the forum about why Eli is making such strange noises right now, why her eyes are starting to phosphorize, and why her pupils are becoming reptilian.
To put it bluntly: She has very good control over herself and her abilities, even when she's hungry. She hates her bloodlust and only lets it "out" when it's absolutely unavoidable: to survive or when she's provoked to the core (as we'll see at the end of the meeting).
She doesn't come to the first meeting out of hunger, but out of curiosity about the unknown boy. She comes to the second meeting despite! her hunger, because she wants to see the boy again and get to know him. In the fourth meeting, she offers him her help because she likes him and wants to (and can) protect him, not because of the prospect of a tasty morsel (perhaps I should have emphasized that a bit more - argh). She comes to the hospital out of concern for Håkan, not with the intention of killing him.
And also now, she doesn't show her vampiric characteristics „just like that“. We have to realize that Oskar is her greatest treasure on earth, and she's listening to him very attentively right now. While Oskar is still engrossed in his story, she can barely contain her upboiling rage. We hear subtle vampire noises and see her "glowing" eyes in the darkness. Of course, she doesn't let it show and is happy for him, but the fate of the villains is already as good as sealed.
Especially in the fourth meeting (Morse Code), where precisely these problems with the bullies triggered her protective instinct and her first physical contact with him, we already see how important he is to her. Even then, we heard a vampire noise from her in the silence after her offer of help, and here she reacts to Oskar's report in the same way – only in a more intense form.
This leads us, whether we like it or not, to another thought: What will be going on at Conny's house? There, the invisible "chief thug" Jimmy will begin plotting revenge against Oskar. In other words, the end game, the fairytale final battle between Good and Evil in the indoor swimming pool, is already slowly taking shape.
Both are happy to finally be able to spend time together undisturbed. As a symbol of her vulnerability, she has taken off her jacket (we see her pink sweater with the aforementioned symbolism) and strolls through the room, smiling and relaxed, completely letting her guard down. However, when the cassette player is turned on, she is startled again. This time by the excessive volume, which she immediately turns down.
Oskar's idea of ritual blood brotherhood is another typically childlike attempt to communicate his overwhelming feelings to Eli. Of course, it's pretty martial and he shows off a bit and acts like the pain doesn't bother him.
In principle, the situation can be compared to the fifth meeting at the candy store, except that here Eli no longer has a choice about his involuntary "surprise gift" (his smilingly offered blood-dripping left hand). The two little incidents before have "activated" her like a proximity mine. At the unexpected sight of his warm, fresh blood, the vampire bursts out of her like a force of nature. The sudden transformation of her child form into a significantly older being with a different voice and back again represents her inner struggle against the bloodlust and is simultaneously meant to make us realize that Oskar has now seen her hideous, previously well-hidden vampire form.
For the poor girl, this means the worst possible outcome: the abrupt, unthinkable end of her relationship with Oskar, something that should never have happened, but which she had always secretly feared. Desperate and close to tears, she runs away.
This whole situation is probably usually passed over with less appreciation than it deserves. Of course, we all know that more has to happen because the film isn't over yet. But for Eli, it represents exactly the same horrific emotional experience as for Oskar after the final breakup at the tenth meeting. She has just lost the love of her life and is completely convinced she will never see him again. She is at her "low point" in the story.
From a fairytale perspective, this trial is actually a complete failure - or is it? To come to a decision, we should take another look at the structure of the meeting. So let's turn our attention to Oskar, who is standing alone in the basement, agitated and visibly blaming himself—and that's precisely the point.
As he delivers his excited report, we hear Eli say his name twice in a row, her tone becoming increasingly alarmed. She does this, of course, out of fear of losing control of herself and, as a result, everything she holds dear. A loss of control because of her affection for him? This must be particularly disturbing for her, who is usually so self-controlled. For us, it's proof of Oskar's dominant position in her emotional life.
While she licks his blood (now, unfortunately, uncontrollably), we hear Oskar say her name twice in a row, his tone becoming increasingly alarmed. He's almost certainly doing this less out of fear of her than out of concern FOR her. His body language is clear: he doesn't step back in shock, he doesn't make a protective gesture, his face isn't contorted, and he doesn't tremble as if paralyzed by shock. Rather, he watches his girlfriend with growing unease, wondering what's happening to her and what she's doing there on the ground.
This test was (also) passed through things and actions that were provoked but didn't occur. He didn't scream in fear or run away in terror, even though he was clearly instructed and had every reason to do so.
The main thing, however, for the test to have been passed is that – in the fairytale sense – the prince simply survived this little adventure. This reminds us once again what his trials actually consist of. He is not only supposed to prove his own qualities (trust, generosity, steadfastness, loyalty, justness, honesty, courage), but at the same time, he is supposed to free the princess from her curse (distrust, fear, callousness, etc.), slowly making her "human" again.
As a result of this progress, she didn't pounce on Oskar or lose complete control of herself (even in her vampire form, she demanded he leave).
Their friendship was put to a severe test and ultimately proved stronger than Eli's connection to the monster.
From her perspective, their relationship may have failed miserably, but for him, it's only a small step backward—if anything. His averted gestures suggest that he's now slowly beginning to understand the many inconsistencies: how she knew where he lived, why she never gets cold, why she sometimes gives off a strange smell and her face looks odd at the same time, why she doesn't know her birthday, why she had to throw up behind the candy store, why he only ever sees her in the evenings, why she has strange, old handwriting, how she came through his window last night, and why the heck she knows in every game of Bulleribock. He's probably blaming himself for not having noticed this sooner.
Cheers from Dietz
(and of course more later)
The film was edited to a millimeter scale, so to speak, and the sound is so sophisticated that we'd better wear headphones. There are no coincidences or insignificances.
In this context (I repeat myself), it's important that we remember the role the adults play in the film. Everything is seen and told through the eyes of Oskar, a child. The distant and strange adult world exists solely to provide the background and contrast to the main plot. We are introduced to individual characters only insofar as they are intended to help us better understand the children and their relationship with one another.
The director therefore tries his best to nip any emerging sympathy with the adults in the bud – they are unimportant and would distract from the main plot. These efforts, of course, also apply to the so-called "Nobel Prize Committee": the Lacke-Virginia theme complex, including Jocke, Morgan, Gösta and Larry. As an example, Lacke's permanently grumpy expression with drooping mouth corners and his rather unpleasant behavior throughout the plot are enough.
We will follow the director's example and only draw comparisons to the adults when they arise from the children's story. Therefore, we will only address the obvious in the following.
The people in this circle of friends seem to have known each other for some time, and we suspect they meet regularly at the "Sun Palace." At second glance, the restaurant is a veritable gathering place for Blackeberg's less well-off population. Everyone (except Virginia) looks relatively shabby, partly unshaven, with greasy hair and worn clothes (for comparison, we have, for example, Håkan, Oskar's parents and teachers).
The group's clothing is the first thing that catches the eye and also carries a message: their proverbial "thick-skinnedness", insensitivity, and passivity toward the concerns of their fellow humans is particularly well illustrated by the many layers and barriers of their jackets. Larry, for example, wears a casual jacket under his leather jacket and a cardigan over it all, (not to forget his dawn cap which he never takes off). Lacke, Jocke, and Gösta look similar. (Clearly visible in Lacke's case when he sits next to Håkan.)
Everyone hangs around the bar, indulges in their pleasures (alcohol, smoking) and engages in seemingly endless discussions about all sorts of important and unimportant topics (the death penalty in the current legal system?, Russians and rattlesnakes?). Sure, they may be sociable, but when it comes down to taking care of their friends, they don't have the drive to act - see Jocke's disappearance. They just sit and wait.
The director goes into greater detail with Virginia and Lacke in particular. This makes them all the more interesting for our purposes, as we now need to determine what exactly he wants to tell us about the two children based on the adult scenes.
They are designed as a counterpoint to Eli and Oskar. Perhaps not as a complete black-and-white opposite, but as a couple who take a different path. (According to the audio commentary, he sees them as variants who grew up without the resulting predicaments of vampirism and school violence.) Let's take a look at the respective characters:
Eli and Virginia:
Like Eli and Oskar, both have very different hair colors—black/blonde (the audio commentary explicitly mentions actress Ika Nord's specially bleached hair).
Both experience diametrically opposed relationships and emotional trajectories, with the associated red/white color change.
Both make different decisions about their continued existence as vampires.
Oskar and Lacke:
Both wear cowboy boots and scarves.
Lacke develops revenge fantasies, Oskar gets rid of them.
Of course, just like Eli and Virginia, both experience a contradictory relationship.
Their characterizations are very contrasting: Lacke is immature and passive, while Oskar behaves very maturely at times and becomes active.
Oskar has four bullies, Lacke has four friends.
These, as well as all the other similes and contrasts in the film, help us better understand various aspects and messages. Through comparative analysis, we can draw conclusions about the characters and their inner motivations. Black-white/blonde, red-white, violence-tenderness, callousness-love, loneliness-connection, loud-quiet, good-evil, active-passive, secret-public. The director has scattered clues throughout the film like breadcrumbs for us.
A rather obvious example is the relatively rapid suicide of vampire Virginia in contrast to the almost eternal existence of vampire Eli. A perhaps not so obvious example is the comparison of Lacke's suitcase with Eli's apartment.
In Virginia's case, the obvious parallels with Eli are almost unavoidable. Since we anticipated the girl's color change over the course of the plot right at the beginning, we can now delve into Virginia's theme in more detail.
She is the epitome of innocence, purity, love, and joie de vivre. In contrast to Eli, she is in a romantic relationship at the beginning, has various friends, and leads a rich social life. She and her apartment are depicted in every possible shade of red, which is intended to emphasize her pronounced humanity and emotional richness. Virginia's first appearance upon entering the "Sun Palace" is particularly striking in terms of color – she and everything around her is red.
One might assume that she's the exact opposite of Eli, but I think Virginia and Eli are much more alike than they seem. Without the forced vampire, Eli could almost be Virginia's exact spitting image. Oskar's sadistic bullies must be seen as the opposite, but the ethical aspects belong elsewhere.
Over the course of the plot, her relationship with Lacke falls apart, triggered by Jocke's death, Lacke's insulting remark in the bed scene, and finally by his rant at Gösta's. In the end, she becomes a vampire, and her color scheme changes drastically from red to white. This reflects her lost love for Lacke, the sudden loneliness and hopelessness that arise from the nasty realization of the consequences of her new role as a blood-sucking vampire - her "dehumanization" and thus separation from the social fabric so important to her.
She makes a conscious decision against this new role, which would require her to abandon her innocence and combine deadly violence with her humanistic conscience and joy of life. She redeems herself from this impending fate and ends her life with sunlight.
This is her most striking difference from Eli, who is willing to continue her life despite all adversities and, with Oskar's help, slowly and steadily changes color from white-gray to red over the course of the film. A sign of her transformation from an ice-cold, emotionless and lonely to a human, feeling, social and loving vampire girl.
Oskar's and Lacke's starting situation is similarly contradictory. Lacke begins with everything: a girlfriend, four friends instead of four tormenting bullies (Jocke instead of Jimmy, Larry instead of Conny, Morgan instead of Martin, Gösta instead of Andreas), and regular social contacts at the "Sun Palace." However, he doesn't seem to appreciate this, because everything is somehow naturally there and comes to him. He doesn't have to do anything for it.
In the restaurant, he stands up briefly, Virginia comes to him, and they hug. As he says goodbye to Jocke, he stops, Jocke comes to him, and they hug. His world is well-arranged, and everything is going according to his ideas; he is content. But it is fragile and begins to crumble piece by piece when his best friend Jocke disappears. From this point on, his passivity, his helplessness, and his confusion become apparent, leading to his loss of everything. Only at the end, when he has nothing left, does he realize how good his life was at the beginning and perhaps even all the things he did wrong.
Oskar begins roughly where Lacke ends – lonely and abandoned, with compulsive aggression (revenge), anxious, passive, and hopeless. But he's willing to give anything to escape his hellish life. He recognizes his happiness in Eli almost immediately and doesn't let her go until the bitter/happy end.
Lacke's proverbial carefree, ignorance and naivety are evident right from the beginning: He unashamedly urinates in the open, in public, right in front of the apartment building (00:04:45). Oskar, on the other hand, does so hidden from the bullies in the locked school toilet stall (00:15:20), which demonstrates his immediate predicament and the resulting anxious vigilance, isolation, and longing for a different, better life. (The first deleted scene is fitting here.)
Their different approaches and priorities in life are also visualized by another example: Lacke constantly wears his lighter around his neck - a symbol of his careless, hedonistic traits; he's always ready for a smoke break. Oskar, on the other hand, always wears his wristwatch - an expression of his sense of responsibility and consideration.
The two also share a common diverging phenomenon, comparable to the opposite red-white development of Eli and Virginia, only somewhat more subtle. More on this in a later article. Until then, you still have some time to puzzle it over.
A) at the frozen lake
After Oskar has successfully defended himself against the bullies, he looks almost gleefully at Conny, who is kneeling in front of him, injured and screaming in pain. He enjoys his victory and the feelings that come with it – the shift from oppression and intimidation to liberation and encouragement. He has visibly grown, his self-confidence has increased, and he smiles happily and triumphantly, with the blue sky behind him.
At the sight of Oskar's smile, our feelings are rather mixed, and the warning soundtrack also raises doubts about whether we should feel unconditionally happy for him.
A bleeding left ear compared to a scratch on the left cheek represents an escalation. The red stick could very well be his knife next time (‚spoiler alert‘).
Both events will certainly trigger reactions in the future, which in turn will create further problems.
Lacenaire pointed out in the forum long ago that in real life, the correct course of action in this situation is to seek help from a grown up. Oskar would have had the opportunity to do so, too: In the school scene before the second meeting, the teacher clearly points the class to the school psychologist - but here, of course, the film is about a dramatic climax.
At the same moment, just a few meters away, Jocke's body is discovered by two children. This simultaneity seems to be particularly important to the director: Conny and the children scream like scalded cats at the same moment.
Both incidents are the result of conflicts that have been simmering "beneath the surface," and they are interrelated. They are reactions against forms of imposed violence. (Oskar reacts to the physical violence imposed on him; Eli reacts to the natural violence of starvation imposed on her.)
