Let the right one in

trustno1

First up I would just like to highly recommend this - excellent story, cast etc etc..

Secondly for those who have already seen it just wanted to ask your opinion on something in the story

When I watched it to the end and when you see Oskar on the train with Eli in the box, I automatically then presumed thats how Eli had originally met Hakan i.e. that she had befriended him when he was young and that he had been with her ever since and thats why he was jealous when Eli spent time with Oskar and that the whole story would begin again when Oskar gets old which I thought was quite a sad existence. But since then I have read in the novel that Hakan was a pedophile that befriended Eli as she pays him for providing her with blood. Am I own with thinking this?, anyone else presume this was how she met Hakan?

not that it matters!.. but it would be nice to hear other peoples thoughts

Karl Hungus

trustno1 wrote: »

Secondly for those who have already seen it just wanted to ask your opinion on something in the story

When I watched it to the end and when you see Oskar on the train with Eli in the box, I automatically then presumed thats how Eli had originally met Hakan i.e. that she had befriended him when he was young and that he had been with her ever since and thats why he was jealous when Eli spent time with Oskar and that the whole story would begin again when Oskar gets old which I thought was quite a sad existence. But since then I have read in the novel that Hakan was a pedophile that befriended Eli as she pays him for providing her with blood. Am I own with thinking this?, anyone else presume this was how she met Hakan?

not that it matters!.. but it would be nice to hear other peoples thoughts

Yeah, in the book it really spells out the relationship between Eli and Hakan, but the film leaves us to make up our own conclusions. I too thought that Eli would've met Hakan when he was young, like Oskar, and I think that leaves the film ending with a sense of sadness, as we are left with a suspicion that Eli is merely grooming Oscar to be a carer like Hakan.

ultain

Great film! outstanding acting by the two youngsters..twilight? cheap hollow brain bubblegum, hollywood... this is how you do it!..

fontanalis

In the book does it not say that Eli meets Hakan after his neighbours "run him out of town', from what i remember it's implied that Eli knows of Hakans paedophile tendecies and plays on it

Chinafoot

Loved this film (although the book was definitely better but it usually is) and I thought the acting was fantastic. I was pretty disheartened to hear that there are plans for a hollywood version of this film. I really hope its not true. I have images of 'Gilmore Girls' style dialogue and over the top special effects

I read a theory on the ending elsewhere on the net and found it quite interesting. Basically the person thought that

Oskar died in the pool and the scene we see of him on the train with Eli in the box was a fantasy he had while he was dying.

I found that very interesting.

With regard the OPs question, I think fontanalis is right. I'm pretty sure Eli was aware of what Hakan was and used it to her advantage.

The Black Oil

The remake is out in October http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228987/

fontanalis

If anyone has seen the film that hasn't read the book try to read it, it clears up alot and is a ruddy good read.

trustno1

Chinafoot wrote: »

I read a theory on the ending elsewhere on the net and found it quite interesting. Basically the person thought that

Oskar died in the pool and the scene we see of him on the train with Eli in the box was a fantasy he had while he was dying.

I found that very interesting.

With regard the OPs question, I think fontanalis is right. I'm pretty sure Eli was aware of what Hakan was and used it to her advantage.

I'd agree with the fact that she knew - but having never read the book or read anything about the film before I watched it, I didn't know Hakan's past and just presumed that she had, like Oskar, met him while he was young and the same life was going to happen to eventually happen to Oskar. I love the other theory regarding the swimming pool - thats a very interesting take on it and can I just say how well done was that whole scene?! he seemed to be under the water for ever.. excellent stuff.

I really must buy the book.

trustno1

The Black Oil wrote: »

The remake is out in October http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228987/

Can american's just not read?!.. why oh why do they feel that they have to remake these films into shi*te films?

Karl Hungus

The remake fills me with dread and despair. From what I've read about it, it's going to be severely butchered.

In the remake Eli (now called Abby) is really a girl. I find that idea deplorable as it completely destroys the character, and strips the story down to a more conventional and ordinary tale, presumably because mainstream audiences would be uncomfortable with the idea of a boy falling in love with a girl who's really a castrated boy. If that's true, we'll be left with little more than a Twilight-esque film that's torn apart the original story in order to cater to homophobic and xenophobic values and not cause upset.

I dread a remake of this film more than any other. Perhaps the proposed Oldboy remake that drops the

incest twist

would be as bad. I find the cultural white-wash of remaking foreign language films appalling enough without the stories being twisted to appeal to certain morals and values.

Karl Hungus

You can read an interview with the producer of the remake here. It's pretty grim at points.

This is a pretty dreary quote:

It's not a re-imagining; the same beats [are there]. Maybe the scares are a little bit more scary. We haven't been able to ramp that up quite a lot, obviously, for budgetary reasons.

Scares = Budget, eh? :rolleyes:

jaykhunter

trustno1 wrote: »

Can american's just not read?!.. why oh why do they feel that they have to remake these films into shi*te films?

It saddens me as well. I know more than a few people that just refuse to see subtitled films. Is reading really so strenuous? It's not like there's talking during the action scenes etc or you're not still looking at the TV..... :mad::mad:

My friend worked a few summers in blockbuster videos ages ago. and he just stopped recommending fantastic foreign films as so many people would just return, giving out.

Have to say though, I do think there's something lost in translation; (what I mean is that subtitles aren't 100% accurate, sometimes they're just approximations or more concise paraphrasing, and we miss out on some nuances)