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Alfredson Conventions

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Tomas Alfredson’s critically acclaimed ‘let the right one in’ (based on a novel of the same name by author John Ajvide Lindqvist) is an arthouse, low budget horror-thriller set in Blackeberg (a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden) in the early 1980’s. This essay will investigate the themes of the horror genre focusing on narrative codes and conventions including Claude Lévi-Strauss’ binary oppositions and Roland Barthes’ action and enigma codes, concluding with whether ‘Let the right one in’ is a typical representation of these theories.

‘Let the right one in’ falls mainly into the category of horror, in someways staying quite typical to its genre. For example it features typical narrative elements of the horror genre including murder and survival as well as style conventions such as low-key lighting and an ominous score. However, ‘Let the right one in’ also subverts these conventions by challenging various narrative elements. Alfredson was unconcerned with vampire conventions associated with the horror genre and scaled down many …show more content…
We see a black screen with white snow falling, an obvious example of opposites- black and white. This is reflected with the portrayal of Oskar and Eli, ‘One way in which binary oppositions reveal themselves in a narrative is through the physical appearance of the characters…’ (Fourie, 2001 p.154), Oskar is deathly pale and has blond hair whereas Eli has a more darker colouring. This is an example of Strauss’ Binary oppositions. This theory can also be applied to the representation of gender in Oskar and Eli’s relationship. Oskar is male and human as opposed to Eli who is a vampire and supposedly female. Eli is portrayed as a strong predator whereas Oskar could be seen as the weak damsel in destress (this is suggested through the use of Oskar wearing baggy clothes, emphasising his feebleness and vulnerability); these representations subvert the traditional representations of

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