Next clip up at:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhbpgp_lmi-ltroi-compare-2_shortfilms
Keeping with the kids' scenes, these are two more that could seem "exactly alike" if you don't pay attention.
Scene 1: Morse Code
Music
Dead silence again for LTROI. I like it a lot. Gives the scene an eerie quiet.
I also like the music in the LMI scene. One of my favorites from that score. Sooo...pretty. Makes the scene romantic to me.
Dialog
Some of the dialog makes me wonder here if Eli planned part of this conversation. The fact that she watches Oskar (from earlier in the movie) could mean she knew all about the bullies before she asked. "You've never hit back...have you?" And "So do it." sounds a bit like coercion. "I can do that." could be construed like a promised reward. Is there an unspoken "if" there?
Fun to deconstruct it and speculate about.
The dialog in LMI seems more intimate. I like seeing the kids get to know each other. They trade information about their parents. Owen, upon hearing that Abby's mother is dead, tries to show the kinship between them by telling Abby about his parents getting a divorce. That's both a moment showing Owen to be an empathetic kid and that he is eager to be friends with Abby. I prefer "I'm a lot stronger than you think I am" to "I can do that". The former is a part of the "little girl" theme that runs through LMI. I like that Owen expresses doubt that a mere "girl" could help. Oskar appears to accept Eli's offer of aid without protest. (Oskar frequently just accepts things that Eli says)
Acting
Once again Kare surprises me. I'm starting to do a complete 180 on my opinion of he and Lina in LTROI. He is impressing me more and she is impressing me less. The strong moment for me was when Kare was showing Oskar to be attempting to change the subject from the cut on his face. I really don't feel Lina did much. She's not terrible or anything, just seemed like average reading of lines. I didn't see much range from her. I do like the little twitch on her face when she notices Oskar's cut. A good portion of the dialog is delivered while we don't see Eli's face, so the actress that dubbed the lines is as responsible for this scene as Lina.
Chloë is just wonderful here as we get a couple of key moments from the character. Curiosity, sadness, trepidation, resignation, concern are all present during this scene on her face. I especially like how she pauses at one point and says "Then I'll help you". It's an idea she comes up with on the spot. Her head movement is good there. Her interpretation of "I'm a lot stronger than you think I am" is what got her the part according to Matt Reeves. Other actresses delivered it in a boastful way, Chloë just states it as a fact of her being and certainly doesn't come off as proud of it. Kodi gives "But, you're a girl" just enough of an edge to work without it being an insult to Abby.
Direction
Something interesting I noticed. Reeves shows a shot of Owen running up to Abby at the beginning while Alfredson shows a shot of the kids running off at the end. Both serve to bring a "kid" vibe into it. Reeves chose to set up the scene with this while Alfredson may have meant it as a reminder at the end. Not sure either is "better". Depends on the feel you want from the scene I suppose. I do really like the overhead shot of Owen running up to Abby. Creative and interesting cinematography.
Alfredson gives us some moments where the kids are practicing Morse Code. That's not bad. But I like that Reeves skipped that and gave us more character moments instead. He apparently trusted us to know the kids would learn the Morse Code without telling us (more "subtle"!
).
One of those character moments is one of my favorite moments in LMI and happens right away. Abby is drawn to Owen's copy of Romeo and Juliet and picks it up to look at it. She clearly knows of it from some point in her (distant?) past and feels very strongly about it. This humanizes her character. There is no reason for a "manipulative vampire" to love Romeo and Juliet so that was one of the moments that made me change my mind about Abby's intentions.
Naturally this flies right over Owen's head and he dismisses it by telling her how "boring" it is. (Owen has very little knowledge of how to relate to a girl obviously [wink]) As usual, Abby's moment of happiness is quickly extinguished. Reality intrudes upon her when she realizes that Owen can hear through her wall. She puts all thoughts of normality out of her head and slowly places Romeo and Juliet back in Owen's bag. The sad visage returns to Abby after being temporarily banished. That look on Abby's face breaks my heart completely in half.
