Nature Scenes in LTROI-Significance & Interpretation

[a_contemplative_life]

Much ink has been spilled in the analysis and interpretation of Let the Right One In. In addition to the innumerable posts and threads on this site, we have been blessed with remarkable insights by Wolfchild regarding the use of hands by the characters and the soundscape of the film.

One of the less well-traversed aspects of LTROI is its use of “nature” shots. I count at least ten such examples, usually only a few seconds long, and most often serving as transitional moments between scenes. None of these have borne extensive analysis, but they intrigue me, and so I take the opportunity here to review them in detail, offering my thoughts regarding their potential significance and interpretation. To offer a greater opportunity for comment, I will post my musings over each scene one at at time.

I approach this modest project with the belief, premised on the acknowledged skill of John Lindqvist and Tomas Alfredson, that nothing inconsequential is included in either the novel or the film adaptation. That having been said, it is always possible to read too much into what has been provided; JAL has himself pointed out from time to time in this forum that we have overthought his writings. In any event, for those of you who feel that I may have done just that, I trust that the usual enjoyment of exploring LTROI, and this topic in particular, will compensate for any transgressions.

Opening Scene - Snowfall at Night (0:01:35)

The beginning of LTROI (and the “false” ending, to be discussed later) are graced with quiet, still shots of dark sky, broken by gently falling snow. With characteristic attention to detail, Alfredson has not made these scenes entirely soundless; the careful listener will hear the soft patter of snowfall.

The falling, night-time snow triggers emotional responses that establish the backdrop for the unfolding of the story that is soon to come.

First, the snow signifies a sense of peace and tranquility about the town of Blackeberg. This quiet restfulness will soon be broken by murder and mayhem, the genesis of which is marked by the literal entry of Eli and her devoted caretaker, Håkan, into the town by taxi in the next scene.

Second, the opening snowfall represents the coldness and paucity of life that we associate with wintertime. The dark, harsh winter, during which Nature lies sleeping and dead beneath a blanket of snow, sets a stage that is virtually omnipresent for the entire film.

It is against this backdrop of cold and death that the stories of the main characters are told. Each of these stories have as their focus the human desire for love and companionship; for warmth and understanding. This is most obviously true with regard to the relationship that develops between Oskar and Eli, but can also be said of the secondary characters as well. Thus Håkan, in his own way, seeks to be loved by Eli. Virginia desires the love of Lacke. Oskar likewise craves genuine love from his parents. The falling snow in the opening scene highlights the fact that these characters live in an environment that, although beautiful, is hostile to human life, thereby emphasizing the story’s focal point, which is an examination of human love.

[EEA]

Wow! Agree. Cannot wait to read more!

[gattoparde59]

I would be curious as to what you make of the return of the snow, the framing shot towards the end. Does it mean the same at that point in the film, or something different?

Maybe it is just me, but I get the impression from this film that Tomas Alfredson really likes symmetry (and also asymmetry) in the way things are structured.

[Marlow]

I am looking forward to your observations.

I found the "Snowfall at Night" imagery one of the most difficult choices to interpret in LTROI. It is obviously important since it's included twice. It is also obviously sequentially important in that it forms two "bookends" to the film. That the "On the Train" follows this bookend certainly leads to much discussion as to the "reality" of the final scene.
My impressions of the "Snowfall at Night" scene were that the contrast between nothingness/death of the black screen with the movement/particulate existence of the falling snow lent itself to an existential or Zen-like interpretation. Such a stark contrast shouldn't be termed ambiguous, but I found this one of the most difficult visuals to integrate at first viewing. I was inclined at first viewing, and I am still inclined now after several viewings, to the Being/Nothingness intent of the visual, but this may be because the film is of a Scandinavian origin and I prejudicially presume an existential position because of Bergman's pre-eminence.

