Let Me In [HD]

Best of 2010 Series: LET ME IN
Let Me In is one of the most beautiful films of the year, and probably the best remake that I have ever seen. It is based on the Swedish film, Let The Right One In, which was released two years ago to monumental acclaim from both critics and art-house audiences alike. This touching story, concerning a young man's crush on a 12 year old vampire named Eli, captured the hearts and minds of everyone who was lucky enough to see it. If Ingmar Bergman were to direct a vampire-themed film, it would look a lot like this. However, one should not think of the film as yet another entry into the recent "vampire" craze. It is much more than that. This is the film that Twilight only wishes that it could be.

The remake deviates structurally from the original, only in that the opening is a bit different, and a few minor characters have been altered or dropped altogether. The integrity of the storytelling remains intact, and as a result, much of the remake resembles the original in all of...

Let Me In - Sublime, Engrossing, Beautiful
Back in 1992, I believe it was, "The Last of the Mohicans" starring Daniel Day-Lewis was released to a blockbuster reception by the public. It was exciting, well acted and beautiful. However, it was not a trans-literation (word for word) of the source novel by James Fenimore Cooper - far from it. Like many films that have novels as their story origin, you must endeavor to take the film on its own merits and not bemoan that what you loved in the book was not on the screen as you hoped. You can love both, one, or neither, but don't hate the one for being unlike the other.

This is the problem many early critical reviewers of "Let Me In" seemed to fall into. They had loved the original Swedish book and film ("Let the Right One In"), but didn't like this American version because the tone and focus is slightly different. (An example would be Reeves' decision to make nearly all characters in the film outside the primaries into archetypes, not only simplifying the narrative, but...

A great remake and an amazing film
It was with some amount of trepidation that I first heard about the impending release of Let Me In. Like many others, I was quite taken by the original Swedish film, Let the Right One In, which easily secured a spot on my Top 10 of that year. I feared that a remake would only excise the poetic nature of the story in favor of a by-the-numbers vampire film. The attachment of Matt Reeves as writer and director didn't do much to assuage my fears. Cloverfield was entertaining enough for what it was, but its gimmicky shaky-cam aesthetic wasn't very indicative of his directorial abilities. Once the good reviews of the film started pouring in, I figured I'd see it just to say that I did and then forget about its existence shortly thereafter.

Could I possibly have been more wrong? I ultimately saw the film five times during its brief theatrical run. It's been three months since then, and I still can't stop thinking about it. Never before has my reaction to a film been so contrary to...

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