Furthermore, the director perhaps wants to indicate the logical sequence and end of the escalation: from the teasing/scratch – via the bleeding ear – to the corpse.
We see a qualitative shift from passivity to activity, from secrecy to obviousness in the story.
The director reinforces the reference to the commonality of the events through:
a) the red stick as a symbolic link, which had previously been used to hide Eli's victim. Instead of allowing his tormentors to push him "passively" into the ice hole and shove him under the ice, Oskar seizes the tool himself and defends himself against the planned violence.
b) the simultaneity of their occurrences
c) the signal-like screaming, which is symbolic for the birth-like emergence of the bloody resistance. The public now knows about Oskar's problems and the fatal outcome of Eli's (naturally unknown) vampiric predicament.
At the end of the scene, Larry walks unfazed past Jocke's corpse to make two things clear: The apathy of the world depicted in the film applies not only to the children, but also to the adults themselves. At this point, Lacke knows for sure that Jocke is dead.
B) Oskar comes home
... and witnesses the angry phone conversation between his parents about the incident at the lake. He stands in front of the apartment door, listening to his mother's angry voice like a sweet melody, without the slightest hint of remorse on his face. Her nagging has the same meaning as Conny's screaming—the wailing reaction of those around him to his actions.
Unfortunately, we hear that, despite everything, his parents are only concerned with themselves and their developing inconveniences ("Oh yes, they will blame us!"). They have no interest in dealing with him and the causes of his problems.
His mother wants nothing to do with any of this and is unwilling or unable to discuss it objectively with his father – evident from her dismissive gestures and the fact that she immediately hands the phone to Oskar.
The same is true for his father. The brief phone conversation with him is meaningless for the boy – it's about trivial matters ("Is the bike working? We'll see.") rather than his own concerns.
C) Oskar in the gym.
Emboldened by his success, the boy continues his strength training with double effort. He doesn't rest on his laurels, possibly anticipating a reaction from his opponents.
seventh meeting - at the public swimming pool/in the "forbidden" basement
Martin seems to have doubts about his previous actions. His monologue and his fake waving, however, seem ambivalent. This short sequence helps us better understand his later role as a traitor.
Meanwhile, Eli is waiting for Oskar outside the swimming pool, watching him through one of the huge windows. As brief and inconspicuous as this scene may be, it tells us a lot about what's going on inside the girl.
We see her standing with her right hand against the see-through and "hear-through" barrier. A great improvement compared to the desperate wall scene before the sixth meeting. This time, she doesn't look like a neglected heap of misery, but rather like a very prettily dressed girl: hat, jacket, gloves, shoes, and (as we briefly see later) a bag slung over her shoulder, paired with the already slightly visible edge of her new pink sweater, symbolic of her developing emotions. She is barely distinguishable from children her age, visible proof of her intention to transform herself as closely as possible into a human being and, of course, to please Oskar.
However, she doesn't seem to be particularly happy looking through the window. Apparently, she'd like to splash around in the water with him and the other children.
But something else seems to be going on inside her. Her right hand isn't just resting on the glass, but directly on Oskar, or, seen from inside the window, on his reflection, as if she were watching over him. Her gaze is somewhat suspicious and searching, scanning the pool area instead of resting attentively on him, as one might expect. It's perhaps a bit far-fetched, but perhaps she's trying to track down the fools who had the audacity to threaten and hurt him.
His hopping around in front of her on the way to the basement shows his excitement about the success story at the lake and his secret plan with the blood brotherhood. They both arrive in the cellar and suddenly stand in the dark. Oskar is so excited while telling her his news that he almost stutters and forgets to turn on the light. There has been speculation in the forum about why Eli is making such strange noises right now, why her eyes are starting to phosphorize, and why her pupils are becoming reptilian.
To put it bluntly: She has very good control over herself and her abilities, even when she's hungry. She hates her bloodlust and only lets it "out" when it's absolutely unavoidable: to survive or when she's provoked to the core (as we'll see at the end of the meeting).
She doesn't come to the first meeting out of hunger, but out of curiosity about the unknown boy. She comes to the second meeting despite! her hunger, because she wants to see the boy again and get to know him. In the fourth meeting, she offers him her help because she likes him and wants to (and can) protect him, not because of the prospect of a tasty morsel (perhaps I should have emphasized that a bit more - argh). She comes to the hospital out of concern for Håkan, not with the intention of killing him.
And also now, she doesn't show her vampiric characteristics „just like that“. We have to realize that Oskar is her greatest treasure on earth, and she's listening to him very attentively right now. While Oskar is still engrossed in his story, she can barely contain her upboiling rage. We hear subtle vampire noises and see her "glowing" eyes in the darkness. Of course, she doesn't let it show and is happy for him, but the fate of the villains is already as good as sealed.
Especially in the fourth meeting (Morse Code), where precisely these problems with the bullies triggered her protective instinct and her first physical contact with him, we already see how important he is to her. Even then, we heard a vampire noise from her in the silence after her offer of help, and here she reacts to Oskar's report in the same way – only in a more intense form.
This leads us, whether we like it or not, to another thought: What will be going on at Conny's house? There, the invisible "chief thug" Jimmy will begin plotting revenge against Oskar. In other words, the end game, the fairytale final battle between Good and Evil in the indoor swimming pool, is already slowly taking shape.
Both are happy to finally be able to spend time together undisturbed. As a symbol of her vulnerability, she has taken off her jacket (we see her pink sweater with the aforementioned symbolism) and strolls through the room, smiling and relaxed, completely letting her guard down. However, when the cassette player is turned on, she is startled again. This time by the excessive volume, which she immediately turns down.
Oskar's idea of ritual blood brotherhood is another typically childlike attempt to communicate his overwhelming feelings to Eli. Of course, it's pretty martial and he shows off a bit and acts like the pain doesn't bother him.
In principle, the situation can be compared to the fifth meeting at the candy store, except that here Eli no longer has a choice about his involuntary "surprise gift" (his smilingly offered blood-dripping left hand). The two little incidents before have "activated" her like a proximity mine. At the unexpected sight of his warm, fresh blood, the vampire bursts out of her like a force of nature. The sudden transformation of her child form into a significantly older being with a different voice and back again represents her inner struggle against the bloodlust and is simultaneously meant to make us realize that Oskar has now seen her hideous, previously well-hidden vampire form.
For the poor girl, this means the worst possible outcome: the abrupt, unthinkable end of her relationship with Oskar, something that should never have happened, but which she had always secretly feared. Desperate and close to tears, she runs away.
This whole situation is probably usually passed over with less appreciation than it deserves. Of course, we all know that more has to happen because the film isn't over yet. But for Eli, it represents exactly the same horrific emotional experience as for Oskar after the final breakup at the tenth meeting. She has just lost the love of her life and is completely convinced she will never see him again. She is at her "low point" in the story.
From a fairytale perspective, this trial is actually a complete failure - or is it? To come to a decision, we should take another look at the structure of the meeting. So let's turn our attention to Oskar, who is standing alone in the basement, agitated and visibly blaming himself—and that's precisely the point.
As he delivers his excited report, we hear Eli say his name twice in a row, her tone becoming increasingly alarmed. She does this, of course, out of fear of losing control of herself and, as a result, everything she holds dear. A loss of control because of her affection for him? This must be particularly disturbing for her, who is usually so self-controlled. For us, it's proof of Oskar's dominant position in her emotional life.
While she licks his blood (now, unfortunately, uncontrollably), we hear Oskar say her name twice in a row, his tone becoming increasingly alarmed. He's almost certainly doing this less out of fear of her than out of concern FOR her. His body language is clear: he doesn't step back in shock, he doesn't make a protective gesture, his face isn't contorted, and he doesn't tremble as if paralyzed by shock. Rather, he watches his girlfriend with growing unease, wondering what's happening to her and what she's doing there on the ground.
This test was (also) passed through things and actions that were provoked but didn't occur. He didn't scream in fear or run away in terror, even though he was clearly instructed and had every reason to do so.
The main thing, however, for the test to have been passed is that – in the fairytale sense – the prince simply survived this little adventure. This reminds us once again what his trials actually consist of. He is not only supposed to prove his own qualities (trust, generosity, steadfastness, loyalty, justness, honesty, courage), but at the same time, he is supposed to free the princess from her curse (distrust, fear, callousness, etc.), slowly making her "human" again.
As a result of this progress, she didn't pounce on Oskar or lose complete control of herself (even in her vampire form, she demanded he leave).
Their friendship was put to a severe test and ultimately proved stronger than Eli's connection to the monster.
From her perspective, their relationship may have failed miserably, but for him, it's only a small step backward—if anything. His averted gestures suggest that he's now slowly beginning to understand the many inconsistencies: how she knew where he lived, why she never gets cold, why she sometimes gives off a strange smell and her face looks odd at the same time, why she doesn't know her birthday, why she had to throw up behind the candy store, why he only ever sees her in the evenings, why she has strange, old handwriting, how she came through his window last night, and why the heck she knows in every game of Bulleribock. He's probably blaming himself for not having noticed this sooner.
Cheers from Dietz
(and of course more later)
Last edited by Dietz on Mon May 19, 2025 6:44 am, edited 4 times in total.
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
Just wanted to chime in and say that even if I don't comment, I for one am still reading everything you post here. I don't always agree with your interpretations, but it's interesting seeing your perspective and pointing out visual details I hadn't thought about. Keep it up.
De höll om varandra i tystnad. Oskar blundade och visste: detta var det största. Ljuset från lyktan i portvalvet trängde svagt in genom hans slutna ögonlock, la en hinna av rött för hans ögon. Det största.
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
Hello again and thank you Siggdalos for you message and of course i understand, especially for this film it’s an old forum, so i don’t really expect anyone to comment. In a way it is a two bladed sword. On one side i somehow enjoy to develop and lay out my thoughts undisturbed on the other it would be interesting to know if there are any factual errors and what others may see differently. But again, all this is a long time past and let's not forget that since then the worldwide production has increased many-fold. I heard that just within January 2020 there was already as many music releases as in the year of 1990 altogether. Same probably goes for the film industry. So all of this here seems to be just but a raindrop in an ocean of chatter. Still I'm happy to be here and it looks like the occasional newly infected finds it's way to us.
On a side note:
Another thought that occurred to me meanwhile, about Eli watching over Oskar from outside the swimming pool window. According to his report later, where he mentions his tormentors by name, we can safely assume that Eli knows every single one of them already. That in turn means she also knows about Martin and his deeds and doesn’t need to look for Oskar's enemies, but just keeps a watchful eye.
I also think we see a good example of what Eli will be doing during her absence between the tenth meeting and the finale.
On a side note:
Another thought that occurred to me meanwhile, about Eli watching over Oskar from outside the swimming pool window. According to his report later, where he mentions his tormentors by name, we can safely assume that Eli knows every single one of them already. That in turn means she also knows about Martin and his deeds and doesn’t need to look for Oskar's enemies, but just keeps a watchful eye.
I also think we see a good example of what Eli will be doing during her absence between the tenth meeting and the finale.
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
I agree with Siggdalos.Dietz wrote: ↑Mon May 05, 2025 4:28 amHello again and thank you Siggdalos for you message and of course i understand, especially for this film it’s an old forum, so i don’t really expect anyone to comment. In a way it is a two bladed sword. On one side i somehow enjoy to develop and lay out my thoughts undisturbed on the other it would be interesting to know if there are any factual errors and what others may see differently. But again, all this is a long time past and let's not forget that since then the worldwide production has increased many-fold. I heard that just within January 2020 there was already as many music releases as in the year of 1990 altogether. Same probably goes for the film industry. So all of this here seems to be just but a raindrop in an ocean of chatter. Still I'm happy to be here and it looks like the occasional newly infected finds it's way to us.
On a side note:
Another thought that occurred to me meanwhile, about Eli watching over Oskar from outside the swimming pool window. According to his report later, where he mentions his tormentors by name, we can safely assume that Eli knows every single one of them already. That in turn means she also knows about Martin and his deeds and doesn’t need to look for Oskar's enemies, but just keeps a watchful eye.
I also think we see a good example of what Eli will be doing during her absence between the tenth meeting and the finale.
Keep 'em coming. I also enjoy reading a fresh, new POV.
We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain. (Roberto Bolaño)
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
A) in Gösta's apartment
After Jocke's death is officially announced, all the friends are sitting around in Gösta's apartment.
Why at Gösta's apartment in particular when, according to Morgan's comment, he hasn't been to the Sun Palace in ages and is therefore socially the furthest away from the group and doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone?
Who exactly is Gösta, the wayward wood gnome, the smelly hermit, the crazy cat grandpa?
Gösta is the epitome of the strange loner and the withdrawn. He is the invisible center of the group and represents their passive behavior. He lives hidden away in his rotting, dingy shack far away on the top floor of some terraced house. He is more interested in his cats - the center of his life - than in his fellow human beings. Gösta doesn't stick his neck out for anyone; even his feline companions have more guts than he does. He represents, so to speak, the collective, dormant and scruffy conscience, the secret attitude and life motto of the entire group (maybe even all of Blackeberg).
Gösta is the living counterpart to Håkan the "quasi-undead vampire father." He is weak, anxious, and sensitive, but completely passive and indifferent. The safest place on earth is his apartment with his cats. Just like Håkan, he lives completely separated from the rest of the world. He exists without any devotion or commitment to anyone except his cats.
He has a particularly close bond with his little black cat - a clear analogy to black-haired Eli. It is this black cat that he speaks to soothingly, strokes, and holds protectively in his arms in moments of danger: during Jocke's death and during Virginia's threatening approach. Both times, he stands terrified on his balcony. His apartment is just as neglected as Håkan's and Eli's. Like Håkan, he is never seen in daylight. He could be sitting in his armchair mummified and surrounded by his dead cats already for months - no one would notice.
At first he enters the bar excited and Lacke and Virginia immediately retreat in disgust - symbolically anticipating some unpleasantness. He reports what he's observed and all his friends, who had been peacefully dozing until then, come along, startled and curious. They all see clearly that something terrible must have happened to Jocke.
We see Lacke's bloody hand as a sign of the violence inflicted on Jocke, and thus also on him, his best friend - a knocking of fate at his door. We also see how important this whole thing is to him. Before he kneels down to examine the crime scene, he even puts down his all-important suitcase.
