Let the Right One In
![Watch film Let the Right One In — Official Trailer [Subtitled]](https://www.acmodasi.in/amdb/images/posters/l/h/ulvqv54gL4r9.webp)
Short description
Oskar is a twelve-year-old boy living in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, where three classmates make his days miserable and he dreams of striking back. One night he meets Eli, the strange pale girl who has moved in next door. The two outsiders gradually become close, and she encourages him to stand up for himself. At the same time, a series of mysterious deaths unsettles the snow-covered neighbourhood, and Oskar comes to understand that his new friend is no ordinary child.
The film was directed by Tomas Alfredson, his first feature in the chronological list of his work, from a screenplay by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who wrote the novel the story is based on. Kåre Hedebrant plays Oskar and Lina Leandersson plays Eli, with Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist and Peter Carlberg among the supporting cast.
Made for about four million dollars and released in October 2008, the film took roughly eleven million dollars worldwide, a strong return on a modest production. It holds a high critics' rating of 8.5 out of 10 from 193 reviews, with audience scores somewhat lower: on IMDb it stands at 7.8 from around 239,000 votes and on TMDB at 7.5 from over three thousand votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- In Lindqvist’s novel, Håkan was a pedophile, and Eli was a boy, Elias, castrated many years ago by a sadistic vampire and transformed into a girl. While this transformation is explained in detail in the novel, it is only briefly mentioned in the film. Despite this, Eli's low, androgynous voice was preserved, but it does not belong to Line Leandersson; she was dubbed over by actress Elif Seýlan.
- The jungle gym on the playground where many scenes about the relationship between Oskar and Eli unfold was built specifically for the film. Its design was developed to fit entirely within the overall shot of a widescreen frame, while real jungle gyms are very often elongated in height rather than width.
- The Russian title of the film, "Let Me In," is a translation of the English version, although the original Swedish title, "Lat den ratte komma in," should be correctly translated into Russian as "Let In the One Who Needs To." When the novel was being prepared for release in America, American publishers asked Lindqvist to shorten the title because it didn't fit the specified cover format. In Russia, the novel was also published under the shortened title.
- Although the story takes place in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg, filming took place almost entirely in the city of Luleå in the north of the country. This was due to the need to guarantee snowy and genuinely cold weather, which might not have been present in Stockholm, located further south.
- Long before the film's release in the American market, the independent studio Hammer Films acquired the rights to an English-language remake at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2008.
- The scene in which Eli attacks Juke in the tunnel was filmed in the town of Rocksta, as the real tunnel in Blackeberg was too high for the intended image format. The scene in which Eli crawls along the hospital wall was filmed in Boden, with the wall of the city hall serving as the hospital wall.
- Tomas Alfredson did not want to film one of the key scenes, in which Eli's skin begins to bleed because Oskar didn't let her in. The author of the book and the film's screenwriter, John Ajvide Lindqvist, insisted on filming this episode. Subsequently, many critics praised it, with Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian calling the moment "hemophilia of rejection."
- In one interview on Swedish television, the host asked Lina Leandersson if she had read the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist on which the film was based before starting filming. Lina replied that she hadn’t, as she was only 11 years old and the book was too mature for her.
- The rights to adapt the novel were acquired by producer John Nordling of the film company EFTI as early as late 2004. Initially, he contacted Lindqvist's publisher, "Ordfront," but was put on a waiting list at number 48, so Nordling called the author directly. Lindqvist liked Nordling's vision, which coincided with his own.
- The film is based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, "Let the Right One In" (Lat den ratte komma in, 2004).
- The title of the book and film alludes, to some extent, to a folk belief that a vampire can only enter a home after being invited.
- Due to the very cold winter weather, a number of scenes with close-ups of the actors that were supposed to take place outdoors had to be filmed in a studio.
- The film was shot with a single Arriflex 535B camera, which was moved only on rails.
- The American DVD and Blu-Ray release of the film in March 2009 sparked outrage among fans. The subtitles from the theatrical release were replaced with a simplified version, which many found completely unacceptable and capable of ruining the viewing experience. After numerous complaints, the distributor agreed to reissue the film with theatrical subtitles, stating that already released discs would not be exchanged.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
