Let The Right One In-

Let The right One In

The film ‘Let The Right One In’ is a Swedish horror film, based on the relationships between Oskar, a 12 year old boy, and Eli, who looks around about the same age but happens to be a 200 year old vampire.

Applying the theories and views of Propp, Todorov and Levi-Strauss, you can definitely notice them in some, or maybe even most elements of the film.

Propp’s views were that all characters had a role, in ‘Let the right one in’ many roles are played. Oskar, can be seen in some respect as the hero of the film, throughout the film, he gains confidence and learns a lot about himself and others around him. The villain role would be represented by Conny, the boy who bullies Oskar, throughout the film, Oskar seeks revenge on Conny, by hitting him in the face, but the real revenge is when he gets violently killed in the end scenes of the film along with his older brother and two ‘followers by Eli, Eli would be seen as the donor, as she helps Oskar tremendously throughout the film, and also the princess, but in this film, the fact she is a vampire shows that she has a very dark side. The false hero is represented by Oskar’s so called ‘friends’ who trick him into going to a swimming club, so that he gets trapped and possibly even murdered.

Todorov’s view is that every story begins with an equilibrium, this is then disrupted and then restored. The equilibrium at the beginning of the film is that the Oskar is just a quiet school boy, who gets quite badly bullied. The equilibrium is then disrupted as the relationship between Oskar and Eli quickly starts to develop, and he then starts to gain confidence and ends up hitting Conny in the face/ear with a pole, which makes him bleed. The equilibrium is then restored to a degree, but Oskar is bullied again, and his bullies are brutally murdered by Eli. The last we see of Oskar is when he is on the train, so we don’t know what exactly happens to him, so therefore the equilibrium is not fully restored.

In ‘Let the right one in’ there are many binary opposites, Levi-Strauss’ theory was that narrative structures contain these. Binary opposites are for example; good vs evil, rich vs poor and black vs white. In this film the most apparent binary opposite is good vs evil. This is noticeable in both Oskar and Eli’s personalities throughout the film, Oskar is seen as being a kind, quiet and hard working school boy, and enjoys spending time with his dad, but we also see some very dark aspects of his personality, we see him pretend and act out what he would do when he stabs Conny, he talks to him self and shouts ‘squeal! squeal like a pig!’ this also refers to Oskar’s nickname ‘Piggy’, so we see his potential revenge scheme. As for Eli, to look at, she seems a harmless, innocent, kind and caring 12 year old, and we see her opening up to Oskar and protecting him by all means, especially when she murders the bullies, she is also a vicious immortal creature, who survives on the blood of innocent humans. Both of their personalities reflect off one another in some respects, the fact that they bring out the raw kindness in one another, and the pure evil, the binary opposite in the film between Oksar and Eli is good vs bad, and boy vs girl.

The mise en scene in ‘Let the right one in’ is quite basic, the film starts with a blizzard, we see this rather a lot throughout the film, aswell as the block of flats, and Oskar’s school. The block of flats look quite retro which suggests the setting is neither modern nor recent, as does the costume, and the fact the public congregate in café’s. The soundtrack is also very basic and repetitive, the music used creates a very awkward and peculiar atmosphere and makes you feel uncomfortable and think that something is always going to happen, which in a way is good as it prepares you for some of the gorier and ‘jumpy’ parts of the film. The soundtrack also reflects the moods of the characters and situations, for example when Oskar is with his dad, the music is happy and uplifting but when Eli is about to commit one of her murders, the music turns eerie and builds up the suspence, I think the contrast is very important as it helps with the atmosphere and the different emotions within the film, music can have a tremendous impact  on the audience.

The camera work I think is very clever, it varies between a series of long shots, mid shots, close ups and pan shots, I remember in one part of the film, the camera is slowly zooming in, which creates the feeling that we are sneaking around Eli’s apartment, and seeing what the intruder is seeing. I think the fact the camera work isn’t too complicated, and it lets you focus a lot more on what’s going on and the surroundings of the film, as there is a lot happening and to take in.  The representation of both characters and place is quite stereotypical, Oskar, who lives with his mum, lives in a nice presentable apartment, is clean, smartly dressed and does well in school, Eli, doesn’t even wear shoes, looks dirty, (blood round her mouth) lives in a very basic, not much too it apartment, with not much furniture. It relates to the binary opposites of rich vs poor, a lot people would be able to this as many are in the same situation.

I really liked this film, I found it a bit strange, but it made me want to watch it again, I liked the twists and the story line which made it seem quite a unique film. The film is portrayed in quite a traditional way, as it follows the theories of Propp, Todorov and Levi-strauss, but veers off into a different direction and creates a feel of supernatural reality if that makes sense.