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First I would like to say thanks to Tin et all for recommending this movie, picked up the Blu Ray version. Secondly I really enjoyed it. Such a nice break from Hollywood
The movie was very interesting on several levels. One was the peak at socialism. Everyone living at what we would consider "lower" middle class, not too far above poverty.
The boy's parents divorced for a tired reason. Didn't like that one. I saw it happen first hand to some friends of mine. Not pleasant at all.
I did like the peak at a different culture and lifestyle. And the movie was so different than the usual Hollywood stuff. The movie's pace was much slower than I am used to. As for the cinematography, they made the best they could of a bleak winter Stockholm Sweden.
However, it was NOT a love story. The vampiress was tired of her old boyfriend as he could no longer make kills for her, so she started courting Oskar and encouraging him to really whop the bully, anticipating it would bring only greater problems for him.
Then when the vampiress's squeeze goes and gets himself disfigured and arrested, she does the honorable thing, drinks his blood and kills him. When she sees Oskar's final confrontation with the bullies, she takes it to the next level, making such a mess he is forced to leave town with her to avoid unanswerable questions with the police.
In short, the vampiress is a user, her old guy was too old and lost his touch, but no problem, she had another lined up after strumming him like a violin.
We'll have to agree to disagree about global warming until the next global cooling scare comes along
Follow Ups:
From what I've read, the dvd/blu-ray subtitles have been dumbed down from those in the theatrical release...
It has atrocious bad Bronx like speak emanating from elderly Europeans- the sound background overlays, effects/etc amateurish to say the least.
Spoilt my viewing of an Intriguing Film but GO THE CATS!
DesW
Magnolia/Magnet is re-releasing the DVD/BD with original theatrical subs. You'll be able to tell which is which by the box - the original will state "theatrical version English/Spanish" subtitles on the box.
So far they're not offering to let buyers exchange the dumbed down discs for the original version.
I remember most of the scenes very well and in most of them the subtitiles were the original not the American version. There are a few that I am not sure about (because I do not remember exactly) but I think I got a 'good' DVD with proper subtitles from Netflix.
thanks
Phil
from a Netflix DVD and it had the dumbed down subtitles.
at FYE and it's a good one without dumbed down sub-titles.
d
and in 50 years the boy will get the same fate as her previous keeper (who probably started as a 13 year old himself) the way she barked at him early on (when he failed at getting blood for her) let you know how it was between them. In this context I thought the ending was quite sad.
thanks
Phil
...when we see the partial face of the girl over the shoulder of the boy while they're alone in her apartment. For a short two or three seconds we see her youthful face transform into an older woman's visage and return. There's also the complication of the short visual presentation of the scars from a surgically removed (male?) sexual organ on the girl. These things actually stand in opposition, don't they?Is "she" male or female? Or, as vampire, neither? Can non-humans (extra-humans) love?
This film raises serious questions about what love is. In the context of the film it is certainly far more complex than the feeling of a twelve year boy for a girl/boy of his own age.
Is the immense loneliness of the ageless vampire being living in a threatening and foreign human world from which it once came legitimate foundation for love?
Love is a selfless condition. A state of complete humility from which one is willing to sacrifice for the other, for the loved. How can one love in a world where survival is all?
Is love possible for a vampire? Does "allowing" another to live so that one can benefit from the allowance, constitute love? Does selective killing - only to nourish oneself - constitute sympathy in any respect? Or is it always a means to an end?
What is there in the girl that motivates her to live - and let live - in spite of a profound will to death displayed so quickly by the infected woman (on fire).
A substantial part of this large question is derived from - and transcends - the "shortcomings" of the film. Exclusive, I believe, of the direct intention of the director. Genuine art is always resilient enough to endure it's own failings.
This is a very fine film, worth many visits, I believe.
Edits: 03/23/09
...it is a complex and many layered "love" story that asks more questions than it answers. I'm planning on reading the book after I've seen it again.
Yes, the brief scene shows that "she" was once a "he", adding yet another layer to the story.
.. paradox of the other scene I mentioned, the one where the girl (Eli) was briefly transformed into an older woman? Was that a cinematic device for the benefit of the audience? The boy seemed unaware of it. How does it jibe with the scene showing the scars of masculine sexual neutering?On one hand the director leads in one direction; on the other occasion, the opposite.
Harmonia? Tin? Anyone?
Edits: 03/24/09
questions it poses.
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