Let The Right One In

Spring          Waxing Seed Moon

Took mulch off this afternoon, off all the beds except the shade bed where some tender mosses lie.   Mulch taken off at this time of year has to remain close to the beds in case it has to go back on due to cold nights.  There are green shoots all round tulips, daylilies, daffodils.  Not much, just above the soil surface, but they are on their way.

A movie Saturday, too.  Last night and this afternoon I watched Let the Right One In, the Swedish vampire movie.  It differs from most vampire movies in its neo-realist style, careful cinematography yet natural compositions.  There is little vampire lore here and what there is seems to run against the grain of the traditional.  Eli, the vampire who is no longer a girl (her pubis has closed, whether sewed or fused is not clear) has remained 12, as she says, “a long time.”  Yet the movie presents her as a twelve year old girl emotionally, not the precocious maturity of young vampires as in Anne Rice’s work.  She has also gathered little in the way of riches or success from her state.

She and Oskar, the lead and also a 12 year old, become friends in an awkward courting ritual that has familiar missteps.  In the end Eli protects Oskar, then Oskar protects her.  A touching story in a gory, blood-dripping way.