MetalHeart Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Just finally saw Let The Right One In over the weekend, and heard they are already doing an American Remake. Srsly?! Do we really need it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 The answer to that question as is the answer to all questions querying the necessity of a US remake of any foreign film is no. But that's just how it goes, people are too lazy to read subtitles. $10 says they cut out the part where its revealed that Eli is actually a castrated boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Yeah Scarface was a remake of an old 1930s gangster film that was a very thinly-veiled allegory of Al Capone. As for Oldboy, I accept that because it's not a remake so I can live with it. They most likely will, in fact I wouldn't be surprised Eli is played by Dakota Fanning and sparkles in the sun "like diamonds." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 They most likely will, in fact I wouldn't be surprised Eli is played by Dakota Fanning and sparkles in the sun "like diamonds." i was thinking the exact same thing. lol. the remake gonna be directed by matt reeves (cloverfield) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalHeart Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Yeah Scarface was a remake of an old 1930s gangster film that was a very thinly-veiled allegory of Al Capone. As for Oldboy, I accept that because it's not a remake so I can live with it. They most likely will, in fact I wouldn't be surprised Eli is played by Dakota Fanning and sparkles in the sun "like diamonds." OMGGG SAME HERE. TheLogan and I had that exact same exchanged over the weekend, hahaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 The answer to that question as is the answer to all questions querying the necessity of a US remake of any foreign film is no. But that's just how it goes, people are too lazy to read subtitles. $10 says they cut out the part where its revealed that Eli is actually a castrated boy. Wait, what, huh?!?!? I know the scene you're talking about but I always took it to mean vampire's had no genitalia so their "reproduction" was passing ont he vampire virus though their bites. WHy'd you take it to mean ELi was a castrated male? I don't remember seeing a scar or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Wait, what, huh?!?!? I know the scene you're talking about but I always took it to mean vampire's had no genitalia so their "reproduction" was passing ont he vampire virus though their bites. WHy'd you take it to mean ELi was a castrated male? I don't remember seeing a scar or anything. i thought the same thing, but it was in the novel as well. they just didnt touch on it too much in the movie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Yeah, it's less subtly touched on in the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 i thought the same thing, but it was in the novel as well. they just didnt touch on it too much in the movie Oh snap! That totally changes things. I didn't know there was a novel it was based on either! Does it go into more of Eli's past? I may have to pick it up for summer reading... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 It's a rather long book and I'm sure either Barnes and Noble or Borders has it in stock (It would be easier to find in Borders as they're not fucking pricks and actually have a "horror" section) it delves deeper into a lot of things, though believe me when I say the movie did not do it a disservice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 no one minds me moving their posts on this into here, yes? very yes? On LL's say-so, caught this one last week (ironically, i passed on Blade Trinity only cause my version was in spanish for some reason). Pretty good, pretty dark - started off slow, but both Oskar and Eli are quite likable, despite what the latter is/does. Horror's always fun when it gets you to root for the monster. ...what's this about a US remake? *sigh* dollar says baytor's right about what gets cut (heh), and Hakujin, dont feel bad, i didnt know that shit either till i read the wiki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I'm almost entirely certain that the US remake will either be a carbon copy that manages to sometimes improve on some things but manages to inexplicably fuck up the best part (I.E. Quarantine) or one that misses the point entirely and just makes its own movie. Either way there is literally no possible way that they can do a better job than the Swedish version, so there's no reason to remake it other than just sheer audacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 no argument there, but eh, at least more people will see it, in some form. i really stand by being most bothered by Infernal Affairs/The Departed; the latter wasnt a bad flick, it just took the subtlety of the former and beat it with a drunken Joker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalHeart Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 Let the Right One in FAQ from IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/faq I put spoiler tags where I thought they were needed, and prolly got a little too spoiler-tag happy, haha. Sorry in advance if I missed any or anything... Cj and I are going to get the book tomorrow or sometime this weekend. Definitely can't wait to read it! How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie? For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, © profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Let the Right One In can be found here. Is this movie based on a book? Yes, it is based on the novel Låt Den Rätte Komma In (2004) by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. The first American edition of the book was called Let Me In (2007) as the publishers found the title too long, but it is now out in both the UK and the USA under the correct title Let the Right One In. What does the title mean? The author of the novel, John Lindqvist, has explained that he chose the title as a tribute to Let the Right One Slip In, a song by British musician [steven] Morrissey. However, fans of the vampire movie genre point out the parallel to the folkloric admonition that a vampire cannot enter a dwelling unless invited to come in. Others have noted that the title is a metaphor