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Swedish cinema has had a long running history of critical excellence with a penchant for a slower pacing and an ability to focus on darker subject matter. The stereotypical image of Death playing chess has had a monumental impact on the perceptions of this nation’s creative output with this week’s films both displaying roots dealing with work from the same director (Fanny and Alexander) and a modern horror classic (Let The Right One In).
Director: Ingmar Bergman
For those familiar with the work of Ingmar Bergman, the prospect of watching over five hours of his brilliant if often depressing art house style may seem like an unforgiving prospect. Yet by the end of Fanny and Alexander, you are instead left gagging for more.
At its simplest level Fanny and Alexander is the semi-autobiographical tale of Bergman’s childhood as the two children at the beginning of the 20th century attempt to understand the world as they are moved from their colourful theatrical family to the care of the cold and austere Bishop Edvard Vergarus. It is a tale Bergman fills with a whole host of vibrant characters ranging from the children’s nanny Maj to a kind if somewhat mysterious Jewish antiques dealer and his family, which the director uses brilliantly to examine his favourite themes. However what makes Fanny and Alexander so truly exceptional is the sense of pure magic both real and imaginary that runs throughout the film, seemingly transporting the viewer into Alexander’s strange magical world where the line between reality and fantasy is never fixed. Magic in the film is also what gives it its most memorable moments from the story of the emperor’s chair to Alexander’s encounter with the puppet of God: one of the most extraordinary scenes I have ever seen.
Despite its vast running time Bergman’s spectacular farewell to cinema fascinates and challenges the viewer, in a way which is quite simply enchanting and completely unforgettable – it’s perhaps the director’s greatest achievement.
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Vampire films have gained a bad press recently with the mindboggling success of the Twilight franchise. This was momentarily subverted upon the release of Let The Right One In whose take on vampirism was like nothing we could ever hope to make in the English-speaking world (the remake due within the next calendar year will further cement this fact.)
Where this film succeeds and most other English-language horror films fail is that there is no detail left unaccounted for. The cinematography is so devastatingly bleak that the barren nature of the various snowscapes, be they natural or concrete, provide the perfect mirror to the character of Eli. As your vampires go, Eli is unusual being forever ageless trapped in the body of a 12 year old; there is both a great sadness and menace portrayed by her (a fantastic debut performance by Lina Leandersson). Her relationship with Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is touchingly tragic out of a mutual need for consolidation from a world that has rendered them outcasts through no fault of their own.
In essence what Let The Right One In is able to execute is a superb take on the human angle of vampirism without descending into the dual traps of heavy sexualisation or characters so moody that they become widely derided by all but those who want to jump into the vampire’s pants.
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