Right now we see the cause and beginning of his revenge fantasies, the beginning of the end of his life so far, and the failure or the great disadvantage of his (and everyone else's) approach to life: "Charity begins at home." or "All problems will solve themselves to my advantage." They will this time too, just not to his.
He now has the opportunity to react actively and do something. Every one of them could go to the police and report the incident. Larry could have later simply gone over to Avila and the police officer at the location where Jocke's body was found. But what happens? Nothing.
Afterwards they go back to what they always do, what they've always done: sit together, drink, smoke, and discuss things until dawn – without consequences. Everyone waits for something to happen and for someone else to take action on their behalf.
Everyone is now gathered in Gösta's private apartment, rather than in the pub - a "public place." This indicates the shift in focus to Lacke's "inner", private conflicts. Gösta's apartment becomes, so to speak, a visualization of his inner dialogue with his conscience, his reflections and his credo - including everyone present.
Lacke: "They had to use a chainsaw to get him out. Go tell the cops your story. What's your problem, Gösta? What the hell are you worrying about?"
Gösta: "Interrogation, and stuff."
Morgan: "What do you mean?"
Gösta: "They might shut me into one of those rooms... and shine bright lights in my eyes."
Lacke: "Jocke and I were this close."
Gösta: "I'm sorry, but I can't..."
Larry: "It's your duty, you witnessed a crime."
Gösta's explanations are exposed as trumped-up excuses, blatant lies and a sign of complete indifference by the focus on Larry's absent, sleepy gaze and his completely inappropriate, "wrong" banana - instead of his beloved beer. Everyone here thinks the same way as Gösta, the same like Oskar's parents. Larry’s off-screen objection that there is an obligation to testify is ignored and goes unanswered.
Lacke's clenched fists and painfully contorted face show us the consequences of losing his best friend: his grief, his pent-up aggression, and his desire for revenge.
Only Virginia and Morgan, who pats Lacke's knee reassuringly, briefly show sympathy for his grief.
Lacke: "You go on about what a great guy he was... But now that he's gone, I have nothing left. Nothing..."
Lacke complains loudly about the loss of his friend and the fact that no one is doing anything about it, but does nothing himself. Gösta strokes his cat, and Virginia cautiously and casually glances at her watch - as an expression of the general lack of interest.
Actually his remark is an insult to all the friends present, especially Virginia, but it gets worse. She tries to comfort him anyway, but is immediately snapped at by him. His body language alone suggests his priorities. Instead of turning trustingly to his girlfriend, he spends the entire time leaning on his suitcase, which he has hoisted onto the sofa next to him. This "promotion" of the object to the same level as those present demonstrates its importance to Lacke.
Virginia: "But Lacke..."
Lacke: "Stop that shit! Don't give me your goddamn "Lacke, Lacke." You don't understand shit. You're cold, fucking ice cold! You've never understood anything."
Lacke is far too preoccupied with himself, his grief and his anger, to consider Virginia or anyone else. Confused and blinded by pain, he takes out his grief and revenge aggression on her and loses her through this immature and revealing behavior. His ranting jolts Larry and Gösta out of their drowsiness. Enraged, Virginia slaps him on the left arm and leaves him and Gösta's apartment.
He can't come to terms with the fact, that she won't tolerate this and is now sadly running away from him. He follows her startled and calls after her. Finally, she stops and waits for him. They stand facing each other in the street.
This scene clearly shows how accustomed Lacke has become to the norm of his previously comfortable life. He - unlike Oskar - has never learned to treat others with consideration and selflessness or to resolve conflicts with initiative and effort, because it has never been necessary.
This is his big moment. He has the chance to turn things around, but he lets it slip away. Just like with Jocke, he does nothing and waits for something to happen, for everything to somehow turn out for the better.
He doesn't approach Virginia, apologize and take her in his arms. He stays standing and waits for her to come to him, like when she greeted him in the restaurant, like when Jocke left.
Virginia recognizes his distant, hesitant demeanor and his indecision. She shakes her head in disappointment and leaves. It's all over. Shortly after she lies injured on the floor, as if to prove it.
But now, in a moment when things are clearly getting dangerous for Virginia, Lacke shows us his true, good side. Without thinking he immediately runs, throws his suitcase away without hesitation and comes to her aid.
Lacke is by no means a bad person with malicious intent. He is a normal, imperfect human being in an imperfect world and he behaves accordingly - just like all the other characters in the film.
After taking forever to pull himself together, he finally delivers his apology at the most inopportune moment and assures her of his love. But by then it's already too late. Virginia is visibly in pain in response to his murmured expression of love. She is already, without knowing it, on the path to the other side of humanity.
Here we see another curious example of the director's almost desperate attempts to portray the adults in the film as neutral and passive as possible: Morgan and Larry follow the two not out of concern (as originally intended), but because Lacke has stolen Larry's lighter (audio commentary).
If we compare the previous seventh meeting of the children in the "forbidden" basement with this immediately following meeting of the adults at Gösta's, parallels become apparent.
Both meetings take place in rather unusual locations, shielded from the outside world. If Gösta's apartment is meant to visualize Lacke's upper story, then we can view the "forbidden" basement as Eli's big problem, as the fairy-tale equivalent of the "dangerous monster lair of the cursed princess". Both meetings depict the interpersonal reactions and consequences resulting from Eli's and Lacke's conflicts respectively. Both couples experience their separation for very different reasons (but then again maybe not so different at all).
Virginia wants to assure Lacke of her affection, but is harshly rejected. She runs away from him because Lacke, under the pressure of suffering and aggression, reveals his immature and selfish nature, thus destroying their relationship. Virginia gives him another chance to return to her, but he hesitates, keeps his distance and thus fails his test (Lacke is "lacking a lot").
Oskar wants to assure Eli of his overwhelming affection and is also "rejected." He doesn't run away even though Eli, under the pressure of hunger and bloodlust, reveals her terrible vampire nature, seemingly destroying their relationship. Eli gives him another chance to escape, but Oskar stays by her side as if it were a given, thus passing this fourth trial. (She then disappears herself to protect him.)
Lacke didn't fight back, didn't do anything to control or limit his grief, aggression, or feelings of revenge. He simply kept quiet and bottled everything up inside – with further destructive consequences. But responsibility doesn't rest solely on his shoulders. If we imagine the whole group would've went to the police together straight away, giving support to Gösta and Lacke, the outcome of this meeting would've surely been completely different.
Oskar on the other hand had Eli's support; he showed initiative and effort, did something to "free" himself. Perhaps not a perfect solution (if such a thing even exists), but a solution nonetheless in his indifferent world. This later enabled him not only to save his relationship with her, but even to strengthen it. His self-harm scene is interesting in this context. It would have been enough to just prick his finger, but Oskar cuts his entire left palm to establish his blood brotherhood with Eli.
On the one hand this illustrates how serious he is about her, the magnitude of his feelings, his willingness to sacrifice and his willingness to go to great lengths for her. But it also illustrates (in contrast to Lacke) his slow development away from the aggression imposed on him: Through this act he transforms his personal „revenge-knife“ from a weapon into a tool, with which he wants to express his very deep and overflowing feelings. (Just as he previously transformed the red signal stick from a tool into a weapon to tenaciously defend himself.) Well, a weapon is basically a tool in itself, but we can see the change in purpose and intention. Instead of wanting to hurt others, he hurts himself for complete different reasons.
B) Virginia at home
The next morning an increasingly worried Virginia notices that something is wrong with her. The scene explains to the audience her slow transformation into a vampire and with it, some of Eli's traits.
In the opening shot her original red theme is once again clearly showcased.
C) the boy's unhappy visit to his father
After initially seeing a continuation of the previous happy visit, Oskar is ultimately deeply disappointed in his father.
The friendly neighbor (snow-covered slippers) comes over for a casual visit and distracts the father with his presence. It turns out that the father's interest in his son (as already hinted at by the previous phone conversation) only extends as long as it doesn't conflict with his personal preferences.
[The audio commentary further explains that this is neither about homosexuality nor about alcohol addiction. It's normal for neighbors to visit each other unannounced and to use this as an opportunity to empty a bottle or two. I think this is by no means a unique "Swedish" behavior. Due to the incredibly long, dark winters, there is generally a higher psychological affinity for alcohol consumption in the northern regions of the world. In many affected areas, appropriate, sometimes very successful, countermeasures are in place.]
"TO FLEE IS LIFE, TO LINGER, DEATH. YOUR ELI"
Due to the incident in the forbidden basement, Oskar now understands Eli's message. Of course he doesn't know all of her vampiric quirks, but he probably recognizes some basic connections with the many inconsistencies: her offer of help, her hypersensory perception, her ability to fly/climb, the bloodless deaths reported in the newspaper, etc.
He realizes that this isn't entirely a kind message from his girlfriend.
Following the fundamental paradigm shift of the overall narrative in the sixth meeting (passivity to activity, secrecy to revelation), this small piece of cardboard represents Eli's first, cautious, deliberately placed, cryptic hint to her vampire nature.
In the context of this one might naturally ask whether Eli really took the easy way back through his apartment door or whether the cardboard box inside and the virgin snow outside the window were part of this enigmatic message? No normal person could have vanished through the window so without a trace and without considerable effort…
Oskar takes Eli's message literally. His premature departure from his father simultaneously signifies an ever-increasing attraction to her - symbolized by his running toward her and merging with her two large eyes „glowing“ in the darkness. He wants to „flee“ with her and finally "live."
The fact that he always carries her message with him proves that he never had any doubts about her.
D) vampire Virginia frantically searches for blood
... and in her desperation decides to nomm the unknown and unimportant Gösta. No one will miss the selfish and secretive loner. For her he represents the shortest route to blood and the least damage she can cause.
By chance Lacke is sitting on Gösta's sofa and unwittingly thwarts her plans. The brief interlude at the table shows that he is completely alone and helpless without Virginia. He doesn't know what to do without her and instead hangs around Gösta's smelly apartment, practically talking to himself. He hasn't learned anything and continues on as before, like a wound-up music box. Virginia is his only and last point of reference in life.
Virginia realizes right now (her inner conflict is symbolized by the cat scene, which is horrific in several ways) that no matter how unknown or unsympathetic the next victim may be, it will always be a sentient human being with their own desires and hopes, with family members and friends. She cannot bring herself to kill and is tormented by her conscience (the biting cats).
Similar and unlike the lonely, cornered Håkan, lucky Gösta is not trapped. The cause of Håkan's demise was the affection between the young men searching for their friend; the cause of Gösta's rescue is the affection between Virginia and Lacke, as well as Virginia's "biting" doubts.
Gösta is an unworthy wretch: When he recognizes the danger (immediately after inviting Virginia in), we hear his cat scream and Gösta yelp in alarm. Instead of warning Lacke, he escapes to the balcony, leaving him to his unknown fate.
Shortly thereafter, Virginia is admitted to the hospital.
eighth meeting - in the girl's apartment
Oskar goes to Eli's apartment immediately after arriving and Morse codes her name instead of knocking.
Eli: "Oskar, is that you?"
Oskar: "Yeah."
The girl's voice behind the apartment door is fatally weak. This must be a moment of utter confusion for her, a mixture of despair, fear, longing and hope.
As mentioned at the very beginning, we see - in keeping with Eli's state of mind - an almost complete color-visual regression from the relaxed, nicely dressed girl in a pink sweater to a similar image to that in the wall scene: distraught, dirty, smelly, the stripes on her sweater with a final touch of pink.
Oskar doesn't notice any of this and shows no need to speak, as evidenced by his curious upward gaze as he enters the apartment. With his nose slightly wrinkled, he walks into her apartment somewhat bewildered and looks around with interest, while Eli, visibly dejected, waits behind his back for his reaction to the last disastrous meeting.
This kind of presentation tells us the following: Oskar visits Eli completely unsuspectingly and unknowingly (she is placed directly behind him, out of his field of vision). He immediately notices that something is wrong (his wrinkled nose), but doesn't connect it to her. The director deliberately shows Oskar to be slow on the uptake in this scene to ensure that we truly notice his cluelessness.
Oskar turns around, but not to talk to her. He naturally wants to pass her to look at the rest of the apartment. Now Eli feels uneasy. She doesn't let him pass and closes the glass door between her and Oskar as a sign of her incredulous mistrust, her need for clarification.
From his behavior we can tell how little impression the events of the last meeting made on him. (And indeed, neither of them did anything wrong and Eli, well... is a little weird sometimes.)
His preliminary suspicion that Eli must be a vampire didn't cause him any troubled sleep. He would never have gone to his father if he had known about her pain. He didn't worry about her in the slightest, because he had no idea what a terrible time she had been through since then. The faucet slowly dripping in the leaden silence gives us an idea.
We can practically see Oskar's mind starting to work. He realizes that something is wrong with HER. She maintains her silence and looks at him sadly and expectantly through the window.
Oskar: "Are you a vampire?"
Eli: "I live off blood... Yes."
He gets straight to the point, unmoved. From this alone we can conclude that he's already thought about it. His questions therefore represent his priorities. We can safely omit the question mark from this first one. He just needs to turn his 90 percent guess into a certainty.
Thus, very suddenly and right at the beginning, the least important topic for him, the most important one for her (the elephant in the room) and at the same time the most obvious one is checked off and vaporizes. As a sign of her relief and renewed hope she places a hand on the glass pane, which Oskar immediately reciprocates.
Oskar: "Are you... dead?"
Eli: "No. Can't you tell?"
Oskar: "But... Are you old?"
Eli: "I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time."
Oskar simply wants to make sure that he's really dealing with a "living" child of his own age and not with a "dead" being who can't feel anything or is perhaps just pretending. Is this relationship, with his and her feelings, real or is he just imagining it all and she's faking it? Does she really want to play bulleribock with him and enjoy romping around? Are they on the same page? Does she have any ulterior motives? Everything else is irrelevant.
Considering his previous obsession with the murder articles, one might have expected completely different questions. Instead they're all about their very personal affairs. Eli is probably quite surprised inside: Oskar is not impressed by her "horrible" secret at all and he's clearly not the least bit afraid. He still sees her as his very special human girlfriend. All the other things she's now indirectly confirmed to him don't bother him in the slightest - contrary to her fears - and don't affect his current view of her.
