Magnolia distributors has released 'Let the Right One In' on DVD and totally maimed the subtitles. Judging by what I've seen, and it ain't pretty (Icons of Fright), the subtitles have been dumbed down to such a degree that I would consider it unwatchable. I suspect anyone who has seen the original would likely feel the same way. Does this distributor think the US market is so remedial that the original subtitles were somehow vastly over their heads? That the syntax of the original Swedish to English subtitles is too convoluted for North American audiences to follow?
It was put forth by Popmatters.com that it was likely cheaper to create new subtitles than pay for the rights to the original ones, and:
"...there’s the sneaking suspicion that, beyond all the initial hand wringing and kvetching, many in the moviegoing public wouldn’t know about the change, and therefore wouldn’t care that they’re missing the movie as it was meant to be seen. While it sounds cynical, filmmaking and the distribution of same is still a business, and driven by commerce as well as art."
So, at the end of the day, commerce takes a big dump all over art and figures the herd won't notice. 'Let the Right One In' is just a 'quaint little' foreign film anyway that Popmatters.com says was lucky to see the light of day at all in terms of distribution at this level.
My question though is, if you're not seeing a film the way it was meant to be seen, what is the point?
I loved this 'little' film. It was beautiful and understated and I'm not going to try and pretend I know anything remotely 'filmic' in terms of analysis, but it's a genuine and heartfelt tale about a friendship between two young outsiders.
It's very easy to relate to this film, vampire aspect aside. I don't consider it a 'vampire' story per se, rather it's a beautifully crafted testament to the innocence and fierce loyalty of young friendships before sexual awakening forever changes the dynamic. There is an element of this sexual awakening in the film, but it is budding, innocent and shy. As it should be. It's a movie about square pegs in round holes and I cheered for both Eli and Oskar. They deserve better.
So do the people who have yet to see this wonderful film.
"C'Mon In Ya'll!" ... LOL, classic.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone's interested, you can still rent the original version on Netflix. It really is an amazing story.
A little sidenote: When we first started the DVD, it was automatically set to English overdub, which is only appropriate (in my opinion) for anything starring Godzilla. Anyway, it was easy enough to turn on the subtitles, but we both found it odd that the people who released the DVD assumed that English-speaking audiences would prefer to hear their native tongue, rather than bother reading subtitles. You know, since most of us don't read so good.