I like how Alfredson cuts away to show the kids' hands at times. He had a "hands" theme going in LTROI and it works well. Emotions can be conveyed that way too. And shooting the kids up close was very good. We can see their emotion a little better. I like the choice to shoot them from the side, but wouldn't mind if he had been slightly more patient with the cutaways. Let me see the kids act more.
Two shots of the vampire putting his/her hand on the boy's hand. Two different meanings. Oskar pulls his hand away from Eli. There is still some distance there. He's not really overly affectionate in general in my view. Owen not only keeps his hand in place, but actually smiles at Abby at the very end. Going by what we later learn about Owen's "game", he may have been thinking of whipping out his knife and chopping his thumb off at that moment to impress her.
Owen just seems sweet here.
The shot of Hakan watching in his usual creepy way is a nice touch. One of the moments that made him seem like the jealous pedo to me. There is no equivalent shot in LMI.
One thing I really like that Reeves did here. He allows the kids to act more than Alfredson did. Reeves had two kids who excel at speaking without words so he let them do their thing. There are more moments when the kids are thinking in LMI while the kids in LTROI often say the next line without pauses. It's a subtle difference. Like when Eli quickly answers that "Then I'll help you" without having to think about it. It happens almost before Oskar can finish his line....she was ready to say that to him obviously. If it was meant to be that way by Alfredson, it gives me the feeling Eli was ready with that idea beforehand. Abby hadn't given it much thought beforehand since she actually pauses and looks away to think about it before saying it. Another one of the moments that made me believe Abby is sincere in her affection for Owen.
The LMI scene is 30 seconds longer. More Abby and Owen is a good thing in my opinion. This sort of thing no doubt is what led some movie-goers to proclaim LMI to be "slow". Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the roses though. This story benefits from "slow"....let it take its time building.
Edge
I found the LMI version much more appealing here. Again the acting tipped the balance along with the nice character building moments and dialog. At this point of the movie I really start to "like" the characters in LMI more than their counterparts in LTROI and the gap is growing.
Scene 2:Candy
Cinematography
The LTROI version is shot entirely outside the shop while half the LMI version is inside the store. We get a lot more colors in the store obviously. Ms Pacman and the candy add to the color palette. LTROI sticks with it's more stark scheme. "Warm" and "cold" again.
Music
Nothing except ambient sound in LTROI until some nice guitar comes in at the very end. (That's really for the next scene though) Culture Club in LMI. (plus Chloë's brother dressed like Boy George behind the counter...probably his "boom box" playing) I do like how the Culture Club lightens the mood in LMI. An innocent and fun music. Then "First Date Jitters" plays during the hugging....which I think is gorgeous music.
Acting
I again thought Kare carried the LTROI scene. Lina is also pretty good here though. But most of the interesting stuff happens on his face. Little things like the way the dubbing actress says "Sorry" in a lifeless way can't be blamed on Lina. Lina's best moment is when Oskar is hugging her. I like how you can see her thought process. There is an interesting confusion on her face there.
The LMI kids dominated this one for me. Chloë performance at Ms Pacman and during the hugging work for me far better than anything Lina did. Of course Reeves made sure to give Kodi and Chloë more opportunity to act.
Reeves made sure we saw Chloë watching Owen while he was playing. We see a warm look, then another warm look....then finally she seems to catch herself and look downward as if she realized how stupid she is for even thinking she could be normal. More fleeting happiness for Abby and a great moment in LMI.
Kodi's sweetness, earnestness, disappointment, and happiness while offering Abby candy is just great acting by any standard. The look on his face when he sees that Abby got sick is also something he can show to future directors who want to hire him.