Simultaneous with the dialogue, the movements of their hands on the glass pane show us their mutual scanning and attempts to determine whether anything has changed in their relationship, whether they are truly still the same as before. Oskar follows her every move without hesitation.
Relieved and still somewhat disbelieving she opens the door and lets him in. To demonstrate his changed attention and sensitivity toward her, Oskar doesn't simply step through, looking around curiously as he did at the beginning, but instead walks purposefully toward Eli.
As already described at the very beginning, her color scheme (symbolizing her human side and the affection for Oskar) not only changes for the first time during a meeting, but also intensifies from the pale pink stripes, to the pink sweater of the last meeting, to a deep red sweater. Eli is therefore convinced that she has "her" Oskar back (in reality, she never lost him) and that she has underestimated him once again.
Next we move on to the central table and her belongings scattered across it.
According to the screenwriter, the puzzle egg illustrates the pointless time and immense effort Eli invested into putting this construct together. [Originally, it was supposed to disintegrate into thousands of pieces. This could presumably not be realized for technical reasons.]
By asking Oskar to place his finger on the tip and thus causing the egg to disintegrate, she shows us the insignificance of years of effort now lost compared to her regained boyfriend.
Furthermore the egg (very fitting for a fairytale princess) symbolizes her incomprehensible wealth, in which Oskar shows no interest whatsoever.
His question about the tied rings is the last one in the film that Eli doesn't answer. Unlike all the other unanswered questions it remains unanswered until the very end. (Perhaps it is revealed, unknown to us, during the Mind Meld scene.) Evasive answers or no answers at all were more common from her at the beginning and decreased as the story progressed. Oskar's last (temporary) unanswered question so far was his counter-question at the candy store.
The fact that Eli now silently turns away and slowly walks out of the frame shows us that there is still a certain mistrust on her side and other unresolved issues between them. Since the table contains her personal belongings, we can assume that the rings also have a special meaning for her that she isn't willing to explain to Oskar (yet). We will come back to this in the next article.
He immediately realizes that he's raised a sensitive issue, leaves it at that and strolls into the kitchen, looking around attentively.
Oskar: "I'm going home now. I have flyers to distribute tomorrow."
Eli: "To earn money?"
Oskar: "Um-hmm."
Eli: "I can give you money. Here. Take it if you like."
Oskar: "You stole this... from the people you killed, right?"
Eli: "It was given to me."
Oskar: "By whom?"
Eli: "By different people."
Oskar: "I want to go home now. If you'll let me."
We can safely assume that it's indeed stolen money and she is giving it to him to help him and to get him to stay.
The remarkable thing about this situation is Oskar's incredibly clear ethical assessment of Eli's actions. The boy isn't shocked by the fact that his girlfriend is a mass murderer, but becomes very disgruntled when she wants to give him the money stolen from the dead and, on top of that, lies to him twice. (She is of course scared by his strong reaction and doesn't want to upset him further, but in doing so she achieves exactly the opposite.)
The killing is a cruel but unavoidable necessity; the theft is a clear violation of his sense of justice; the lies are a blow to their honest relationship and paint Eli in a bad light. Eli is HIS greatest treasure on earth - the relationship is mutual in this regard - and therefore he reacts to her unnecessary misstep with a similar emotionality to how she reacted to the disaster in the basement. Through his behavior he shows her that he fully supports her, no matter what she has to do. But he will under no circumstances tolerate her damaging herself or their relationship.
Not only is her behavior diametrically opposed to her own! and his inner values, it also undermines the foundations of their relationship: justice, honesty and responsibility.
With his final remark he provocatively insinuates that she would even use force to detain him, since she couldn't "buy" him with her stolen money.
He has taken on another obligation - delivering the flyers - and she offers him an easy way out with the money. In doing so she (perhaps unintentionally) tempts him to shirk his responsibility. The gift is poisoned and would slowly destroy everything they both hold dear.
How would Lacke (or any of us) have decided in his place? Oskar has just passed his fifth trial.
His very upset look down at her as he leaves speaks volumes. Ouch. Eli knows what she's just done and watches him go, pleading and guilt-ridden. She wants to sink into the ground.
The final image of the scene is extremely important: The index finger of her right hand in the background points admonishingly - and that includes all of us - in the direction of the filthy lucre. (Invisible outside the frame on the edge of the stove.)
[The deleted scene in which they make up at the end would follow now.]
Among other things the director is trying to make it clear that no one in the film is without mistakes. He doesn't want the children to be portrayed as flawless role models. He will use a similar approach with Oskar at the next meeting.
But the following message is much more important to him: A loving relationship is based on sound principles, even if they aren't always easy to adhere to. This means you have to educate "improve" each other, ergo take responsibility for each other. Here, he lets the children do exactly what would actually be the task of the missing parents. They are thus unconsciously on the right path (and already knee-deep in the Fourth Layer).
Cheers from Dietz
(and more later, of course)
ps
As you may have noticed I recently added the term 'film analysis' to the thread title to reflect the initially unintended more extensive nature of the content. Furthermore I placed a supplemental paragraph below the first meeting’s article, in which I try to correct a wrong assumption of mine. Changing the original text didn't seem to be the right course of action, as I usually just come back to improve some expressions and grammar (except in the starting review which was quite the disaster in that regard).
After Jocke's death is officially announced, all the friends are sitting around in Gösta's apartment.
Why at Gösta's apartment in particular when, according to Morgan's comment, he hasn't been to the Sun Palace in ages and is therefore socially the furthest away from the group and doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone?
Who exactly is Gösta, the wayward wood gnome, the smelly hermit, the crazy cat grandpa?
Gösta is the epitome of the strange loner and the withdrawn. He is the invisible center of the group and represents their passive behavior. He lives hidden away in his rotting, dingy shack far away on the top floor of some terraced house. He is more interested in his cats - the center of his life - than in his fellow human beings. Gösta doesn't stick his neck out for anyone; even his feline companions have more guts than he does. He represents, so to speak, the collective, dormant and scruffy conscience, the secret attitude and life motto of the entire group (maybe even all of Blackeberg).
Gösta is the living counterpart to Håkan the "quasi-undead vampire father." He is weak, anxious, and sensitive, but completely passive and indifferent. The safest place on earth is his apartment with his cats. Just like Håkan, he lives completely separated from the rest of the world. He exists without any devotion or commitment to anyone except his cats.
He has a particularly close bond with his little black cat - a clear analogy to black-haired Eli. It is this black cat that he speaks to soothingly, strokes, and holds protectively in his arms in moments of danger: during Jocke's death and during Virginia's threatening approach. Both times, he stands terrified on his balcony. His apartment is just as neglected as Håkan's and Eli's. Like Håkan, he is never seen in daylight. He could be sitting in his armchair mummified and surrounded by his dead cats already for months - no one would notice.
At first he enters the bar excited and Lacke and Virginia immediately retreat in disgust - symbolically anticipating some unpleasantness. He reports what he's observed and all his friends, who had been peacefully dozing until then, come along, startled and curious. They all see clearly that something terrible must have happened to Jocke.
We see Lacke's bloody hand as a sign of the violence inflicted on Jocke, and thus also on him, his best friend - a knocking of fate at his door. We also see how important this whole thing is to him. Before he kneels down to examine the crime scene, he even puts down his all-important suitcase.
Right now we see the cause and beginning of his revenge fantasies, the beginning of the end of his life so far, and the failure or the great disadvantage of his (and everyone else's) approach to life: "Charity begins at home." or "All problems will solve themselves to my advantage." They will this time too, just not to his.
He now has the opportunity to react actively and do something. Every one of them could go to the police and report the incident. Larry could have later simply gone over to Avila and the police officer at the location where Jocke's body was found. But what happens? Nothing.
Afterwards they go back to what they always do, what they've always done: sit together, drink, smoke, and discuss things until dawn – without consequences. Everyone waits for something to happen and for someone else to take action on their behalf.
Everyone is now gathered in Gösta's private apartment, rather than in the pub - a "public place." This indicates the shift in focus to Lacke's "inner", private conflicts. Gösta's apartment becomes, so to speak, a visualization of his inner dialogue with his conscience, his reflections and his credo - including everyone present.
Lacke: "They had to use a chainsaw to get him out. Go tell the cops your story. What's your problem, Gösta? What the hell are you worrying about?"
Gösta: "Interrogation, and stuff."
Morgan: "What do you mean?"
Gösta: "They might shut me into one of those rooms... and shine bright lights in my eyes."
Lacke: "Jocke and I were this close."
Gösta: "I'm sorry, but I can't..."
Larry: "It's your duty, you witnessed a crime."
Gösta's explanations are exposed as trumped-up excuses, blatant lies and a sign of complete indifference by the focus on Larry's absent, sleepy gaze and his completely inappropriate, "wrong" banana - instead of his beloved beer. Everyone here thinks the same way as Gösta, the same like Oskar's parents. Larry’s off-screen objection that there is an obligation to testify is ignored and goes unanswered.
Lacke's clenched fists and painfully contorted face show us the consequences of losing his best friend: his grief, his pent-up aggression, and his desire for revenge.
Only Virginia and Morgan, who pats Lacke's knee reassuringly, briefly show sympathy for his grief.
Lacke: "You go on about what a great guy he was... But now that he's gone, I have nothing left. Nothing..."
Lacke complains loudly about the loss of his friend and the fact that no one is doing anything about it, but does nothing himself. Gösta strokes his cat, and Virginia cautiously and casually glances at her watch - as an expression of the general lack of interest.
Actually his remark is an insult to all the friends present, especially Virginia, but it gets worse. She tries to comfort him anyway, but is immediately snapped at by him. His body language alone suggests his priorities. Instead of turning trustingly to his girlfriend, he spends the entire time leaning on his suitcase, which he has hoisted onto the sofa next to him. This "promotion" of the object to the same level as those present demonstrates its importance to Lacke.
Virginia: "But Lacke..."
Lacke: "Stop that shit! Don't give me your goddamn "Lacke, Lacke." You don't understand shit. You're cold, fucking ice cold! You've never understood anything."
Lacke is far too preoccupied with himself, his grief and his anger, to consider Virginia or anyone else. Confused and blinded by pain, he takes out his grief and revenge aggression on her and loses her through this immature and revealing behavior. His ranting jolts Larry and Gösta out of their drowsiness. Enraged, Virginia slaps him on the left arm and leaves him and Gösta's apartment.
He can't come to terms with the fact, that she won't tolerate this and is now sadly running away from him. He follows her startled and calls after her. Finally, she stops and waits for him. They stand facing each other in the street.
This scene clearly shows how accustomed Lacke has become to the norm of his previously comfortable life. He - unlike Oskar - has never learned to treat others with consideration and selflessness or to resolve conflicts with initiative and effort, because it has never been necessary.
This is his big moment. He has the chance to turn things around, but he lets it slip away. Just like with Jocke, he does nothing and waits for something to happen, for everything to somehow turn out for the better.
He doesn't approach Virginia, apologize and take her in his arms. He stays standing and waits for her to come to him, like when she greeted him in the restaurant, like when Jocke left.
Virginia recognizes his distant, hesitant demeanor and his indecision. She shakes her head in disappointment and leaves. It's all over. Shortly after she lies injured on the floor, as if to prove it.
But now, in a moment when things are clearly getting dangerous for Virginia, Lacke shows us his true, good side. Without thinking he immediately runs, throws his suitcase away without hesitation and comes to her aid.
Lacke is by no means a bad person with malicious intent. He is a normal, imperfect human being in an imperfect world and he behaves accordingly - just like all the other characters in the film.
After taking forever to pull himself together, he finally delivers his apology at the most inopportune moment and assures her of his love. But by then it's already too late. Virginia is visibly in pain in response to his murmured expression of love. She is already, without knowing it, on the path to the other side of humanity.
Here we see another curious example of the director's almost desperate attempts to portray the adults in the film as neutral and passive as possible: Morgan and Larry follow the two not out of concern (as originally intended), but because Lacke has stolen Larry's lighter (audio commentary).
If we compare the previous seventh meeting of the children in the "forbidden" basement with this immediately following meeting of the adults at Gösta's, parallels become apparent.
Both meetings take place in rather unusual locations, shielded from the outside world. If Gösta's apartment is meant to visualize Lacke's upper story, then we can view the "forbidden" basement as Eli's big problem, as the fairy-tale equivalent of the "dangerous monster lair of the cursed princess". Both meetings depict the interpersonal reactions and consequences resulting from Eli's and Lacke's conflicts respectively. Both couples experience their separation for very different reasons (but then again maybe not so different at all).
Virginia wants to assure Lacke of her affection, but is harshly rejected. She runs away from him because Lacke, under the pressure of suffering and aggression, reveals his immature and selfish nature, thus destroying their relationship. Virginia gives him another chance to return to her, but he hesitates, keeps his distance and thus fails his test (Lacke is "lacking a lot").
Oskar wants to assure Eli of his overwhelming affection and is also "rejected." He doesn't run away even though Eli, under the pressure of hunger and bloodlust, reveals her terrible vampire nature, seemingly destroying their relationship. Eli gives him another chance to escape, but Oskar stays by her side as if it were a given, thus passing this fourth trial. (She then disappears herself to protect him.)
Lacke didn't fight back, didn't do anything to control or limit his grief, aggression, or feelings of revenge. He simply kept quiet and bottled everything up inside – with further destructive consequences. But responsibility doesn't rest solely on his shoulders. If we imagine the whole group would've went to the police together straight away, giving support to Gösta and Lacke, the outcome of this meeting would've surely been completely different.
Oskar on the other hand had Eli's support; he showed initiative and effort, did something to "free" himself. Perhaps not a perfect solution (if such a thing even exists), but a solution nonetheless in his indifferent world. This later enabled him not only to save his relationship with her, but even to strengthen it. His self-harm scene is interesting in this context. It would have been enough to just prick his finger, but Oskar cuts his entire left palm to establish his blood brotherhood with Eli.
On the one hand this illustrates how serious he is about her, the magnitude of his feelings, his willingness to sacrifice and his willingness to go to great lengths for her. But it also illustrates (in contrast to Lacke) his slow development away from the aggression imposed on him: Through this act he transforms his personal „revenge-knife“ from a weapon into a tool, with which he wants to express his very deep and overflowing feelings. (Just as he previously transformed the red signal stick from a tool into a weapon to tenaciously defend himself.) Well, a weapon is basically a tool in itself, but we can see the change in purpose and intention. Instead of wanting to hurt others, he hurts himself for complete different reasons.