for the friendship that develops between the human Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and the vampire Eli (Lina Leandersson), in the sense that each one let the other "come in" to their very lonely lives. What are the differences between the movie and the book? Some viewers feel that the movie is considerably more condensed than the book, having fewer characters, less subplots, and slightly different sequences of events. One of the biggest differences is that the role of and the subplots (particularly the sexually disturbing ones) involving Håkan (Per Ragnar), Eli's helper, were vastly reduced in the movie. The way Håkan dies in the novel is quite different as well. What is Håkan's relationship to Eli? In the book, Håkan was Eli's "helper". His identity is left rather ambiguous in the film and therefore open to different interpretations. Some that have been offered include: (1) Håkan is one of Eli's family members, as she called him "papa" when asking for him in the hospital, (2) Håkan is one of Eli's former lovers, as supported by the intense love that Håkan has for her since he's willing to commit suicide for her and kill for her, and (3) Håkan is merely Eli's renfield, since Eli didn't seem to react sadly or mournfully to his death. How is "Eli" pronounced? In the movie, Eli is pronounced as one might pronounce the name Ellie. Does the book give more information on Eli's backstory? Yes. In the book, Eli, originally from a village near Norrköping, was about 220 years old at the time of the story. She was born male but was castrated and turned at the age of 12 by another vampire for a seemingly sadistic ritualistic reason. This is only hinted at in the film, without any elaboration, however, she does mention to Oscar twice that she "is not a girl" and asks him if he would like her anyway if this were the case. Also, in a brief scene in which Eli is changing into a dress, there is a shot of her pubic area, revealing that she has neither a penis nor a vaginal slit. Was Håkan once in Oskar's position? Having omitted the backstories of Eli and Håkan, the movie left the question of Oskar-Håkan parallelism wide open. However, many viewers come to this conclusion even before seeing the final scenes. The novel makes the relationship between Eli and Håkan clearer and explains that Eli found Håkan when he was about 45 years old, not as a young boy. Author Lindqvist acknowledges that people may perceive the movie this way, but it was not the author's intention, as he stated in his Ain't It Cool News' interview. Is Eli grooming Oskar to be the "new Håkan"? The question of whether Eli was actually grooming Oskar to be the "new Håkan" is really a paradox for a lot of the viewers of this film in that her actions can either be perceived as being manipulative or taken as comments between two friends wanting to help each other. For example, Eli seems to be encouraging Oskar's killer tendencies by asking him if he would kill for revenge. On the other hand, Eli seemed to be truly concerned for Oskar's welfare and may have just been offering him the tools to deal with Conny (Patrik Rydmark) and his bullies. This is a question that each viewer will need to decide personally, depending upon his or her interpretation of the story. Does the book give more information on Håkan's backstory? Yes. At the time of the story in the book, Håkan was 45 years old. He was a former school teacher, who "liked children a little bit too much." He quit the school "voluntarily" after people found out about his persuasion after which he became chronically depressed and suicidally addicted to alcohol. Eli then found him and called him into service. The movie has toned down Håkan's impact on the plot, removing his pederastic attraction to Eli and a subplot in which he becomes undead and evil after being bitten and killed at the hospital. How did Eli find her new helpers over the years? Neither the book nor the movie explained how Eli found her "helpers" over the years. In the book, Eli simply mentioned, "That's maybe why I've been able to survive. Because I'm small. And people want to help me. But... for very different reasons." Is Eli's / Lina Leandersson's voice dubbed? Yes. Late in production it was decided to overdub actress Lina Leandersson's voice with a less feminine one in order to render a more androgynous tone. The dub was performed by Elif Ceylan. Is Oskar going to kill for Eli? Without explicitly stating in the film that Oskar will kill for Eli in the future or that Eli expects it of him, one can answer the question either way: (1) Yes, because Oskar does have killer tendencies. He is a loner, gets bullied constantly and cruelly, and has an alcoholic dad and a mother who seems to work a lot. In addition, he did play a little "game" of stabbing a tree while pretending that it was Conny, and (2) No, because the film seems to imply that when Eli killed Lacke (Peter Carlberg), Oskar chooses to reject murder after seeing it for the first time. He walks away from the struggling Lacke, puts his knife in its place, and throws it on the floor. In addition, Eli doesn't seem to expect it of Oskar. The film shows that Eli is willing to put herself at risk to show how much she loves Oskar. Is Oskar's dad, Erik, gay? No, Oskar's dad (Henrik Dahl) is not gay but is an alcoholic, according to a LatinoReview.com's interview with director Tomas Alfredson. Alfredson: ... But it was a surprise to me that people thought he was a homosexual. His father is an alcoholic and uses the alcohol before his son every time it's attempted... What was that shot of Eli's crotch about? It was meant to show a horizontal scar on the crotch, without even a hint of a "slit." Although Eli looks like a girl, she was actually a boy who was castrated at an early age. What was the "Be me a little" scene about? It was meant to be followed by a flashback of Eli's backstory, but the filming of the flashback was not completed because it required the castration of a live pig for the scene. Director Tomas Alfredson objected. As he put it in the Bright Lights Film Journal's interview, "That's bad karma." What does the Egg signify? The Egg is a complex puzzle. Eli likes puzzles. That's why she was intrigued by the Rubik's Cube Oskar was playing with at the jungle gym. That's also partly why Oskar came up with