Direction
One of my favorite moments in LTROI here. Seeing the cat in the window spitting at Eli...who is only seen in reflection. That's well done. I like the way she just turns and walks away without reaction...disappearing from the window. Eli then stands some distance away and stares at the sky. One can only imagine what she/he is thinking about there. "I hate cats!" or maybe something darker. Hard to tell from Eli's face.
The beginning of the LMI scene isn't in LTROI. Additionally, the scene is set up by another scene not in LTROI where Owen is shown stealing money from his mother's purse...and finally noticing Jesus is watching him. All part of Reeve's "Nature of good and evil" theme. Owen is the "good guy"...but he steals...and then is shown feeling guilt as Jesus busts his "evil". So we know where Owen got the money...by defying Jesus!
t: But the theft results in one of the happiest moments in LMI. Reeves loves to turn these things on their head.
I love this little addition in the arcade because....we get to see Abby happy. She smiles...and laughs. That's a rare treasure in this story. Owen is spending his ill-gotten gains on video games and candy...so Abby gets exposed to pop culture again via Owen. Not sure if it was a conscious choice, but Ms Pacman being the game is interesting. A female character on the run and eating other characters? But Ms Pacman dies at the end...thanks to Owen's ineptitude. How about that for some thought food?
Also interesting that Owen does not appear to play Ms Pacman very much...he's bad at it. I think he only suggested it because he saw the couple making out in that exact spot earlier in the film. Owen "the watcher" trying to duplicate the situation with he and Abby?
Reeves put the great moment with Abby watching Owen here. One of the character moments for Abby that helped convince me her motivation is emotional.
I also like that we move "forward in time" (by the fact that a different Culture Club song is playing) and Abby is laughing as they walk to the candy counter. I like thinking they were having a great time through a whole album while playing video games. Maybe Abby got to try it too. A talent for puzzles could come in handy with Ms Pacman.
A character moment for both Oskar and Owen is contained in these scenes. Oskar's candy offer is a simple "Here". Owen's candy offer is, "Want some? They're really good...they're my favorite...they're really really good." Owen is more friendly and is more like novel Oskar in some ways than movie Oskar is. (candy fiend)
After the refusal, Oskar gives up immediately when Eli refuses the candy. "Too bad". A little of that mean streak surfaces again with him. Owen doesn't give up. He persists by offering Abby something else "anything you want". He REALLY wants her to like his candy...but is more interested in making her happy no matter what it takes. Just a sweet kid.
When the vampire character agrees to try the candy, Oskar almost shows a contempt with his reaction. Note the little lip purse. He chuckles at the end, but I don't know if he's glad Eli tried it or is laughing AT Eli. Owen is visibly happy....he looks like he grows an inch taller! This of course translates into Abby being happy too. She smiles as well. A nice "warm" moment between the two character that have endeared themselves to me by this point.
No indication of whether or not Eli actually likes the candy in LTROI since Alfredson cuts away immediately. Abby smiles and tells Owen she likes it. I like that little detail. I can't help wondering if this is the very first time she has tried candy. Her smile does begin to fade at the very end...tummy troubles may have been cropping up.
The hugging part means something different in each movie to me. Owen has been shown to be a sweet kid the whole time, it makes sense he would do that. With Oskar, it's out of character. It's a change for him. I see it as part of his redemption by Eli. Again the two characters are very different.
Reeves choose to have a close-up of Owen reacting to Abby's sickness and Abby saying "Sorry" whereas Alfredson stayed in a long shot. I like the close-up because I want to see what the actors do there. Kodi and Chloë were again expected to carry the moment and did a great job.
Edge
We get more than a minute more Abby and Owen than we got Eli and Oskar. That's a big plus for me. More warmth and character building moments appeal to me. I also love the setup with Jesus beforehand and the additional scene of Abby and Owen walking home and holding hands afterward. (That's when Abby finally shows her playful side) LTROI cuts away to Oskar on a bus instead. I'm going with LMI all the way on this one with no hesitation.
I'll get on that.