B) Virginia at home
The next morning an increasingly worried Virginia notices that something is wrong with her. The scene explains to the audience her slow transformation into a vampire and with it, some of Eli's traits.
In the opening shot her original red theme is once again clearly showcased.
C) the boy's unhappy visit to his father
After initially seeing a continuation of the previous happy visit, Oskar is ultimately deeply disappointed in his father.
The friendly neighbor (snow-covered slippers) comes over for a casual visit and distracts the father with his presence. It turns out that the father's interest in his son (as already hinted at by the previous phone conversation) only extends as long as it doesn't conflict with his personal preferences.
[The audio commentary further explains that this is neither about homosexuality nor about alcohol addiction. It's normal for neighbors to visit each other unannounced and to use this as an opportunity to empty a bottle or two. I think this is by no means a unique "Swedish" behavior. Due to the incredibly long, dark winters, there is generally a higher psychological affinity for alcohol consumption in the northern regions of the world. In many affected areas, appropriate, sometimes very successful, countermeasures are in place.]
"TO FLEE IS LIFE, TO LINGER, DEATH. YOUR ELI"
Due to the incident in the forbidden basement, Oskar now understands Eli's message. Of course he doesn't know all of her vampiric quirks, but he probably recognizes some basic connections with the many inconsistencies: her offer of help, her hypersensory perception, her ability to fly/climb, the bloodless deaths reported in the newspaper, etc.
He realizes that this isn't entirely a kind message from his girlfriend.
Following the fundamental paradigm shift of the overall narrative in the sixth meeting (passivity to activity, secrecy to revelation), this small piece of cardboard represents Eli's first, cautious, deliberately placed, cryptic hint to her vampire nature.
In the context of this one might naturally ask whether Eli really took the easy way back through his apartment door or whether the cardboard box inside and the virgin snow outside the window were part of this enigmatic message? No normal person could have vanished through the window so without a trace and without considerable effort…
Oskar takes Eli's message literally. His premature departure from his father simultaneously signifies an ever-increasing attraction to her - symbolized by his running toward her and merging with her two large eyes „glowing“ in the darkness. He wants to „flee“ with her and finally "live."
The fact that he always carries her message with him proves that he never had any doubts about her.
D) vampire Virginia frantically searches for blood
... and in her desperation decides to nomm the unknown and unimportant Gösta. No one will miss the selfish and secretive loner. For her he represents the shortest route to blood and the least damage she can cause.
By chance Lacke is sitting on Gösta's sofa and unwittingly thwarts her plans. The brief interlude at the table shows that he is completely alone and helpless without Virginia. He doesn't know what to do without her and instead hangs around Gösta's smelly apartment, practically talking to himself. He hasn't learned anything and continues on as before, like a wound-up music box. Virginia is his only and last point of reference in life.
Virginia realizes right now (her inner conflict is symbolized by the cat scene, which is horrific in several ways) that no matter how unknown or unsympathetic the next victim may be, it will always be a sentient human being with their own desires and hopes, with family members and friends. She cannot bring herself to kill and is tormented by her conscience (the biting cats).
Similar and unlike the lonely, cornered Håkan, lucky Gösta is not trapped. The cause of Håkan's demise was the affection between the young men searching for their friend; the cause of Gösta's rescue is the affection between Virginia and Lacke, as well as Virginia's "biting" doubts.
Gösta is an unworthy wretch: When he recognizes the danger (immediately after inviting Virginia in), we hear his cat scream and Gösta yelp in alarm. Instead of warning Lacke, he escapes to the balcony, leaving him to his unknown fate.
Shortly thereafter, Virginia is admitted to the hospital.
eighth meeting - in the girl's apartment
Oskar goes to Eli's apartment immediately after arriving and Morse codes her name instead of knocking.
Eli: "Oskar, is that you?"
Oskar: "Yeah."
The girl's voice behind the apartment door is fatally weak. This must be a moment of utter confusion for her, a mixture of despair, fear, longing and hope.
As mentioned at the very beginning, we see - in keeping with Eli's state of mind - an almost complete color-visual regression from the relaxed, nicely dressed girl in a pink sweater to a similar image to that in the wall scene: distraught, dirty, smelly, the stripes on her sweater with a final touch of pink.
Oskar doesn't notice any of this and shows no need to speak, as evidenced by his curious upward gaze as he enters the apartment. With his nose slightly wrinkled, he walks into her apartment somewhat bewildered and looks around with interest, while Eli, visibly dejected, waits behind his back for his reaction to the last disastrous meeting.
This kind of presentation tells us the following: Oskar visits Eli completely unsuspectingly and unknowingly (she is placed directly behind him, out of his field of vision). He immediately notices that something is wrong (his wrinkled nose), but doesn't connect it to her. The director deliberately shows Oskar to be slow on the uptake in this scene to ensure that we truly notice his cluelessness.
Oskar turns around, but not to talk to her. He naturally wants to pass her to look at the rest of the apartment. Now Eli feels uneasy. She doesn't let him pass and closes the glass door between her and Oskar as a sign of her incredulous mistrust, her need for clarification.
From his behavior we can tell how little impression the events of the last meeting made on him. (And indeed, neither of them did anything wrong and Eli, well... is a little weird sometimes.)
His preliminary suspicion that Eli must be a vampire didn't cause him any troubled sleep. He would never have gone to his father if he had known about her pain. He didn't worry about her in the slightest, because he had no idea what a terrible time she had been through since then. The faucet slowly dripping in the leaden silence gives us an idea.
We can practically see Oskar's mind starting to work. He realizes that something is wrong with HER. She maintains her silence and looks at him sadly and expectantly through the window.
Oskar: "Are you a vampire?"
Eli: "I live off blood... Yes."
He gets straight to the point, unmoved. From this alone we can conclude that he's already thought about it. His questions therefore represent his priorities. We can safely omit the question mark from this first one. He just needs to turn his 90 percent guess into a certainty.
Thus, very suddenly and right at the beginning, the least important topic for him, the most important one for her (the elephant in the room) and at the same time the most obvious one is checked off and vaporizes. As a sign of her relief and renewed hope she places a hand on the glass pane, which Oskar immediately reciprocates.
Oskar: "Are you... dead?"
Eli: "No. Can't you tell?"
Oskar: "But... Are you old?"
Eli: "I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time."
Oskar simply wants to make sure that he's really dealing with a "living" child of his own age and not with a "dead" being who can't feel anything or is perhaps just pretending. Is this relationship, with his and her feelings, real or is he just imagining it all and she's faking it? Does she really want to play bulleribock with him and enjoy romping around? Are they on the same page? Does she have any ulterior motives? Everything else is irrelevant.
Considering his previous obsession with the murder articles, one might have expected completely different questions. Instead they're all about their very personal affairs. Eli is probably quite surprised inside: Oskar is not impressed by her "horrible" secret at all and he's clearly not the least bit afraid. He still sees her as his very special human girlfriend. All the other things she's now indirectly confirmed to him don't bother him in the slightest - contrary to her fears - and don't affect his current view of her.
Simultaneous with the dialogue, the movements of their hands on the glass pane show us their mutual scanning and attempts to determine whether anything has changed in their relationship, whether they are truly still the same as before. Oskar follows her every move without hesitation.
Relieved and still somewhat disbelieving she opens the door and lets him in. To demonstrate his changed attention and sensitivity toward her, Oskar doesn't simply step through, looking around curiously as he did at the beginning, but instead walks purposefully toward Eli.
As already described at the very beginning, her color scheme (symbolizing her human side and the affection for Oskar) not only changes for the first time during a meeting, but also intensifies from the pale pink stripes, to the pink sweater of the last meeting, to a deep red sweater. Eli is therefore convinced that she has "her" Oskar back (in reality, she never lost him) and that she has underestimated him once again.
Next we move on to the central table and her belongings scattered across it.
According to the screenwriter, the puzzle egg illustrates the pointless time and immense effort Eli invested into putting this construct together. [Originally, it was supposed to disintegrate into thousands of pieces. This could presumably not be realized for technical reasons.]
By asking Oskar to place his finger on the tip and thus causing the egg to disintegrate, she shows us the insignificance of years of effort now lost compared to her regained boyfriend.
Furthermore the egg (very fitting for a fairytale princess) symbolizes her incomprehensible wealth, in which Oskar shows no interest whatsoever.
His question about the tied rings is the last one in the film that Eli doesn't answer. Unlike all the other unanswered questions it remains unanswered until the very end. (Perhaps it is revealed, unknown to us, during the Mind Meld scene.) Evasive answers or no answers at all were more common from her at the beginning and decreased as the story progressed. Oskar's last (temporary) unanswered question so far was his counter-question at the candy store.
The fact that Eli now silently turns away and slowly walks out of the frame shows us that there is still a certain mistrust on her side and other unresolved issues between them. Since the table contains her personal belongings, we can assume that the rings also have a special meaning for her that she isn't willing to explain to Oskar (yet). We will come back to this in the next article.
He immediately realizes that he's raised a sensitive issue, leaves it at that and strolls into the kitchen, looking around attentively.
Oskar: "I'm going home now. I have flyers to distribute tomorrow."
Eli: "To earn money?"
Oskar: "Um-hmm."
Eli: "I can give you money. Here. Take it if you like."
Oskar: "You stole this... from the people you killed, right?"
Eli: "It was given to me."
Oskar: "By whom?"
Eli: "By different people."
Oskar: "I want to go home now. If you'll let me."
We can safely assume that it's indeed stolen money and she is giving it to him to help him and to get him to stay.
The remarkable thing about this situation is Oskar's incredibly clear ethical assessment of Eli's actions. The boy isn't shocked by the fact that his girlfriend is a mass murderer, but becomes very disgruntled when she wants to give him the money stolen from the dead and, on top of that, lies to him twice. (She is of course scared by his strong reaction and doesn't want to upset him further, but in doing so she achieves exactly the opposite.)
The killing is a cruel but unavoidable necessity; the theft is a clear violation of his sense of justice; the lies are a blow to their honest relationship and paint Eli in a bad light. Eli is HIS greatest treasure on earth - the relationship is mutual in this regard - and therefore he reacts to her unnecessary misstep with a similar emotionality to how she reacted to the disaster in the basement. Through his behavior he shows her that he fully supports her, no matter what she has to do. But he will under no circumstances tolerate her damaging herself or their relationship.
Not only is her behavior diametrically opposed to her own! and his inner values, it also undermines the foundations of their relationship: justice, honesty and responsibility.
With his final remark he provocatively insinuates that she would even use force to detain him, since she couldn't "buy" him with her stolen money.
He has taken on another obligation - delivering the flyers - and she offers him an easy way out with the money. In doing so she (perhaps unintentionally) tempts him to shirk his responsibility. The gift is poisoned and would slowly destroy everything they both hold dear.
How would Lacke (or any of us) have decided in his place? Oskar has just passed his fifth trial.
His very upset look down at her as he leaves speaks volumes. Ouch. Eli knows what she's just done and watches him go, pleading and guilt-ridden. She wants to sink into the ground.
The final image of the scene is extremely important: The index finger of her right hand in the background points admonishingly - and that includes all of us - in the direction of the filthy lucre. (Invisible outside the frame on the edge of the stove.)
[The deleted scene in which they make up at the end would follow now.]
Among other things the director is trying to make it clear that no one in the film is without mistakes. He doesn't want the children to be portrayed as flawless role models. He will use a similar approach with Oskar at the next meeting.
But the following message is much more important to him: A loving relationship is based on sound principles, even if they aren't always easy to adhere to. This means you have to educate "improve" each other, ergo take responsibility for each other. Here, he lets the children do exactly what would actually be the task of the missing parents. They are thus unconsciously on the right path (and already knee-deep in the Fourth Layer).
Cheers from Dietz
(and more later, of course)
ps
As you may have noticed I recently added the term 'film analysis' to the thread title to reflect the initially unintended more extensive nature of the content. Furthermore I placed a supplemental paragraph below the first meeting’s article, in which I try to correct a wrong assumption of mine. Changing the original text didn't seem to be the right course of action, as I usually just come back to improve some expressions and grammar (except in the starting review which was quite the disaster in that regard).
Last edited by Dietz on Sun May 25, 2025 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
A) Lacke with Virginia in the hospital.
With the immediate transition to the next scene, the director makes his intention unmistakably clear. Starting with the last image of the previous scene, Eli's warning finger pointing at the destructive money, he simultaneously has her point at Lacke's suitcase, thus connecting the two scenes. What is he trying to tell us? What is the significance of the mysterious briefcase?
Lacke always carries his suitcase with him. Unlike him, it always looks clean and polished. He rarely lets it out of his hands, and no one knows what's truly hidden inside. Even when saying goodbye to his best friend Jocke, he keeps it in his hand. It seems quite important, thus arousing our curiosity and imagination. The suitcase rubs off on Lacke, making him seem important and interesting to others (audio commentary). Until now. For now, he sits at Virginia's bedside, opens it, and reveals its contents to us.
This suitcase represents the most important thing and, at the same time, the source of all evil in Lacke's life.
Instead of being richly filled with all sorts of personal and useful items, it is completely empty and desolate, except for a cigarette box, two pens, and a crumpled piece of paper. The comparison with Eli's neglected apartment is inevitable, and inevitably also with her symbolically associated, emotionless and lonely (vampire) existence. From a compartment at the edge, Lacke fishes out a small golden envelope containing an incredibly valuable stamp.
Thus, the shiny silver suitcase becomes the exact replica of Eli's priceless, shiny silver puzzle egg with the golden core, which Oskar had no interest in at all – representing years of senselessly sacrificed life time and useless wealth.
Lacke hasn't changed or learned anything. Instead of turning to Virginia and giving her his full attention, he spends the entire time talking to his precious envelope.
What he doesn't notice, but is all the more obvious to us, is that Virginia's color scheme has radically shifted from red to white. She's already made her decision and is no longer interested in anything that might still be important to the living. Instead of holding her hand, Lacke strokes her leather cuffs and shakes them, but Virginia is lost beyond his reach; an insurmountable barrier has formed between them.