the Morse code idea because in a way it's a "puzzle," which he thought Eli would like, as explained in the book. Why does Eli smell "funny?" She doesn't bathe, usually. In the film, it is indicated implicitly by the greasiness of her hair. Her clothes are also unwashed. In the book, it suggests that she would give out corpse-like odor as she gets hungrier and her body decays. How did Eli or Virginia get into some places seemingly without being invited in? In typical vampire lore, a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited. Besides the possibility of goofs in the film, there are several possible explanations as to how Eli and Virginia seemed to get into some places without being invited. For example, Eli may have entered the apartment building uninvited when she first moved in because the hallway was unoccupied by people--hence, it was open space -- or Håkan may simply have entered first and then invited her in. Virginia (Ika Nord) was wheeled into the hospital, which could be construed as a gesture of invitation. Near the end of the movie, Eli was able to break into the pool because she didn't need invitation again since she was there before (as seen when she's waiting for Oskar in one scene), though in the book she is in fact invited in. Finally, the invitation rule may only apply to private residences, i.e. vampires do not need to be invited into public buildings. Why are there references to Soviets and Leonid Brezhnev throughout the movie (in news reports and conversations)? The story takes place in the middle of the cold war. On October the 27th, 1981, a nuclear-armed whiskey-class submarine (S-363) from the Soviet Baltic Fleet ran aground on the east coast of Sweden, spawning a long and intense period of news coverage and something of a diplomatic crisis. One can assume that it is used in the movie (and book) to properly set the tone of the time and to date the story. When did the story take place? The story in the film began in February 1982, as opposed to October 1981 in the book. The change was made to make it more realistic to see the amounts of snow shown in the film (which are rare in Stockholm before December). The date Tuesday 6 February 1982 (tisdag 6 februari 1982) can be seen on the newspaper that Oskar is clipping (although in reality February 6, 1982 was a Saturday). What song was playing...? ...in the basement (sharing blood scene): Försonade (Reconciled) from 1968, written and performed by future ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog. ...in the pool scene at the end of the movie: Flash in the Night from 1981, written by Tim Norell and Björn Håkansson and performed by Swedish band Secret Service. ...in Oskar's apartment while Eli showers and changes: Kvar i min bil (Left in my car), written and performed by Per Gessle (the male half of Roxette), taken from the sessions for his 2007 solo album and provided especially for the movie after director Tomas Alfredson approached him, requesting a song which sounded like Gessle's former band Gyllene Tider. The song is, as of yet, unreleased. What do they say in Morse code on the train at the end? P U S S , Swedish for "small kiss." Why wasn't it nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2008? It was released in Sweden on Oct. 24, 2008; the cutoff date was Sept. 30, 2008. The Swedish nominee was Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) (2008), which did not make the final cut by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 no argument there, but eh, at least more people will see it, in some form. i really stand by being most bothered by Infernal Affairs/The Departed; the latter wasnt a bad flick, it just took the subtlety of the former and beat it with a drunken Joker. Well Pulse is the only foreign to US remake I've ever found to be better than the original and even then that's only A) Due to the fact that the original was very lacking and B) only in the case of the Unrated version of Pulse where the jumper and airplane sequences are restored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalHeart Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Well Pulse is the only foreign to US remake I've ever found to be better than the original and even then that's only A) Due to the fact that the original was very lacking and B) only in the case of the Unrated version of Pulse where the jumper and airplane sequences are restored. Cj says "TRUFAX". He also says "The American version makes Pulse make more sense, yet still keeps a lot of the original cool ass scenes. Pulse 2 and more than likely Pulse 3 are an atrocity to film sequels and should never be viewed (I haven't seen 3, but I'm guessing)." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Exactly, Kairo was creepy and not much else, Pulse kept the creepy and added a plot, good characters, and something that makes sense. I really found it to be far superior remake and just a damn good film even if it got blasted by a lot of people (as I said, the unrated version is the true way to watch this movie, it really does make a difference.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 Let the Right One in FAQ from IMDBhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/faq I put spoiler tags where I thought they were needed, and prolly got a little too spoiler-tag happy, haha. Sorry in advance if I missed any or anything... Cj and I are going to get the book tomorrow or sometime this weekend. Definitely can't wait to read it! Thanks! That post answered most of my questions, so I think I may skip the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalHeart Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 Thanks! That post answered most of my questions, so I think I may skip the book. Noooooooo Don't skip it! hehe <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Noooooooo Don't skip it! hehe <3 SUmmer is short and my "to read" list is long. i cut corners wherever i can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalHeart Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 SUmmer is short and my "to read" list is long. i cut corners wherever i can. Once I soak it into my eyeholes, I'll let you know if you made the right or wrong decision, lol <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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