A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
A young couple moves in to an apartment only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins to control her life.
Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.Written by
John Nordling, Producer
Several tricks were used to create the right sound effects for some of the gorier scenes. Biting into sausages was used to replicate biting into skin and flesh, and drinking yogurt was used to sound like drinking blood. The sound of the children blinking was made by the skin of a grape rubbing against each other in an almost "blinking" motion. See more »
Goofs
(at around 20 mins) As Oskar shows the Rubik's Cube to Eli, one side is almost completely white, except for one single square. This square changes color between red and blue between shots. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Oskar:
Squeal like a pig. So, squeal.
See more »
I read the book and loved it. Now, I had the chance to see the movie version at the Gothenburg International Filmfestival 2008, as the movie won the "Nordiska filmpriset". I saw it at a really big screen (700 seats), happy that it delivered fine acting and quality cinema.
Having said that, I'd also agree with what's been said (e.g. above) that the music is a bit over the top. The movie itself is a study in the small: tiny nuances in the classroom and schoolyard, the almost forgotten suburb, the hiding qualities of snow, ice and winter (not to mention the, at least partly, neglected kids). To score such small details with grand strings makes for a bit of a mismatch. Enough on that, some parts have only piano and those work perfectly.
Witout spoiling anything it's safe to say that this first and foremost is a story of friendship. Second, it's a story of revenge. Either way, this is a truly original tale and in many parts a beautiful piece of cinema. Original (and sometimes quite gory) still even the violence seems subdued (at least in comparison to the vampire genre as it has evolved from subtle romance flick to full blown war movie). This movie, however, is about loneliness, friendship and loyalty --- and it's really worth watching. Recommended.
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I read the book and loved it. Now, I had the chance to see the movie version at the Gothenburg International Filmfestival 2008, as the movie won the "Nordiska filmpriset". I saw it at a really big screen (700 seats), happy that it delivered fine acting and quality cinema.
Having said that, I'd also agree with what's been said (e.g. above) that the music is a bit over the top. The movie itself is a study in the small: tiny nuances in the classroom and schoolyard, the almost forgotten suburb, the hiding qualities of snow, ice and winter (not to mention the, at least partly, neglected kids). To score such small details with grand strings makes for a bit of a mismatch. Enough on that, some parts have only piano and those work perfectly.
Witout spoiling anything it's safe to say that this first and foremost is a story of friendship. Second, it's a story of revenge. Either way, this is a truly original tale and in many parts a beautiful piece of cinema. Original (and sometimes quite gory) still even the violence seems subdued (at least in comparison to the vampire genre as it has evolved from subtle romance flick to full blown war movie). This movie, however, is about loneliness, friendship and loyalty --- and it's really worth watching. Recommended.