Releasing October 1st, and written and directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield
), Let Me In is a remake of the excellent 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In
, which was in turn based on the 2004 Swedish novel Lat den Ratte Komma In (Let the Right One In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist. When interviewed back in 2008, the director of the original was understandably not happy. Lindqvist was also interviewed and gave a sort of non-opinion on the remake and some insight into the story. It's an interesting interview.
For Lindqvist, the story was a very personal one, and this is what makes it so good, in a world of fairly generic vampire stories. Poignant and tender, it captures a certain mood at a certain age, and it’s really more about being a lonely outsider desperately waiting for someone than it is about vampires.
I could rant about remakes, but instead I’ll just say that I’ve already seen the original, so I don’t need to see the English-language version. The remake might be good, but I doubt it will capture the delicate and understated nature of the original.
John Ajvide Lindqvist was politic enough to tell his fans to give Let Me In a chance. His exact words on the fan forum at www.let-the-right-one-in.com were:
ReplyDelete"Oh, by the way, don´t be to hard on Matt Reeves. I´ve had some e-mail contact with him and I know that his motifs are good. This movie is not just something that has been dropped in his lap, it´s something that he sincerely wants to do. How it turns out is of course another matter, but until proven wrong I have faith in him."
I myself have come around to the same place. Every time that Reeves has been in the press talking about his project, he has been saying pretty much the right things. I am ready to take whatever enjoyment I can from his film.