Member review

The Swedish Vampire film of Tomas Alfredson, written by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The film is centralized around the 12-year-old boy, Oskar, played by Kåre Hedebrant. The narrative’s horror aspect begins when Oskar establishes a relationship with a vampire in the character of Eli, played by Lina Leandersson.

The aspect that kept most of the interest the film for me, was its cinematography, carried out by Hoyte Van Hoytema. To depict the-the film Van Hoytema uses an intensification of blood and snow. These two aspects are so concentrated on and precise to emanate the elegance of the film. What also brought my attention to the cinematography were scenes that were accurately balanced in an impression of symmetry. These were views of arches and tunnels for example and also the hospital room.

The editing techniques used are great to support the constant tension through fast cuts for example. These are most commonly used around Eli, as the hidden side of her is revealed and we can see how dangerous she really is. In contrast, there is a civilized side of Eli. Where the editing is totally different to portray this view of regularity to the audience.

The art direction is very well thought out, it all looks natural, in relation to the setting. However, when it does come to the ‘Vampire’ side of things it's not overly complicated to present the normality, which makes it even more intense for the viewer.

For me, the music was the best aspect of the film. The music by Johan Söderqvist is so well suited to really bring out the mystery behind the story, every single moment of music has its chilling effect on the audience. The sound is used to emphasize the story in every way, mostly used to show Eli’s dexterity.

However saying all this, I didn't feel like I enjoyed the film, mainly down to its narrative and theme. Although I do get the impression that I am being biased as I tend to dislike vampire films as an entirety. Therefore I have no recommendation, I don't know what to think of it. The skills that were used to illustrate this story are wonderful, but for me, its story is where it was where it was let down.