For Lacke, this small golden envelope is the Alpha and Omega, his ticket out of Blackeberg, his big trump card, his joker, which he now proudly and confidently pulls from his sleeve to (definitely) win Virginia back. He waves it right in front of her eyes to draw her attention to his "game changer." But it fizzles out. His grand plans, wishes, and dreams - all vain and built on sand. His suitcase and its valuable contents reveal themselves as a hollow status symbol, a seductive illusion and a deceptive hope.
Their eyes meet only once, when Virginia begs him for help in dying. Lacke has reached the bitter end of his journey; we can see it in his face. A miserable heap, desperate, alone, and tormented, he sits there with his money, which has distracted him from the important things in life the whole time. He had always hoped that his life would finally begin, but it just went on. In the end, things got much worse, because now he is left with nothing. Now, at the latest, he realizes how much Virginia really means to him and what he is without her. All he can do is - as always - wait all night in the hospital and hope that everything will turn out for the best.
In this context, we must return to Eli's puzzle egg, which we deliberately treated somewhat carelessly and almost casually in the last article.
Of course, one can try to see certain ambiguities here (e.g. Eli herself, her human core or the love between the two children or their progress, etc.), but I'm pretty sure that the egg is really only meant to represent what it so obviously depicts: useless, overflowing, tempting, dangerous wealth. Let's take another look at the starting point and the structure of the last meeting:
Eli is practically at her wit's end and devastated when Oskar appears out of nowhere. She's overjoyed and willingly answers all his questions until (as in the third meeting) the conversation begins to falter. Only this time, we see a gradual progression from her honest answers to her silence - to outright lies! (Perhaps she really did get the money "through" Håkan, but that doesn't change the core of the situation.)
“Are you a vampire?” – honest answer
"Are you... dead?" – honest answer
"But...Are you old?" – honest answer
“Are you like, poor?” – honest answer
“Where do those rings come from?” – no answer
"You stole this... from the people you killed, right?" – Lie
“By whom?” – Lie
The central trigger for this fatal development is Oskar's question, "Are you like, poor?" upon seeing her apartment, which may not be entirely unjustified.
Perhaps she even suspects that money is somehow important to him; otherwise, why would he ask her such a question? She answers him truthfully that, on the contrary, she is incredibly rich (nuclear power plant), and after he apparently doesn't believe her, she practically rubs it in his face.
The egg scene is very important to the director. Both children point with their fingers at the immense wealth in the middle of the screen. Even the toy figures around it are aligned with the egg and face the center (the mechanical rabbit, the little green man, and the doll with a walking stick).
Oskar is rather unimpressed by all this and immediately asks Eli a question that she finds extremely uncomfortable: "Where do those rings come from?"
We all know where the rings come from, or at least we can guess. All that wealth on the table came at a cruel price - just like the fairy tale treasure of a fire-breathing dragon. Eli suddenly falls silent and discreetly walks out of the picture.
This leads us directly to the major difference between Eli's and Lacke's intentions:
Out of love for Oskar, Eli wants to use the money that's useless to her, "lying around", to help him and gain "quality time" for both of them. She doesn't consider or anticipate the consequences, and the fact that he notices it's stolen, and even wants to protect their relationship from further damage! - by steadfastly claiming it was given to her. To the dead applies the same as to the money: both are cruel but necessary things for her survival – and only for her survival. Any other use would be unjustifiable.
The suitcase of money, on the other hand, is Lacke's purpose in life, a sacred status symbol and panacea – also from a dead man, by the way, but not "stolen". He is REALLY and seriously trying to replace his lost love with it – to "buy back" Virginia and repair their neglected relationship. Actually this is another insult to Virginia, but she doesn't react to it at all because she doesn't care anymore.
B) Oskar at home, brushing his teeth in the evening with his mother.
It's sad and very telling that the two only meet by chance while brushing their teeth in their small apartment and manage to achieve nothing more than a friendly, silent pantomime. Symbolic of an impoverished and completely inadequate mother-child relationship.
Yvonne, like Eric or Lacke, isn't a bad person. But she could be so much more – a loving mother. Unfortunately, she has too much else on her plate and doesn't care about Oskar.
We see or hear her at home in a total of nine scenes, in two of which she's wearing her work clothes. She's either just coming home with the shopping, sitting invisibly on the phone, sitting in front of the television, clearing dinner, or standing angrily on the phone. All scenes in which she doesn't care at all about Oskar or is distracted – except for this one tooth-brushing scene. Here, the two make direct eye contact for the first and only time, smile at each other, but don't speak a word. In the upcoming seventh scene, she is invisible again. In the final ninth she is no longer his mother, but someone else.
Transition Scenes I+II
The threatening first transition scene early in the morning serves as a barely perceptible hint of things to come:
As if in an impending chase, we see two large, black, panting but chained dogs in the foreground, two half-hidden, hooded figures lie waiting in the background, a muffled rumble followed by a whispered, barely intelligible word from off-screen. [You have to turn up the volume. Perhaps someone can translate this, if possible? – Siggdalos? Unfortunately, I couldn't figure it out.]
Then we see the hospital, lying in the icy morning silence.
This is meant to make it clear to us that the previously hidden, invisible forces and truths will now reveal themselves, that the "final phase" of revelations is unfolding. Virginia will inevitably become active, Lacke faces his uncertain fate, and the secret plan of revenge against Oskar has already been decided at this point. It is the calm before the storm.
C) Virginia's End.
After Virginia realizes that Lacke cannot or will not help her die, she seeks another way to redeem herself. Since, bound by her humane codex, she cannot even kill herself, she uses the unwitting nurse to let sunlight into the room.
We see a parable with Håkan here: both characters sacrifice themselves and die in the hospital.
Virginia for her innocence, charity, and humanity. (Again, her name says it all.)
Håkan sacrifices himself for Eli and thus, in reality, for the same ideals as Virginia, which Eli longs for so much!
With his sacrifice, he protects Eli (for now) from her feelings of guilt and thus supports her beyond his death in her "quest" for humanity, in which he cannot follow her. He is like a (vampire)father, full of love for Eli and shows it in the only true and possible way – through his actions.
D) Oskar observes his opponents in front of the school
... who seem to have completely lost interest in him. The previously invisible "overbullie" Jimmy appears and is briefly introduced. He represents, so to speak (similar to Lacke's suitcase), the source of all evil in Oskar's life. And not only his.
In this scene, we learn four facts:
1) Jimmy is very likely Conny's older brother, and they live together.
2) It is pointed out twice that Conny has difficulty hearing in his injured ear.
3) Oskar, who is standing by, is apparently completely ignored and remains unmolested.
4) Instead of Oskar, Conny now torments other children.
Conny: "Hand over your cap. Do it! What's your problem? Give it to me. What are you, some kind of moron? Give it to me."
Martin: "Go for it, Conny! Put up a fight..."
Jimmy: "Are you blind as well as deaf? Hi."
This essentially foreshadows what the bullies have secretly planned for Oskar. Conny is distracted and is "betrayed" by Martin to Jimmy, who sneaks up from behind, overpowers him, and thus shows who's the "boss." Conny's voice sounds as if he's drowning. Jimmy's mocking question to Conny anticipates Oskar's later "choice," which, of course, isn't actually one.
Conny: „Hi. What’s up?“
Jimmy: „Hey, can I borrow the keys?
Conny: „Why?“
Jimmy: „I'm going home.“
Conny: „Sure. Here you go.“
Jimmy: „Thanks. See you later.“
Andreas: „Who’s the boss at your house?“
Martin: „Well, you, Conny...“
Conny: „What are you laughing at?“
Martin: „You only hear half as much.“
Here we see a comparison to Eli's upcoming visit to Oskar. Although both brothers are shown interacting in a friendly manner, it's clear who is the "boss" at home. Conny is physically inferior to Jimmy (just as Oskar is to Eli). Jimmy politely asks him for the keys to the apartment, but could simply take them away from him at any time if Conny refused. Conny MUST give him the keys if he wants to escape unscathed. Their relationship is ultimately based on the law of the jungle - on violence.
Eli, in turn, asks Oskar for entry to his apartment, but could never force her way in if necessary; instead, she is completely dependent on his permission. Oskar MUST extend his invitation to her so that Eli can enter unharmed. Their relationship is based on mutual respect, trust, and friendship.
Eli has a choice - she can either enter or simply leave. Conny has no choice - he is completely at his older brother's mercy in all matters. He is forced to do everything by the constant, subliminal threat. He is thus - just like Eli and Oskar - subjected to external violence, which in his case apparently manifests itself in aggression toward other children.
The director suggests here that everything in the world has a logical reason and that people aren't simply good or evil (as in fairy tales). But as mentioned before - this film is about the dramatic climax. Conny's supporting character isn't meant to be explored further, but rather serves as the cause of Oskar's problems.
ninth meeting - in the boy's apartment
Eli: "Hi."
Oskar: "Hey."
Eli: "You have to invite me in."
Oskar: "What happens if I don't? What happens if you walk in anyway? Is there something in the way?"
Oskar uses Eli's love for him as leverage to force her to accept his rudeness, his disrespect, surrender to him, and come in. What would have happened to Conny and his key if he had tried the same thing with Jimmy?
So far, so unpleasant. But why does Oskar do this, what is his motive? Why does he behave so unlovingly and arrogantly towards Eli?
To avoid drawing false conclusions, we should briefly recall the director's basic concept. He always presents his characters and the plot very clearly and vividly; everything has logical causes. At no point in the film are there any hidden or mysterious ulterior motives or surprise elements. Everything is well-ordered and intended to be easily understandable. Each of us, not just academics, is meant to understand what is happening. Oskar's current behavior must be just as simple and logical to interpret. It must have something to do with his angry departure from Eli during the previous visit.
And one more point that seems important to me after reading countless forum threads:
The director and screenwriter completely chopped and dismembered the original book. Like Dr. Frankenstein, they created a new work from many selected individual pieces. After the director flipped the switch, presumably on a stormy Stockholm night, a completely different, superhuman being emerged. Some details may resemble the original material, but it has its own personality and completely different abilities than the original people from whose corpses it was assembled, and whose remains are now rotting away in the backyard. (Since we're talking about a horror film, I didn't see this comparison as too far-fetched.) Back to the topic.
To better understand Oskar's behavior, we first need to take a closer look at Eli's color code.
So far, we've viewed the red coloration as an indicator of her inner state and emotions, her love for Oskar, and her human development. Now, however, Eli stands in front of his door wearing an almost white blouse AND smiles at Oskar. This doesn't add up.
The original assumption in the review was that this was an exception made by the director, since blood wouldn't be visible on a dark red sweater. However, since we've learned to pay meticulous attention to such details in the course of our film analysis, we must correct this assumption. The director was clearly aware of this contradiction and yet left it as it was; there must be a logical explanation for it within the story.
So far, our interpretation of Eli's color code may have been correct, but during the previous meeting, at the latest, another determining element emerged: Oskar.
His premature return to Eli not only highlights his rapprochement with her, but also his progressive disconnection from the adult world, especially from his parents. His departure also marked his separation from his father, a very drastic but logical step.
By putting on the scarlet sweater of Håkan (her deceased "vampire father"), Eli symbolizes Oskar's change of priorities, his new "father projection" onto her. From now on, Eli has become (by 50%, so to speak) his new center of life. Conversely, Oskar, of course, represents this for Eli as well!
And now we must be very precise to avoid misunderstandings: The children do not see each other as parental figures, but as a kind of subconscious substitute (Fourth Layer). It's "only" about the embodiment of the associated ideals.
Håkan's red sweater corresponds to the red sweater of Oskar's father, who is now also essentially "dead". Oskar had previously wrapped himself in it with longing, love, and trust - until his bitter disappointment. Now Eli symbolically wears the red sweater in his father's place. This represents an incredible increase of Eli's importance in Oskar's world. Eli now embodies "half" of what normal parents represent for a twelve-year-old child.
From this point on, Eli's color code no longer just signals her feelings, but also Oskar's feelings toward her. It has become the benchmark of their relationship. (Perhaps it was from the beginning, but that hasn't mattered until now.)
Shortly thereafter, Eli wants to give him the stolen money - with the well-known consequences.
Now we can perhaps understand his unusually strong reaction to Eli's "unfortunate" gift and her white lie. He feels cheated, betrayed, and deceived by her, just as he had been by his father a short time ago. Through her (from his perspective!) selfish actions, she insults him and his honest intentions; he thinks she's acting out of pure self-interest, like his father. He almost loses faith in their relationship - just as Eli did earlier in the "forbidden" basement.
[This is why the "We Make Up Again" scene was cut. With it, Oskar's condescending behavior at the door would no longer make sense. Ultimately, it was almost certainly an either/or decision for the director.]
Eli runs away from the "forbidden" basement in complete despair, believing she's made an unforgivable mistake. She sits inconsolably in her apartment, not knowing what to do. From Oskar's perspective, the meeting was, as we know, no problem at all.
With the money, she makes a mistake that's forgivable from our perspective – but from Oskar's, it's a catastrophe. Instead of running away in complete despair like Eli, he runs away in anger and disappointment. She tries to stop him and explain herself (she's standing right in front of him in the doorway), but this only leads to his provocative remark.
During her return visit now, we don't see Oskar, like Eli, sitting silently in a corner, dejected and having lost all hope. No, Oskar is processing the incident in a different way: we see him at dinner, reading the newspaper, the radio on. He is trying to distract himself and not giving the situation a moment's thought. For him, everything is crystal clear. Eli is the bad guy and he doesn't believe a word she says. He is completely stubborn. His disappointment is visible in this meeting through Eli's color scheme. Oskar, for his part, now sees her wearing all white with a hint of pink. Their relationship has suffered, the previous significance of the red sweater is almost completely lost to him.
For Eli, however, nothing has changed. She's very happy to see him again and practically adores him. However, his disparaging treatment of her changes this rapidly. Fortunately, she immediately notices what's going on and, at the risk of her life, proves to him that she's serious about him (second sacrifice - audio commentary). In this moment, she demonstrates incredible trust in him – an unexpected reversal of their previous roles! and an embarrassing exposure of his childish behavior.
Essentially, we see a comparison to Virginia and Lacke's situation.
