Let the Right One In

[Windwalker]

Okay, despite my earlier reservations I have to admit that I really enjoyed the american remake "Let Me In." The original was more atmospheric--which I normally like--while this was a more contemporary straaight forward story-telling which surprisingly worked for me. The acting by these kids was excellent and the story flowed along very smoothly. The emotional pain that Owen experiences when he's confronted with the fact that he's fallen in love with something "evil" is superbly portrayed on screen, while Abby's inner battle to spare Owen comes across beautifully. Plus the only truly "hokey" scene from the original was completely rewritten, namely when the neighbor's cats amass a group assault upon their owner as she succumbs to vampirism.

Still don't like that the "castrated boy" story-line was ignored but I'm pretty pleased with this new version. I'll give it 4.5 stars (blood-drops?).

[HuManBing]

I agree. Sadly, it's a very difficult topic to deal with in movies - even the Swedish movie director specifically admitted there's no way he could work it into the plot without it seeming exploitative or emotionally sensationalist. So he decided to just hint at it in a way that readers of the book would understand.

This goes doubly so for America, which has had much stricter laws regarding obscenity and pornography than Sweden. The split-second glimpse of Eli undressed in the Swedish original would likely attract so much concern that an American director wouldn't even want to risk it.

Another big problem with converting any book to film is that you have only a few hours to tell the story, instead of the days or weeks that somebody will spend on a good book. So cutting it for space is also a reasonably valid logistical decision - even if it's unsatisfactory from an artistic viewpoint.

[Jester of the FoS]

The infamous swimming pool confrontation at the end is very similar to the Swedish version, but with an obvious shift in focus. Where the Swedish ending showed the violence and death obliquely - as distant silhouettes falling into the water - the American ending keeps us eye-to-eye (so to speak) with all the action. For me, it was a clear lesson in the limitations of explicitness, and the superior power of suggestion. The musical score also feels like it follows this philosophy, too. It's been some time since I've seen the Swedish, so I can't immediately recall the style of the musical accompaniment, but the US version is fairly heavyhanded with the use of mood music.

It's a hard balance.
Film is a very visual medium and you don't want to not show something. There's the moment early in the scene where you're just confused, wondering what's happening. And if you're focusing on the wrong part of the screen you might actual miss what occurred.
The Swedish version really kept the camera on Oskar so the horror occurring above the water was imaginary and much more terrifying. But, at the same point, I wondered if they were doing that for cinematic effect or for budgetary reasons. Low budget has prompted its share of iconic cinema experiences such as Alien and Jaws which ended up being much less overt due to the limits of props.

[Catman Jim]

It's a hard balance.
Film is a very visual medium and you don't want to not show something. There's the moment early in the scene where you're just confused, wondering what's happening. And if you're focusing on the wrong part of the screen you might actual miss what occurred.
The Swedish version really kept the camera on Oskar so the horror occurring above the water was imaginary and much more terrifying. But, at the same point, I wondered if they were doing that for cinematic effect or for budgetary reasons. Low budget has prompted its share of iconic cinema experiences such as Alien and Jaws which ended up being much less overt due to the limits of props.

I just watched a new-to-DVD movie called 'Frozen', about three college friends trapped on a ski lift (very much reminisent of 'Open Water').

SPOILER ALERT:

The scene where one is killed and eaten is much more effective in that we didn't see it at all. We only saw the reaction of the ones still in the lift, with the horrific noises coming from below.
It was so much better for not showing us the gore and the savagery, and I believed it more for not using CGI or puppetry.