Let the Right one In
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It seems in our society today violence is a prominent fear whether it through abuse, bullying or isolation, physical and mental violence is something most can relate to. In the film “Let the Right one In” directed by Tomas Alfredson, the manifested violence is presented implicitly to adhere to the themes of abuse, social outcast and bullying and the overall theme of Otherness. The directors use of cinematography conveys violence in an almost innocent light paired with moral difficulties which as the audience brings sympathy not only for the victim but sometimes the attacker. This movie somewhat implicitly justifies violence and it can be argued that the violence has a moral reasoning through the use of cinematography and arrangement of the characters. This essay will argue how cinematography is used to represent the overall theme and how violence is manifested through the effects of bullying, abuse and rejection and isolation from society.
Let the right one in revolves around two adolescents one of which is a supernatural being, a vampire. It is only natural to assume that this (supernatural being) is where the violence in the movie would be derived from however the general mood of the atmosphere and society in the movie is quite ordinary and bleak. Vampirism is offered more as a matter of fact part of life masked as common murderers. Even humans who discover the secret of vampirism seem to not be overly shocked or scared. Although the main events in this film could be described as supernatural, they are paradoxically not treated as such. Absent are the typical “Dracula/Nosferatu” like beings and the fangs which are usually associated with vampire violence. The violence is almost made innocent or blurred to parallel to the innocence of the children, as children usually are sheltered from violence. This coupled with cinematography brings feelings of sympathy and vulnerability for the characters and understanding for the violence.
Cinematography provides viewers with a rapid guide through a narrative sequence, it creates movement of the story line instead of waiting for the camera to move place to place and taking too much time (P.J).
In this film violence is manifested through two the two main characters. Oskar the adolescent 12 year old human boy is a social outcast who is constantly targeted by bullies, violence is shown though the bullying and also by Oskars retaliation to the bullies. Eli the mysterious new 12 year old girl in town attracts attention as stories of violent murders or people drained of blood after being attacked by a child circulate around. Oskar is constantly physically attacked by the bullies by whipped hit and pushed around as well as mentally, constantly being called a “squealing pig”. Eli on the other hand would get her carer (an older man to whom people refer to as her father) to murder and drain people of their blood and occasionally she herself would attack a human and feed from the vein, this manifested violence was more physical. However, the use of cinematography hid the actual gore of the situation. In one scene Elis carer hangs up a victim off a tree, you are given a mid-shot of the carer in front of the victim with a knife in his hand, a slice is heard and then the sound of liquid hitting the container he had with him and then a low angle close up of the container with blood dripping down the side. At no point do you see the actual incision or the victims gory wounds. Yet again it is almost as if you are protected from the violence as a child, and this is turned into a more mental horror or violence. You do not see anything but as the audience that mentally terrorizes more than seeing in a sense. Your obstructed view and your minimal knowledge of what is happening also puts you in a position of victimisation too.
Another example of this “innocent violence” or implicitly justified violence is the scene in which Oskar is almost drowned in the pool by the bullies and Eli comes to rescue him. This scene is towards the end of the film where the audience have found a somewhat unconventional love for the unconventional couple. At this point we feel for and sympathise for Oskar the bullied outcast rejected from society and the now lonesome vampire girl who is only trying to survive and battle her own natural morals to protect the one she loves. Innocent violence can be applied to this scene and situation in two ways. First you could suggest that the act of adolescent love in general is one of innocence and the acts of Eli and Oskar are purely out of their innocent love for each other, as children they in a way do not know better, as they protect each other. Secondly the innocence of this horrible crime is kept through the cinematography, careful framing and depth of field and the focus on Oskar underwater shields us and Oskar from the stark reality of what Eli actually is. Here the director uses the telephoto lens and the depth of field on shallow focus, this technique focuses on Oskar being held down in the water and blurs out the swimming pool behind him indicating the weak grip he has on life. In the same shot there is a transition to a wide angle and deep focus while Eli throws ripped body parts into the pool behind Oskar. The actual act of the body dismemberment was not witnessed and Oskar was kept blinded from this, thus preserving his innocence and justifying Elis morals and violence for their innocent love. Through the cinematography the audience subconsciously expects Eli to come to the rescue and the director exploits this investment in the characters to implicitly justify the violence.
As innocent as this love and violence seems, Oskar is not completely naïve, he is aware of the true nature of Eli. However years of bullying and social rejection has created an anger