Just like Lacke at Gösta’s, Oskar behaves abusively toward his girlfriend because he is blinded by pain. He denies his love for her and shows no joy that she is visiting him and dressed herself up for him. It doesn't even occur to him to try to communicate with her and resolve his problems.
Like Lacke later on the street, he stands on his side of the door, waiting ("tsk, tsk, tsk") for her to come over to him. With the flat of his hand, he shows us the invisible barrier he has erected between himself and Eli.
Instead of shaking her head in disappointment like Virginia, turning around, and walking away, Eli comes over with a sad and heavy heart and shows him the consequences of his actions. Instead of shedding tears of grief and disappointment like Virginia, blood pours from every pore of her body.
Oskar: "No! You can come in!"
Suddenly, the boy realizes what's happening to her and recognizes his mistake and his stubborn actions. Unlike Lacke, he doesn't wait until it's too late. He immediately cries out in alarm and jumps to her to save her. He hugs her and luckily for him, it's not too late to apologize and show his affection for Eli. Phew.
Oskar's overreaction almost damaged their relationship. All because Eli had made a mistake earlier. Fortunately, he's not afraid to admit his in time.
Another lesson from the screenwriter and director: Greatness of character is demonstrated by the ability to be forgiving and generous towards others. Oskar was trapped in his ego-centrism, too self-absorbed and thus forgot empathy, trust and respect.
Oskar: „Who are you?“
Eli: „I’m like you.“
Oskar: „What do you mean?“
Eli: „What are you staring at? Well? Are you looking at me? Then squeal like a pig! Squeal!”
Eli: „Those were the first words I heard you say.“
Oskar: „I don’t kill people.“
Eli: „No… But you’d like to, if you could… To get revenge. Right?“
Oskar: „Yes.“
Eli: „Oskar, I do it because I have to. Be me, for a little while. Please, Oskar… be me, for a little while.“
Once again it is made clear that this isn't about the differences between Eli and Oskar, not about vampire/human, rich/poor, strange/normal, strong/weak, but about their similarities, their similar predicaments and everyday problems, their mutual loneliness and simultaneous search for mutual support. The director invites us to put ourselves in each other's shoes and to feel the same way as the other person. Only in this way can we truly understand our fellow human beings and thus their feelings and actions.
In a way, Oskar is and always has been the more childlike part of this relationship. Eli always acts very maturely, knows exactly what she wants, and has clear expectations, probably because she has more existential problems. He, on the other hand, learns over the course of their relationship that it's no longer just about Bulleribock and sweets, but about him and Eli as a unit that must be treated seriously. He begins to understand that their very close and solid friendship is more than that. He is the one who learns from the developing love, whose character is shaped.
After the mind meld, Oskar sits on the sofa, stunned, and has to process everything. He has to swallow several times and, full of horror and worry, looks after Eli, who has just disappeared into the bathroom. We can take Eli's "be me a little while" literally; he now knows her life story. Only now does he know what it means to live as a vampire: in godforsaken solitude, constantly on the run, in danger and fear – of the next dawn, the next gruesome murder, the tormenting dreams, the persecution, the threatening knocking on the apartment door. His school problems seem almost banal in comparison. And despite everything, she had patience and time for him, offered him her help and gave him advice.
He now understands the reason for her ridiculously small mistake, why she wanted to give him the money: so that he would stay with her a little while longer, after she thought he was lost forever. Only now does he truly know what a treasure he holds in his hands. This is immediately apparent from his changed behavior: With a polite gesture, he points Eli toward Yvonne's room and courteous takes the bloody clothes from her hand. Eli thanks him. Oskar has passed his sixth trial.
Just like Eli did before in the "forbidden" basement, Oskar now provides the music. Instead of turning down the volume, however, he turns it up. A sign that their relationship is no longer just a tender, blossoming love affair. Her smile as she returns from the bathroom shows that everything is back to normal between them. (Only when he puts her blood-soaked clothes on the shelf do we see that her previous medieval trousers with the rope have transformed into pretty jeans with a white belt.)
Now that all questions and misunderstandings have been resolved (cleared up by his final sneak peek during her cloth change), elation and intimate togetherness reign between the two. For the second time, the girl's red theme intensifies within a single encounter – from the previous deep red sweater, to the white blouse, to the completely red dress.
Right now, Oskar is already unconsciously saying goodbye to his mother. As with the red "father"-sweater, the "mother"-dress now symbolizes Eli's and Oskar's additional projection of the second parent onto their respective counterpart.
Eli's happy and confident twirl has the same meaning for both children: "Look at me. Thanks to you, I and our relationship are now perfect and like new."
Oskar has completely detached himself from his parental home. Eli has become the irrevocable anchor point in his life. They have found their true love in each other.
His mother's arrival is an annoying inconvenience for Oskar. He stalls her with various excuses, because the woman at the apartment door is no longer a person he can trust. He has to arrange everything so that no unnecessary questions or problems arise.
He doesn't simply return Eli's things and send her away. Instead, he takes her by the hand and brings, no, personally pulls and leads her behind him into his room – another representation of his rejection of his mother and his desire to "escape" with Eli. To illustrate the deep bond of trust between the two, Eli practically flies to her window before his very eyes and waves lovingly at him, while his mother delivers some kind of unimportant monologue in the hallway.
Cheers from Dietz
(and more later)
ps 27.05.2025
One small point I forgot. As mentioned, Lacke keeps his briefcase in his hand while hugging his best friend Jocke - just as Oskar keeps his bag of sweets in his hand when he embraces Eli in their fifth meeting. I don't think these scenes are meant to make us compare the sweets to the briefcase (although we could), but rather to point out the comparable importance of Eli and Jocke to their respective counterparts. And it's a small hint at the similarities between Oskar and Lacke.
With the immediate transition to the next scene, the director makes his intention unmistakably clear. Starting with the last image of the previous scene, Eli's warning finger pointing at the destructive money, he simultaneously has her point at Lacke's suitcase, thus connecting the two scenes. What is he trying to tell us? What is the significance of the mysterious briefcase?
Lacke always carries his suitcase with him. Unlike him, it always looks clean and polished. He rarely lets it out of his hands, and no one knows what's truly hidden inside. Even when saying goodbye to his best friend Jocke, he keeps it in his hand. It seems quite important, thus arousing our curiosity and imagination. The suitcase rubs off on Lacke, making him seem important and interesting to others (audio commentary). Until now. For now, he sits at Virginia's bedside, opens it, and reveals its contents to us.
This suitcase represents the most important thing and, at the same time, the source of all evil in Lacke's life.
Instead of being richly filled with all sorts of personal and useful items, it is completely empty and desolate, except for a cigarette box, two pens, and a crumpled piece of paper. The comparison with Eli's neglected apartment is inevitable, and inevitably also with her symbolically associated, emotionless and lonely (vampire) existence. From a compartment at the edge, Lacke fishes out a small golden envelope containing an incredibly valuable stamp.
Thus, the shiny silver suitcase becomes the exact replica of Eli's priceless, shiny silver puzzle egg with the golden core, which Oskar had no interest in at all – representing years of senselessly sacrificed life time and useless wealth.
Lacke hasn't changed or learned anything. Instead of turning to Virginia and giving her his full attention, he spends the entire time talking to his precious envelope.
What he doesn't notice, but is all the more obvious to us, is that Virginia's color scheme has radically shifted from red to white. She's already made her decision and is no longer interested in anything that might still be important to the living. Instead of holding her hand, Lacke strokes her leather cuffs and shakes them, but Virginia is lost beyond his reach; an insurmountable barrier has formed between them.
For Lacke, this small golden envelope is the Alpha and Omega, his ticket out of Blackeberg, his big trump card, his joker, which he now proudly and confidently pulls from his sleeve to (definitely) win Virginia back. He waves it right in front of her eyes to draw her attention to his "game changer." But it fizzles out. His grand plans, wishes, and dreams - all vain and built on sand. His suitcase and its valuable contents reveal themselves as a hollow status symbol, a seductive illusion and a deceptive hope.
Their eyes meet only once, when Virginia begs him for help in dying. Lacke has reached the bitter end of his journey; we can see it in his face. A miserable heap, desperate, alone, and tormented, he sits there with his money, which has distracted him from the important things in life the whole time. He had always hoped that his life would finally begin, but it just went on. In the end, things got much worse, because now he is left with nothing. Now, at the latest, he realizes how much Virginia really means to him and what he is without her. All he can do is - as always - wait all night in the hospital and hope that everything will turn out for the best.
In this context, we must return to Eli's puzzle egg, which we deliberately treated somewhat carelessly and almost casually in the last article.
Of course, one can try to see certain ambiguities here (e.g. Eli herself, her human core or the love between the two children or their progress, etc.), but I'm pretty sure that the egg is really only meant to represent what it so obviously depicts: useless, overflowing, tempting, dangerous wealth. Let's take another look at the starting point and the structure of the last meeting:
Eli is practically at her wit's end and devastated when Oskar appears out of nowhere. She's overjoyed and willingly answers all his questions until (as in the third meeting) the conversation begins to falter. Only this time, we see a gradual progression from her honest answers to her silence - to outright lies! (Perhaps she really did get the money "through" Håkan, but that doesn't change the core of the situation.)
“Are you a vampire?” – honest answer
"Are you... dead?" – honest answer
"But...Are you old?" – honest answer
“Are you like, poor?” – honest answer
“Where do those rings come from?” – no answer
"You stole this... from the people you killed, right?" – Lie
“By whom?” – Lie
The central trigger for this fatal development is Oskar's question, "Are you like, poor?" upon seeing her apartment, which may not be entirely unjustified.
Perhaps she even suspects that money is somehow important to him; otherwise, why would he ask her such a question? She answers him truthfully that, on the contrary, she is incredibly rich (nuclear power plant), and after he apparently doesn't believe her, she practically rubs it in his face.
The egg scene is very important to the director. Both children point with their fingers at the immense wealth in the middle of the screen. Even the toy figures around it are aligned with the egg and face the center (the mechanical rabbit, the little green man, and the doll with a walking stick).
Oskar is rather unimpressed by all this and immediately asks Eli a question that she finds extremely uncomfortable: "Where do those rings come from?"
We all know where the rings come from, or at least we can guess. All that wealth on the table came at a cruel price - just like the fairy tale treasure of a fire-breathing dragon. Eli suddenly falls silent and discreetly walks out of the picture.
This leads us directly to the major difference between Eli's and Lacke's intentions:
Out of love for Oskar, Eli wants to use the money that's useless to her, "lying around", to help him and gain "quality time" for both of them. She doesn't consider or anticipate the consequences, and the fact that he notices it's stolen, and even wants to protect their relationship from further damage! - by steadfastly claiming it was given to her. To the dead applies the same as to the money: both are cruel but necessary things for her survival – and only for her survival. Any other use would be unjustifiable.
The suitcase of money, on the other hand, is Lacke's purpose in life, a sacred status symbol and panacea – also from a dead man, by the way, but not "stolen". He is REALLY and seriously trying to replace his lost love with it – to "buy back" Virginia and repair their neglected relationship. Actually this is another insult to Virginia, but she doesn't react to it at all because she doesn't care anymore.
B) Oskar at home, brushing his teeth in the evening with his mother.
It's sad and very telling that the two only meet by chance while brushing their teeth in their small apartment and manage to achieve nothing more than a friendly, silent pantomime. Symbolic of an impoverished and completely inadequate mother-child relationship.
Yvonne, like Eric or Lacke, isn't a bad person. But she could be so much more – a loving mother. Unfortunately, she has too much else on her plate and doesn't care about Oskar.
We see or hear her at home in a total of nine scenes, in two of which she's wearing her work clothes. She's either just coming home with the shopping, sitting invisibly on the phone, sitting in front of the television, clearing dinner, or standing angrily on the phone. All scenes in which she doesn't care at all about Oskar or is distracted – except for this one tooth-brushing scene. Here, the two make direct eye contact for the first and only time, smile at each other, but don't speak a word. In the upcoming seventh scene, she is invisible again. In the final ninth she is no longer his mother, but someone else.
Transition Scenes I+II
The threatening first transition scene early in the morning serves as a barely perceptible hint of things to come:
As if in an impending chase, we see two large, black, panting but chained dogs in the foreground, two half-hidden, hooded figures lie waiting in the background, a muffled rumble followed by a whispered, barely intelligible word from off-screen. [You have to turn up the volume. Perhaps someone can translate this, if possible? – Siggdalos? Unfortunately, I couldn't figure it out.]
Then we see the hospital, lying in the icy morning silence.
This is meant to make it clear to us that the previously hidden, invisible forces and truths will now reveal themselves, that the "final phase" of revelations is unfolding. Virginia will inevitably become active, Lacke faces his uncertain fate, and the secret plan of revenge against Oskar has already been decided at this point. It is the calm before the storm.
C) Virginia's End.
After Virginia realizes that Lacke cannot or will not help her die, she seeks another way to redeem herself. Since, bound by her humane codex, she cannot even kill herself, she uses the unwitting nurse to let sunlight into the room.
We see a parable with Håkan here: both characters sacrifice themselves and die in the hospital.
Virginia for her innocence, charity, and humanity. (Again, her name says it all.)
Håkan sacrifices himself for Eli and thus, in reality, for the same ideals as Virginia, which Eli longs for so much!
With his sacrifice, he protects Eli (for now) from her feelings of guilt and thus supports her beyond his death in her "quest" for humanity, in which he cannot follow her. He is like a (vampire)father, full of love for Eli and shows it in the only true and possible way – through his actions.
D) Oskar observes his opponents in front of the school
... who seem to have completely lost interest in him. The previously invisible "overbullie" Jimmy appears and is briefly introduced. He represents, so to speak (similar to Lacke's suitcase), the source of all evil in Oskar's life. And not only his.
In this scene, we learn four facts:
1) Jimmy is very likely Conny's older brother, and they live together.
2) It is pointed out twice that Conny has difficulty hearing in his injured ear.
3) Oskar, who is standing by, is apparently completely ignored and remains unmolested.
4) Instead of Oskar, Conny now torments other children.
Conny: "Hand over your cap. Do it! What's your problem? Give it to me. What are you, some kind of moron? Give it to me."
Martin: "Go for it, Conny! Put up a fight..."
Jimmy: "Are you blind as well as deaf? Hi."
