Hacker Cinema
Let the Right One In
Låt den rätte komma in
2008 · Film · 115 min
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
When Oskar, a sensitive, bullied 12-year-old boy, meets his new neighbor, the mysterious and moody Eli, they strike up a friendship. Initially reserved with each other, Oskar and Eli slowly form a close bond, but it soon becomes apparent that she is no ordinary young girl.
8 positive2 neutralfrom 10 commenters
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11 comments on Hacker News
Personally when I notice the acting the movie has already failed at something else. The Lighthouse’s acting stands out to me because the movie’s attempts at suspense fail. I quickly found it hard to avoid engaging with nuances of the films creation as an intellectual exercise rather than the film itself.
At the other end of the spectrum there’s a ton of movies with child actors where the kids are just vastly less talented, so the film simply demands less of them. It’s just as true of Let the Right One In a low budget foreign film as it is high budget films such as Harry Potter or classics like The Shinning. Characters come to life not through great acting but because all the elements line up so you forget you’re looking at puppets at the puppet show.
IMO, Great movies are all about understanding the limitations of the medium, the audience, characters, budget, script, etc. That’s why the snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War was spectacle but didn’t have the emotional impact of a single deer being shot at the beginning of Bambi.
/soapbox
Again not that you’re wrong, but I was thinking about your response for a while.
Cool, I also almost always prefer the subbed, but I meant a good thing for a wider audience for foreign films and TV shows. Imagine wider theatrical releases for, say, Let the Right One In, instead of a bad American remake. Think of possibly more money and recognition for the original creators. This is a good thing, even though the film lover in me is going to a visceral reaction against it.
Edit: I think I misread you and you actually agree with what I just said, so never mind. I have noticed with streaming more obscure movies sometimes dubbed is the only option, though
You have nailed it. Americans have that puritan history in our cultural consciousness so we do not even feel comfortable having rational discussions about it. Politicians use that to their advantage to get onerous bills passed "for the children".
To use an innocuous example nobody here is likely to get riled up about... The film "Let the right one in" had a scene where the eternally 11 year old girl vampire lifts her skirt to reveal... Nothing. No genitals at all. It was shocking and disturbing, and was supposed to be on a few levels. Genius filmmaking. Back when IMDB had forums it was pages of people saying it was a pedo's dream and the film should be banned. (I must have missed some scholarly article where pedophiles were into children with no genitals)
I do wonder from time to time about French filmmakers if I am honest...
In the film adaptation of "Let the right one in" they use this method.
Let The Right One In!
The original movie was so fantastic. I assume the American remake ... wasn't.
Similar story with The Vanishing.
(I'm an American, fwiw)
> MUBI has spent years cultivating that audience with a selection of artsy, obscure films that don't usually appear on Netflix or Hulu. (It originally launched under the name "The Auteurs," before rebranding in 2010 as MUBI — a play on accented pronunciations of "movie," and after a city in Nigeria.) On Monday, the titles available on the company's US site included Bernardo Bertolucci's 1970 classic The Conformist, and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, by Chan-wook Park. Occasionally, it features more mainstream movies like Sin City, currently available on the French site, though the majority are far more obscure. A new title is added every day as another drops out, meaning that only 30 films are available for streaming at any given time.
In defense of Netflix (not that the "Goliath" in this comparison needs defenders)...but "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" has been available on streaming Netflix for, as far as I remember, the time that I've been a customer, which was basically when streaming started. "Mr. Vengeance" is the first in "The Vengeance Trilogy" that includes the more well-known "Oldboy" [1] and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance"...I think the entire trilogy has been on Netflix for years (including the regrettable American remake of Oldboy, but can't fault Netflix for having it...)
Even as Netflix's blockbuster selection has faded (with the ending of the Starz deal, and in comparison to HBONow)...I've never had a complaint about their selection of the most well-known and recent foreign indies. "Let the Right One In", "The Hunt", "Force Majeure", The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy...though sure, they could always have more (and obviously, I don't know enough of the foreign scene to know all of the gems that they don't have).
But I imagine the problem for Netflix isn't that they do a shitty job of curation...but that the deals end up not being financially valuable to them, as it was in the Starz case. Ang Lee's movies ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Lust, Caution") were long-time selections, but I've just noticed they are no longer available for streaming.
edit: if you liked Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is definitely worth checking out. But whereas Oldboy was entertaining on top of being emotionally extreme...I'd argue "Mr. Vengeance" is much more of an artistic achievement, but at the cost of being "entertaining". In fact, I get a little ill at the thought of re-watching it, even though I own it on DVD.
[1] http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/oldboy-2005 -- Ebert's review here is so glowing that not only did it get me to seek out Oldboy, but it changed the way I think of foreign movies in comparison to Hollywood.
Tech: Skype, Spotify, H&M, Neo4j, Mojang
Music: Tove Lo, Robyn, The Knife, Miike Snow, Those Dancing Days, Icona Pop, Lykke Li.
In fact, pop music around the world has been shaped and written by Swedish producers and writers, everything from Brittany Spears to Katy Perry.
And look at all the Swedish films that America loves to remake. Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Let The Right One In, etc.
And remember, this is just Sweden, a small country of 9 million people in the middle of nowhere.
I think you'll find a bunch of stuff on the pirate bay. Off the top of my head I can think of these Scandinavian shows and movies that are all at least decent if not great:
Trollhunter // The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (trilogy) // Let the Right One In // Cold Prey [Fritt Vilt] (trilogy) // The Bridge [Bron/Broen] 2 seasons // The Killing [Forbrydelsen] 3 seasons // Kon-Tiki // Dead Snow // Headhunters // Easy Money [Snabba Cash] // Norwegian Ninja
My favourite:
Let the right one in (the original version), beautiful atmospheric movie: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1139797
Other recommendations:
City of God, harsh but realistic: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0317248
Barefoot Gen, shock and awe, made me cry, IMHO better than Grave of the Fireflies: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0085218/
The Chaser, breathtaking thriller: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1190539/
The Andromeda Strain, now this is real SF: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0066769
The Man from Earth, good low budget SF: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0756683
Castaway on the Moon: funny movie about a man that 'bootstraps' his life on a 'stranded island' after a failed suicide attempt: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499666/
I saw the devil, violent but very good thriller: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1588170/?ref_=sr_1
Plenty of British movies do well in the US. Lot's of people watch Anime etc. The reason people in the US don't watch movies from country X usually has a lot to do with the low quantity / quality of movies produced in country X. Norway is a great example of quality crossing the border. Even if we often remake good movies from other countries like 'Let the right one in' and 'The girl with a dragon tattoo'. Now I am just waiting on Troll Hunter
I agree 100% - I use it to decide which movies to see in my area. I end up seeing a wide spectrum of types of movies (e.g. from Toy Story to Let the Right One In), but they are mostly all very good.