Once

I thought that Once was a very beautiful film which captured the essence of a true love story and made it very believable for the audience.
The story opens with a talented busker on the streets of Dublin. He is barely noticed despite his talent, except for a young boy who tries to rob him of his earnings. I thought that this introduction to the film was very powerful as it set up the world in which these real characters live. Life is hard for them and following their dreams is not easy - I believe that the film portrays this very successfully as the setting and events are very realistic.
This is also apparent of the characters themselves. Neither are particularly successful or beautiful as we are used to seeing as an audience. Instead, talent has been valued over this. They discover each others talent and this makes for a relationship much more beautiful than anything that a 'typical' film could falsely produce. What makes their relationship so believable is the way in which they come to know each other - it does not seem false or set up.
I also enjoyed considering the film as a different kind of musical. Although it is not apparent that it is indeed a musical unless the viewer is told, I felt as a viewer that it helped the characters express their emotions in a way which was more obvious to the audience. Because of the characters' circumstances, they cannot tell each other how they feel and so expressing their emotions through the musical numbers is an effective way to relay this to the viewer.

Let The Right One In

Let the Right One In was one of the most haunting films I have ever watched.
The narrative itself I found very uncomfortable to watch - particularly the relationship between the lead character and his school friends. As the boy was portrayed as potentially quite emotionally disturbed, this made it more harrowing to watch as his school friends taunted him. It set up the idea that perhaps the boy would react violently due to his unstable state of mind.
His relationship with the girl, however, is also uncomfortable although I was not entirely sure why. The girl seemed to act much older than she is which made her intentions with the boy confusing. It was unclear to me whether she really just wanted his friendship, or something more.
When it was revealed that the girl is in fact a vampire, it gave the all the characters a real sense of depth. It was now apparent the the girl must be deeply lonely in her vampire life, and that she genuinely does want a friend. But this is mirrored in the fact that she is a killer - does this affect the audiences empathy for her? Do we feel more sorry for her because she is a little girl?

A Matter of Life and Death