This essentially foreshadows what the bullies have secretly planned for Oskar. Conny is distracted and is "betrayed" by Martin to Jimmy, who sneaks up from behind, overpowers him, and thus shows who's the "boss." Conny's voice sounds as if he's drowning. Jimmy's mocking question to Conny anticipates Oskar's later "choice," which, of course, isn't actually one.
Conny: „Hi. What’s up?“
Jimmy: „Hey, can I borrow the keys?
Conny: „Why?“
Jimmy: „I'm going home.“
Conny: „Sure. Here you go.“
Jimmy: „Thanks. See you later.“
Andreas: „Who’s the boss at your house?“
Martin: „Well, you, Conny...“
Conny: „What are you laughing at?“
Martin: „You only hear half as much.“
Here we see a comparison to Eli's upcoming visit to Oskar. Although both brothers are shown interacting in a friendly manner, it's clear who is the "boss" at home. Conny is physically inferior to Jimmy (just as Oskar is to Eli). Jimmy politely asks him for the keys to the apartment, but could simply take them away from him at any time if Conny refused. Conny MUST give him the keys if he wants to escape unscathed. Their relationship is ultimately based on the law of the jungle - on violence.
Eli, in turn, asks Oskar for entry to his apartment, but could never force her way in if necessary; instead, she is completely dependent on his permission. Oskar MUST extend his invitation to her so that Eli can enter unharmed. Their relationship is based on mutual respect, trust, and friendship.
Eli has a choice - she can either enter or simply leave. Conny has no choice - he is completely at his older brother's mercy in all matters. He is forced to do everything by the constant, subliminal threat. He is thus - just like Eli and Oskar - subjected to external violence, which in his case apparently manifests itself in aggression toward other children.
The director suggests here that everything in the world has a logical reason and that people aren't simply good or evil (as in fairy tales). But as mentioned before - this film is about the dramatic climax. Conny's supporting character isn't meant to be explored further, but rather serves as the cause of Oskar's problems.
ninth meeting - in the boy's apartment
Eli: "Hi."
Oskar: "Hey."
Eli: "You have to invite me in."
Oskar: "What happens if I don't? What happens if you walk in anyway? Is there something in the way?"
Oskar uses Eli's love for him as leverage to force her to accept his rudeness, his disrespect, surrender to him, and come in. What would have happened to Conny and his key if he had tried the same thing with Jimmy?
So far, so unpleasant. But why does Oskar do this, what is his motive? Why does he behave so unlovingly and arrogantly towards Eli?
To avoid drawing false conclusions, we should briefly recall the director's basic concept. He always presents his characters and the plot very clearly and vividly; everything has logical causes. At no point in the film are there any hidden or mysterious ulterior motives or surprise elements. Everything is well-ordered and intended to be easily understandable. Each of us, not just academics, is meant to understand what is happening. Oskar's current behavior must be just as simple and logical to interpret. It must have something to do with his angry departure from Eli during the previous visit.
And one more point that seems important to me after reading countless forum threads:
The director and screenwriter completely chopped and dismembered the original book. Like Dr. Frankenstein, they created a new work from many selected individual pieces. After the director flipped the switch, presumably on a stormy Stockholm night, a completely different, superhuman being emerged. Some details may resemble the original material, but it has its own personality and completely different abilities than the original people from whose corpses it was assembled, and whose remains are now rotting away in the backyard. (Since we're talking about a horror film, I didn't see this comparison as too far-fetched.) Back to the topic.
To better understand Oskar's behavior, we first need to take a closer look at Eli's color code.
So far, we've viewed the red coloration as an indicator of her inner state and emotions, her love for Oskar, and her human development. Now, however, Eli stands in front of his door wearing an almost white blouse AND smiles at Oskar. This doesn't add up.
The original assumption in the review was that this was an exception made by the director, since blood wouldn't be visible on a dark red sweater. However, since we've learned to pay meticulous attention to such details in the course of our film analysis, we must correct this assumption. The director was clearly aware of this contradiction and yet left it as it was; there must be a logical explanation for it within the story.
So far, our interpretation of Eli's color code may have been correct, but during the previous meeting, at the latest, another determining element emerged: Oskar.
His premature return to Eli not only highlights his rapprochement with her, but also his progressive disconnection from the adult world, especially from his parents. His departure also marked his separation from his father, a very drastic but logical step.
By putting on the scarlet sweater of Håkan (her deceased "vampire father"), Eli symbolizes Oskar's change of priorities, his new "father projection" onto her. From now on, Eli has become (by 50%, so to speak) his new center of life. Conversely, Oskar, of course, represents this for Eli as well!
And now we must be very precise to avoid misunderstandings: The children do not see each other as parental figures, but as a kind of subconscious substitute (Fourth Layer). It's "only" about the embodiment of the associated ideals.
Håkan's red sweater corresponds to the red sweater of Oskar's father, who is now also essentially "dead". Oskar had previously wrapped himself in it with longing, love, and trust - until his bitter disappointment. Now Eli symbolically wears the red sweater in his father's place. This represents an incredible increase of Eli's importance in Oskar's world. Eli now embodies "half" of what normal parents represent for a twelve-year-old child.
From this point on, Eli's color code no longer just signals her feelings, but also Oskar's feelings toward her. It has become the benchmark of their relationship. (Perhaps it was from the beginning, but that hasn't mattered until now.)
Shortly thereafter, Eli wants to give him the stolen money - with the well-known consequences.
Now we can perhaps understand his unusually strong reaction to Eli's "unfortunate" gift and her white lie. He feels cheated, betrayed, and deceived by her, just as he had been by his father a short time ago. Through her (from his perspective!) selfish actions, she insults him and his honest intentions; he thinks she's acting out of pure self-interest, like his father. He almost loses faith in their relationship - just as Eli did earlier in the "forbidden" basement.
[This is why the "We Make Up Again" scene was cut. With it, Oskar's condescending behavior at the door would no longer make sense. Ultimately, it was almost certainly an either/or decision for the director.]
Eli runs away from the "forbidden" basement in complete despair, believing she's made an unforgivable mistake. She sits inconsolably in her apartment, not knowing what to do. From Oskar's perspective, the meeting was, as we know, no problem at all.
With the money, she makes a mistake that's forgivable from our perspective – but from Oskar's, it's a catastrophe. Instead of running away in complete despair like Eli, he runs away in anger and disappointment. She tries to stop him and explain herself (she's standing right in front of him in the doorway), but this only leads to his provocative remark.
During her return visit now, we don't see Oskar, like Eli, sitting silently in a corner, dejected and having lost all hope. No, Oskar is processing the incident in a different way: we see him at dinner, reading the newspaper, the radio on. He is trying to distract himself and not giving the situation a moment's thought. For him, everything is crystal clear. Eli is the bad guy and he doesn't believe a word she says. He is completely stubborn. His disappointment is visible in this meeting through Eli's color scheme. Oskar, for his part, now sees her wearing all white with a hint of pink. Their relationship has suffered, the previous significance of the red sweater is almost completely lost to him.
For Eli, however, nothing has changed. She's very happy to see him again and practically adores him. However, his disparaging treatment of her changes this rapidly. Fortunately, she immediately notices what's going on and, at the risk of her life, proves to him that she's serious about him (second sacrifice - audio commentary). In this moment, she demonstrates incredible trust in him – an unexpected reversal of their previous roles! and an embarrassing exposure of his childish behavior.
Essentially, we see a comparison to Virginia and Lacke's situation.
Just like Lacke at Gösta’s, Oskar behaves abusively toward his girlfriend because he is blinded by pain. He denies his love for her and shows no joy that she is visiting him and dressed herself up for him. It doesn't even occur to him to try to communicate with her and resolve his problems.
Like Lacke later on the street, he stands on his side of the door, waiting ("tsk, tsk, tsk") for her to come over to him. With the flat of his hand, he shows us the invisible barrier he has erected between himself and Eli.
Instead of shaking her head in disappointment like Virginia, turning around, and walking away, Eli comes over with a sad and heavy heart and shows him the consequences of his actions. Instead of shedding tears of grief and disappointment like Virginia, blood pours from every pore of her body.
Oskar: "No! You can come in!"
Suddenly, the boy realizes what's happening to her and recognizes his mistake and his stubborn actions. Unlike Lacke, he doesn't wait until it's too late. He immediately cries out in alarm and jumps to her to save her. He hugs her and luckily for him, it's not too late to apologize and show his affection for Eli. Phew.
Oskar's overreaction almost damaged their relationship. All because Eli had made a mistake earlier. Fortunately, he's not afraid to admit his in time.
Another lesson from the screenwriter and director: Greatness of character is demonstrated by the ability to be forgiving and generous towards others. Oskar was trapped in his ego-centrism, too self-absorbed and thus forgot empathy, trust and respect.
Oskar: „Who are you?“
Eli: „I’m like you.“
Oskar: „What do you mean?“
Eli: „What are you staring at? Well? Are you looking at me? Then squeal like a pig! Squeal!”
Eli: „Those were the first words I heard you say.“
Oskar: „I don’t kill people.“
Eli: „No… But you’d like to, if you could… To get revenge. Right?“
Oskar: „Yes.“
Eli: „Oskar, I do it because I have to. Be me, for a little while. Please, Oskar… be me, for a little while.“
Once again it is made clear that this isn't about the differences between Eli and Oskar, not about vampire/human, rich/poor, strange/normal, strong/weak, but about their similarities, their similar predicaments and everyday problems, their mutual loneliness and simultaneous search for mutual support. The director invites us to put ourselves in each other's shoes and to feel the same way as the other person. Only in this way can we truly understand our fellow human beings and thus their feelings and actions.
In a way, Oskar is and always has been the more childlike part of this relationship. Eli always acts very maturely, knows exactly what she wants, and has clear expectations, probably because she has more existential problems. He, on the other hand, learns over the course of their relationship that it's no longer just about Bulleribock and sweets, but about him and Eli as a unit that must be treated seriously. He begins to understand that their very close and solid friendship is more than that. He is the one who learns from the developing love, whose character is shaped.
After the mind meld, Oskar sits on the sofa, stunned, and has to process everything. He has to swallow several times and, full of horror and worry, looks after Eli, who has just disappeared into the bathroom. We can take Eli's "be me a little while" literally; he now knows her life story. Only now does he know what it means to live as a vampire: in godforsaken solitude, constantly on the run, in danger and fear – of the next dawn, the next gruesome murder, the tormenting dreams, the persecution, the threatening knocking on the apartment door. His school problems seem almost banal in comparison. And despite everything, she had patience and time for him, offered him her help and gave him advice.
He now understands the reason for her ridiculously small mistake, why she wanted to give him the money: so that he would stay with her a little while longer, after she thought he was lost forever. Only now does he truly know what a treasure he holds in his hands. This is immediately apparent from his changed behavior: With a polite gesture, he points Eli toward Yvonne's room and courteous takes the bloody clothes from her hand. Eli thanks him. Oskar has passed his sixth trial.
Just like Eli did before in the "forbidden" basement, Oskar now provides the music. Instead of turning down the volume, however, he turns it up. A sign that their relationship is no longer just a tender, blossoming love affair. Her smile as she returns from the bathroom shows that everything is back to normal between them. (Only when he puts her blood-soaked clothes on the shelf do we see that her previous medieval trousers with the rope have transformed into pretty jeans with a white belt.)
Now that all questions and misunderstandings have been resolved (cleared up by his final sneak peek during her cloth change), elation and intimate togetherness reign between the two. For the second time, the girl's red theme intensifies within a single encounter – from the previous deep red sweater, to the white blouse, to the completely red dress.
Right now, Oskar is already unconsciously saying goodbye to his mother. As with the red "father"-sweater, the "mother"-dress now symbolizes Eli's and Oskar's additional projection of the second parent onto their respective counterpart.
Eli's happy and confident twirl has the same meaning for both children: "Look at me. Thanks to you, I and our relationship are now perfect and like new."
Oskar has completely detached himself from his parental home. Eli has become the irrevocable anchor point in his life. They have found their true love in each other.
His mother's arrival is an annoying inconvenience for Oskar. He stalls her with various excuses, because the woman at the apartment door is no longer a person he can trust. He has to arrange everything so that no unnecessary questions or problems arise.
He doesn't simply return Eli's things and send her away. Instead, he takes her by the hand and brings, no, personally pulls and leads her behind him into his room – another representation of his rejection of his mother and his desire to "escape" with Eli. To illustrate the deep bond of trust between the two, Eli practically flies to her window before his very eyes and waves lovingly at him, while his mother delivers some kind of unimportant monologue in the hallway.
Cheers from Dietz
(and more later)
ps 27.05.2025
One small point I forgot. As mentioned, Lacke keeps his briefcase in his hand while hugging his best friend Jocke - just as Oskar keeps his bag of sweets in his hand when he embraces Eli in their fifth meeting. I don't think these scenes are meant to make us compare the sweets to the briefcase (although we could), but rather to point out the comparable importance of Eli and Jocke to their respective counterparts. And it's a small hint at the similarities between Oskar and Lacke.
Last edited by Dietz on Tue May 27, 2025 3:14 pm, edited 12 times in total.
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
Something worth noting here is that Oskar says ni, which is the plural "you". He is in other words asking if Eli's family/Eli and Håkan are poor and not Eli specifically.Dietz wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 9:30 amThe central trigger for this fatal development is Oskar's question, "Are you like, poor?" upon seeing her apartment, which may not be entirely unjustified.
Perhaps she even suspects that money is somehow important to him; otherwise, why would he ask her such a question? She answers him truthfully that, on the contrary, she is incredibly rich (nuclear power plant), and after he apparently doesn't believe her, she practically rubs it in his face.
I'm not hearing a whisper in that scene. All I can hear is the dogs' panting throughout, a "clonk" sound followed by a shout which seems to come from the courtyard (playground?) behind them, and then a magpie chattering. Can't tell what the voice is saying, possibly something close to Kom hit ("Come here") or a name.
De höll om varandra i tystnad. Oskar blundade och visste: detta var det största. Ljuset från lyktan i portvalvet trängde svagt in genom hans slutna ögonlock, la en hinna av rött för hans ögon. Det största.
Re: A very late and un-timely review by myself / Let The Right One In - Film Analysis
Thank You Siggdalos. Yes, that about sounds like it and it makes sense, in case it is a reference to the planned trap for Oskar.