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filmreview

B C M A G A Z I N E 0 6 M A Y 2 0 1 0

CINEMASAMCwww.amccinemas.com.hkTel: 2265 8595(C) 8545(E)

AMC Festival Walk UG/F Festival WalkKowloon Tong

AMC Pacific PlacePacific PlaceAdmiralty

Broadway Tel: 2388 3188www.cinema.com.hk

apm PalaceLvl 6 apm Mall Kwun Tong

Cinematheque3 Public Square StYau Ma Tei

CyberportLvl 1 The Arcade100 Cyberport Rd Cyberport

Palace ifcLvl 1 ifc Mall, Central

KingswoodKingswood GinzaTin Shui Wai

Kwai FongMetroplazaKwai Fong

Mongkok6-12 Sai Yeung Choi StMongkok

Olympian CityOlympian City IITai Kok Tsui

Tsuen WanL1-L3 Tsuen Wan PlazaTsuen Wan

Yuen LongSun Yen Long CtrYuen Long

Chinachemwww.cel-cinemas.com

ChinachemGolden Plaza77 Mody Rd, TST East Tel: 2311 3000

Paris LondonNew YorkHong Lai Garden, Ho Pong St, Tuen Mun Tel: 2452 2132

Golden HarvestTel: 2622 6688www.goldenharvest.com.hk

Golden Gateway G/F The Gateway25 Canton Rd, TST

GH Hollywood Lvl 3, Plaza Hollywood3 Lung Poon StDiamond Hill

GH Mongkok G/F Grand Century Place193 Prince Edward Rd W Mongkok

GH Tsing YiG/F Maritime Sq33 Tsing King Rd, Tsing Yi

Grand Ocean3 Canton Road, TST

MCL Cinemaswww.mclcinema.com

MCL JP Cinema JP Plaza, 23-36 PatersonRd, Causeway Bay Tel: 2881 5005

MCL Kornhill4/F Kornhill Plaza SouthQuarry BayTel: 2513 8028

MCL Cinema MetroG/F Metro City Plaza IITseung Kwan OTel: 3194 5179

MCL Telford Telford Gardens, No. 33 WaiYip Street, Kowloon Bay Tel: 2759 2248

ADC and 4D ExtremeLvl 6, Terminal 2, HK AirportTel: 3559 1070

Newportwww.theatre.com.hk

Dynasty4 Mongkok Rd MongkokTel: 2399 0363

Hyland136 Heung Sze Wui RdTuen Mun Tel: 2459 4857

Newport60 Soy St MongkokTel: 2332 1939

President517 Jaffe Rd Causeway BayTel: 2836 5581

UA CinemasTel: 3516 8811www.cityline.com.hk

UA CitygateG-6/F Citygate, Tung Chung

UA iSquare (IMAX)63 Nathan Road, TST

UA Cityplaza5/F Cityplaza Taikoo Shing

UA Langham Place8-11/F Langham PlaceMongkok

UA Megabox

(inc BEA IMAX) Level 11 of MegaBoxEnterprise Square 538 Wang Chiu RdKowloon Bay

UA Shatin G/F New Town Plaza,Sha Tin

UA Times SquareG-2/F Times Square Causeway Bay

UA TMT PlazaTuen Mun Town Plaza

UA Windsor Windsor House Causeway Bay

Cine-Arts HousePhase 3, Amoy PlazaKowloon Bay

Sunbeam Theatre423 Kings RoadNorth Point

IndependentLuxBulkeley Street, Hung HomTel: 2836 5581

Ma On Shan ClassicsLvl 2 Sunshine City Plaza,Ma On ShanTel: 2633 3202

Agnes b. CINEMA!HK Arts Centre2 Harbour Road, WanchaiTel: 2582 0200

HK Film Archive50 Lei King RoadSai Wan HoTel: 2739 2139

The Grand Cinema Elements, 1 Austin RoadWest, Kowloon Stationwww.thegrandcinema.com.hk

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson,

Per Ragnar, Karin Bergquist, Ika Nord

Scheduled release: 6 May

The cinematic vampires I’ve seen to datehave usually been the ramped-up sexyversions – with either lithe female frames inblack leather or dreamy hunks to whomteenage girls would sacrifice their necks tobe with forever.

While the release of Twilight made a lot ofnoise in the commercial theatres last year,raked in an obscene amount of money andsent fan-girls into a frenzy, one vampiremovie has been making the film festivalcircuit rounds very successfully and theaccolades it’s garnered thus far have beennothing less than stellar.

Let The Right One In is pared down to thevery basics, and that in itself is refreshing,thanks to John Ajvide Lindqvist’s story andTomas Alfredson’s assured direction. In thisSwedish film from Lindqvist’s novel,vampires need human, not animal, blood tosurvive, sunlight destroys them immediatelyand fiercely and, because their killing spreesbring unwanted attention, they must live inisolation. Also, due to a dawn-to-duskweakness, a “caretaker” must never be faraway.

Nevertheless, it is a very quiet film – untilfeasting time – and the progress of thenarrative relies heavily on the emotions ofthe two leads. Eli (Lina Leandersson) arrivesin a small town with her minder, Håkan (PerRagnar), a provider of both “meals” anddark humour thanks to the unfortunatesituations he finds himself in preparing thosemeals. Their neighbour is a timid boy, Oskar(Kåre Hedebrant), who is constantly tauntedby his schoolmates. He imagines fightingback, but is always too afraid to translate hisimaginary bravado into reality, even with theknife he carries around.

Both coming from lonely backgrounds, thesetwo strike an almost immediate friendship,despite Eli only coming out at night and

some very obvious hints of her nocturnalprowess. Eli is Oskar’s first real friend who,through love, gives him the courage andencouragement to face up to his demons.It’s a tender love story between the two,even after Oskar’s discovery of his bestfriend’s true identity.

That Oskar in a way condones Eli’s killings(which are unflinchingly shown) is in itselfterrifying. Given the atmospherically quietmoments, every point of the hunter snackingon its prey is magnified, with patches ofwarm blood staining the pale white face ofthe vampire child. The noisy violence of theslaying is in stark contrast to the film’s moretouching moments, especially if oneremembers that Håkan’s life and death hintat Oskar’s fate should he decide to follow thesame slippery slope. The toning down ofpedophilia and Eli’s sexual ambiguity allowfor this thought to fester.

Comparisons might be odious but, as manyviewers will be familiar with Twilight, I can’thelp but beg for the indulgence to contrast atruly great genre film with one that aspiresto its heights. For starters, Twilight is yourtypical Hollywood blockbuster treatment inwhich everything must be explicit and literal.LTROI leaves much to the greatest faculty aviewer possesses – their imaginative mind –and that in itself accentuates the level ofhorror and creepiness.

Furthermore, Twilight’s teenage angstromance is childish in contrast to thematurity of LTROI’s depiction of theinnocence of love, the Swedish film’s tendermoments making Bella Swan and EdwardCullen look like adults with bored sex lives.Also, in LTROI, absent are the nonsensicalpop and rock tunes peppering Twilight’ssoundtrack, the clever use of silence inLTROI serving to underscore genuine tensionand the sense of impending doom. Yes,LTROI is less showy, but miles more effectivein its storytelling, craft and technique. It is athoroughly satisfying vampire movie thatHollywood now wants to remake – and that’sa truly terrifying thought! Stefan S

Let The Right One In(Låt Den Rätte Komma In)