I went to see this movie with some friends last night at the Palace Academy Twins on Oxford St. The cinema is small and quaint to some extent with only two screens (the other showing Mary & Max), and we were informed to not leave by one of the exits because there had been a leak in the roof along it.
The movie was different. Since it was shown in a small theatre setting, you can automatically assume that it's arthouse of some kind, or foreign. It is a Swedish film which has won many (42 awards and 9 nominations) accolades.
There may be some spoilers ahead.
It is a rather slow moving movie. There isn't much action, and for a horror, there isn't that much horror either. One of the people who I went to see it with had pre-emptively compared the movie with Pan's Labyrinth, which was quite a dark and gothic film with some levels of horrific violence and horror themes. This film had both mild horror and some graphical violence in the mix, and some aura of impeeding doom and thriller tones. That said, it was also a very touching romance.
Romance, between two young (12 years 8 months, 9 days, and 12 give or take) children. Oskar the blond blue eyed boy who is bullied by Conney and his crew, and Eli, the rather quiet, dark haired, dark eyed girl next door. They kindle their friendship upon the playset in the courtyard of their apartment block over a Rubix Cube and it flourishes from there on.
One of the stranger points which is interesting is that younger children, or at least those with psychopathic tendancies as Oskar has (with his newspaper clippings of murders and violence, and carrying a knife which he practices sticking a tree with, while saying "Squeal, Squeal like a pig!") is that they are not fazed by that they have discovered their romance is with a vampire. He seemingly wanders into the house, smells the strong scents of blood in the air, and calmly asks if Eli is a vampire. No reaction of sorts really, and then just asks if he can go home, if she'll let him. Nor does it bother him that she's old, cold, and not a girl for that matter, which in the grand scheme of things when it comes to love and friendships, it really doesn't matter. Very endearing.
He suffers from bullying by the others, and well, lets say through the movie he gains strength with his romance from Eli, and stands up for himself. Sadly, Conney has a much older brother that decides to join the fray after Oskar smacks Conney, but the older brother gets whats coming LOL.
The cinematography is simple but effective. Darkness, shadows, the gloom. Cold feelings and blue tones, but there is warmth in the faces and appearances when Oskar smiles and interacts with Eli, who, at the start tells him she can not be friends with him.
Special effects are not really heavily used in this, but being a "vampire" film, there has to be effects to accomodate for the issues of people dying and blood, so, be prepared for some.. blood. There isn't much music that stuck to mind, but whatever they used to set the scenes is also highly atmospheric since you could "feel" the ominous occaisions when they happened.
As an aside, if you know your morse code, it adds a touch to the movie which I didn't get since I don't know it.
Highly recommended if you can stomach it, and if you put aside the violence/horror/blood, it is actually a really nice story of romance between two young children who have been exposed to the darker side of life.
The IMDB link is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/
The movie was different. Since it was shown in a small theatre setting, you can automatically assume that it's arthouse of some kind, or foreign. It is a Swedish film which has won many (42 awards and 9 nominations) accolades.
There may be some spoilers ahead.
It is a rather slow moving movie. There isn't much action, and for a horror, there isn't that much horror either. One of the people who I went to see it with had pre-emptively compared the movie with Pan's Labyrinth, which was quite a dark and gothic film with some levels of horrific violence and horror themes. This film had both mild horror and some graphical violence in the mix, and some aura of impeeding doom and thriller tones. That said, it was also a very touching romance.
Romance, between two young (12 years 8 months, 9 days, and 12 give or take) children. Oskar the blond blue eyed boy who is bullied by Conney and his crew, and Eli, the rather quiet, dark haired, dark eyed girl next door. They kindle their friendship upon the playset in the courtyard of their apartment block over a Rubix Cube and it flourishes from there on.
One of the stranger points which is interesting is that younger children, or at least those with psychopathic tendancies as Oskar has (with his newspaper clippings of murders and violence, and carrying a knife which he practices sticking a tree with, while saying "Squeal, Squeal like a pig!") is that they are not fazed by that they have discovered their romance is with a vampire. He seemingly wanders into the house, smells the strong scents of blood in the air, and calmly asks if Eli is a vampire. No reaction of sorts really, and then just asks if he can go home, if she'll let him. Nor does it bother him that she's old, cold, and not a girl for that matter, which in the grand scheme of things when it comes to love and friendships, it really doesn't matter. Very endearing.
He suffers from bullying by the others, and well, lets say through the movie he gains strength with his romance from Eli, and stands up for himself. Sadly, Conney has a much older brother that decides to join the fray after Oskar smacks Conney, but the older brother gets whats coming LOL.
The cinematography is simple but effective. Darkness, shadows, the gloom. Cold feelings and blue tones, but there is warmth in the faces and appearances when Oskar smiles and interacts with Eli, who, at the start tells him she can not be friends with him.
Special effects are not really heavily used in this, but being a "vampire" film, there has to be effects to accomodate for the issues of people dying and blood, so, be prepared for some.. blood. There isn't much music that stuck to mind, but whatever they used to set the scenes is also highly atmospheric since you could "feel" the ominous occaisions when they happened.
As an aside, if you know your morse code, it adds a touch to the movie which I didn't get since I don't know it.
Highly recommended if you can stomach it, and if you put aside the violence/horror/blood, it is actually a really nice story of romance between two young children who have been exposed to the darker side of life.
The IMDB link is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/
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