My favorite of the entre acte scenes is the "tall icy trees." (at 1:11:30) This reminds me of Antonioni's "Blow Up" both because of the tree symbol and the directorial use of ambient sound to set tone or mood. I would venture it is an intentional borrowing of the cinematic meme by TA.

[intrige]

I feel that the snowfall stands for the beginning, and when it shows up again by the end it shows the start of a new beginning A new beginning for Oskar and Eli together.

[Makalli]

I feel that the snowfall stands for the beginning, and when it shows up again by the end it shows the start of a new beginning A new beginning for Oskar and Eli together.

That's what I think too, the beginning and the end of the Blackeberg chapter, then a new beginning. Also it could be our introduction to Oskar's life and then the end (if he dies in the pool that is ).

Oh how I love the snow, it really sets a calm mood.
... ... ... on a separate note wasn't that snow lifted from Frostbitten? And on another separate note the cinematographer from that is attending Holmfirth Film Festival. If I attended that would anybody else count that as me meeting someone involved in LTROI? Or would that be a stretch?

[lombano]

Apart from what has already been said, snow has sometimes been used as a symbol of purity - Hamlet's 'Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny,' the filthy snow in Dostoyevski's Notes from Underground, Snow White, etc, no doubt because of the cleanliness of freshly fallen snow and the association of white with purity in the West. Conceivably one could interpret (though it's probably overthinking) that the snowfall before Eli's arrival hints at the new arrivals defiling Blackeberg (remember later the snow getting sullied with blood, both Jocke's and the kid in the woods') - possibly then the snowfall at the end symbolises a new or re-established purity/innocence (in the kids eloping).

[jetboy]

The snow in the beginning, to me, gave the movie an ominous feel. It gave the feeling of isolation. People dont go out as much when its night and even more when its night and snowing hard. This helped the movie twofold, it helped with the ominous, vampire part of the story but also helped with the love story in that they got to spend quality time together uninterupted.

I also agree with what it brings symbolically. The white being "good" but also against the backdrop of the black night, symbolizing "evil".

[intrige]

I also think that the snow seem kind of scary and makes the movie very unpredictable, also with no music. Just the snow, when having this the viewer has no idea of what he/she goes into by wathing this movie. The snow only shows that it's dakr and silent, anything can happen then..

[sauvin]

I'd think it'd be almost universal among peoples with a long history of living too far away from the equator to view the advancing autumn with a certain dread; in primitive hunter-gatherer communities, it signals the end of various fruits and vegetables that can be foraged and gathered, and there will now be a greater reliance on hunting the such game as hasn't borne itself away to hibernation or to more fruitful grounds. Together with colder temperatures, the approaching winter is linked with hardship and death.

Wikipedia

Some use winter to suggest death, as in Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". Some use it to suggest the absence of hope, as in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where it was always winter but never Christmas. [...] There are many films in which a winter setting plays an important role, Fargo being an example. Novels such as Ethan Frome also use a winter setting to mirror the bleak, frozen feelings that the characters harbor. The film Requiem for a Dream concludes with "Act III: Winter," in which the movie reaches its chilling climax. The final vignette in James Joyce's Dubliners, "The Dead", employs a winter motif in conjunction with themes of regret and isolation.

If you've ever stood in the middle of miles of corn field buried several feet in hard-frozen snow at midnight while the wind produces a kind of long, deep-throated growl, you'll feel the truth of this symbolism in your bones. You'll feel it even more keenly if you've ever been on that very same corn field when there are wolves to howl. It's worst when you're alone, as I was, long before there were cell phones, and the nearest neighbour miles away.

Even within a modern urban society where all the hunting and gathering is done at a supermarket, winter means cars that don't start, frozen water pipes, power outages and cabin fever. It might be the same order of hardship as experienced by our primitive forebears who were slowly starving to death because of a paucity of game, but hardship is relative, and winter can kill us as easily as it always has.

The opening footage in LTROI, with the blowing snow and the absence of any kind of sound (that I can hear), made me think only of a frozen stasis.