May 1, 2009 -- This modern day vampire story of young love, based on the book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist, puts the hit film Twilight to shame. Instead of a vapid teen soap opera, this is vivid depiction of two 12-year-olds, one of them a vampire, who find each other during the long, lonely, cold winter nights of Sweden.

The film is done with style. Mostly through images. The film is very quiet, with very little dialog. There is violence and death in the film, but most of that happens off screen. The violence that is on screen is mostly played down and subdued. The film is more concerned with the long nights and short days of Swedish winter, reflecting the cold love of a vampire. The core of the film is centered on loneliness, rejection, bullying, friendship, hunger and revenge.

Oskar (played by Kåre Hedebrant) is a fragile young boy who is constantly bullied by other students at school. He carries a hunting knife and dreams of revenge, but never takes action. One night in a playground, a young girl, Eli (Lina Leandersson), sees him stabbing a tree with his knife as he acts out his revenge. Eli encourages Oskar to fight back against his attackers, which he does. She also tells him they can never be friends.

It turns out Eli and Oskar have a lot in common. Oskar, who is attracted to gruesome, dark stories, continues to seek out the lovely, mysterious, exotic girl. They end up as friends anyway, and eventually agree to go steady, even though they aren't sure exactly what that means. Eli looks to be about the same age as Oscar, but she tells him that she has been that same age for “a long time.” Oskar's interest in the occult and in dark fantasies leads him to the discovery that Eli is a vampire, but that doesn't seem to bother him much.

Eli lives with her father. He is utterly devoted to her and takes it upon himself to obtain blood for her by killing people and draining their bodies. Their relationship comes to an end in a very tragic way, which leaves Eli alone. She needs her father to supply a home for her and to protect her from the authorities who might discover her true nature. Eventually, Eli has to move on when the local authorities start to figure out she is behind a series of murders in town. Some final climactic scenes resolve some conflicts and tie up some loose ends in the story. Spoken language: Swedish, with English subtitles. This film rates a B.

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Copyright © 2009 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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