About Eli´s gender

[Doosty]

I seriously got chills reading this thread. I'm so happy Paper Walls is being published in English. I cannot freakin wait. It brings just the biggest smile to my face to know that Mr. Lindqvist comes here and takes part in the discussions and has an interest in what the members here have to say. Reading about how you developed your story and your reasons for why you did what you did make me like it even more, if that's possible. Thank you for this!

[Wolfchild]

And as you know, I have written my own ending. (Which, by the way, probably will be included in the American version of Paper Walls which is to be published in a not-too-distant future)

This is the most exciting thing that I have read on this site you first posted here last December - maybe even more exciting than that.

So for you, Låt Den Rätte Komma In is almost a decade old now. I know you would probably much rather discuss Lilla Stjärna, but you have this crowd on the internet that wants you to keep talking about LDRKI. Thank you for indulging us in being stuck in your past.

Hopefully a month from now we will all be discussing Människohamn, since by then we should have had a few weeks to digest the English translation. Then we will be only two or three years behind you, instead of a decade.

[God of Vampires]

Wow, Is this how a religious person feels reading the word of their god? You are a great inspiration to me Lindqvist, especially since I aspire to be an author myself. Thanks for sharing this info .

You can probably tell that Eli is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it is something about this character that makes her/him feel as real as any one of us, maybe even more so . I hear that this creation of yours have a life of its own, I have experienced that as well in my own attempts at writing. I believe that to happen if you really put your soul into a character.

You may think I am crazy, but I believe fiction might be as real as anything else in this world. I am basing these beliefs on the old teories of Plato, about the two realms of exintence, the world of matter and the world of ideas. Perhaps, then our lifes in this world are over, we might travel to the other realm and get a chance to experience these worlds of fiction in person. Maybe we will all get a chance to meet with Eli, I see that as a very uplifting thought .

[moonvibe34]

Thanks John for your revealing insight that is always greatly appreciated here. The news about Paper Walls has me excited also, can't wait.

[CyberGhostface]

This was definitely something that was always on my mind, and I'm glad you took the time out of your day to elaborate on it. Thanks!

[danielma]

Thanks John for answering what has been a burning question that many of us have had

I like the fact that Eli is nothing, and I can honestly say that the friend that I loaned my book to read also picked that up...that Eli considered her/himself to be nothing. I think that is just one of the many things that made the story a stroke of genius to me

Anyways thanks very much for taking the time out to answer a burning question for many of us

[jun2k]

Hi, Mr. Lindqvist. At one point, there was a plan by Mr. Alfredson to make it more explicit that Eli was a boy in the movie by filming the castration scene. Why decide against it?

[abner_mohl]

Hi, Mr. Lindqvist. At one point, there was a plan by Mr. Alfredson to make it more explicit that Eli was a boy in the movie by filming the castration scene. Why decide against it?

Wolfchild posted a link to an interview with TA where he explains why he did not film the castration scene:

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/63/63alfredsoniv.html

I try to be true to myself: use violence only when it is necessary to say something. I tried to do a flashback scene, where we see the castration of Eli [the girl vampire] two hundred years ago, with very close shots of a knife coming close to skin, starting to cut, and I said to the make-up guys that I want to do this. They said you can't do this unless it is real animal, because if you are so close to the camera, you can't use rubber or special effects, so I said okay, let's do that then, then I forgot about it, and the assistant director said, we have the pig here now. I said, what pig? The pig for the cutting shot. A living pig. He is outside together with the slaughterer. So I went outside the studio and a butcher was standing with his knife, and this pig looking with his sad eyes. I said no. I wouldn't be able to sleep if we killed him. That's bad karma.

[jun2k]

Hi, Mr. Lindqvist. At one point, there was a plan by Mr. Alfredson to make it more explicit that Eli was a boy in the movie by filming the castration scene. Why decide against it?

Wolfchild posted a link to an interview with TA where he explains why he did not film the castration scene:

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/63/63alfredsoniv.html

I try to be true to myself: use violence only when it is necessary to say something. I tried to do a flashback scene, where we see the castration of Eli [the girl vampire] two hundred years ago, with very close shots of a knife coming close to skin, starting to cut, and I said to the make-up guys that I want to do this. They said you can't do this unless it is real animal, because if you are so close to the camera, you can't use rubber or special effects, so I said okay, let's do that then, then I forgot about it, and the assistant director said, we have the pig here now. I said, what pig? The pig for the cutting shot. A living pig. He is outside together with the slaughterer. So I went outside the studio and a butcher was standing with his knife, and this pig looking with his sad eyes. I said no. I wouldn't be able to sleep if we killed him. That's bad karma.

there are so many ways to film this without castrating a live pig.

one of the benefits of including this scene is that we get to see Eli/Lina in period costumes (and maybe short hair?)

[abner_mohl]

Check out this topic "Did Alfredson Change Eli's Gender" for more info.
http://www.let-the-right-one-in.com/for ... p?f=2&t=33