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Title: A Tale of Two Sisters (One-Disc) (2005) |
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Review of A Tale of Two Sisters (One-Disc)
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Comments for A Tale of Two Sisters (One-Disc)
- Posted on 2008-04-04
Korean Horror
Atmospheric and interesting horror movie about 2 sisters who go to their fathers house after the death of their birth mother. One of them has just been released from the hospital. The sisters arrive at the house and all seems fine..
Soon after strange things start happening in the house. The stepmother is becoming a problem and the father is rarely around and oblivious to all the weird occurences that are taking place. Strange apparitions start appearing and one sister starts being plagued by nightmares. The family starts seeing kids under the kitchen sink, guests freaking out at dinner and creatures behind curtains.
This movie shares some similar themes to other Japanese/Korean horror movies but I found it to be a lot better than the majority that's out there. This movie is not what it seems. It a type of movie that makes you think and it has a decent amount of suspense.
Stylish, Nice scenery and musical score, also loved the way it was directed. Recommended.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-03-30
Possibly The Greatest 'Ambiguous ' Movie Ever, Plus Great Twists And Turns
Okay, even though "A Tale Of Two Sisters" came out in 2004 I just saw it for the first time recently; its 2004 release date may make this statement somewhat less relevant than if it was brand new but I've still got to say it: just when you start to fear that maybe you've seen all the really radical twists out there and nothing is going to be able to have that same level of surprise revelations, along comes something like A Tale Of Two Sisters.
With a "Sixth Sense"/"Identity" level twist in there, it also manages to perform the seemingly contradictory feat of having one of the most ambiguous endings ever seen. The movie's resolution leaves some things even more uncertain but confused than they were at the beginning, but not in a frustrating way - it's left open in a way that's chilling and haunting.
Two young girls, Soo-mi and Soo-yeon, return to the country home of their father and stepmother after a period of hospitilzation for some undisclosed problem. From the beginning, the beauty of the home and its idyllic setting in the Korean countryside is at sharp odds with the almost palpable tension surrounding the homecoming. It's clear that something unfortunate or disturbing happened at this house in the not too distant past, and though all four of the movie's main characters seem to know what it was, there seems to be an unspoken agreement not to mention it specifically, and characters reference it only obliquely or through their actions. Therefore the viewer is in the dark and is left to piece together subtle, tantalizing clues. You start to get more ideas where things are going after a while; I hesitate to say too much about the second half. Suffice it to say that the twist is major, and that rather than coming right at the end of the movie, A Tale Of Two Sisters continues on a ways past that key shock and gets, if anything, even weirder.
The lighting, the sound work, the pacing of even the most 'ordinary' scenes - all kinds of stuff that you often don't notice in a movie unless it's really Bad and fouls things up, is done here so spot-on perfect from start to finish that it's essential to comment on. All these production values make otherwise attractive scenes downright gorgeous, and make otherwise tense scenes utterly riveting. The mysterious, just slightly otherwordly (just enough to make you wonder...) atmosphere created in here is remarkable. And the acting is astonishing; Korean films seem to be very well done in this respect and this is in the top tier.
In a movie with relatively little dialogue and even less action (until the end portions of the movie) so much could have gone wrong: the whole movie could have dragged, any number of things could have come off contrived rather than potent, the ambiguous nature of the resolutions could have been maddening rather than rewarding. Somehow though, everything fit together perfectly. The way there so many ways to go off the rails would make me extremely wary about the prospects for this movie's upcoming remake even if there wasn't such a glut of them (I actually love a lot of remakes, it's just there's Way too many of them right at the moment). If ever the chances of lightning striking twice seemed slim this would be it. I'm not going to urge people to not see the new one (I couldn't if I wanted to, since I haven't seen it myself yet) but this is a case where, if you think it looks good, I'd urge you to not wait just on the basis of the original being subtitled, which I know still puts a lot of people off. But if you take a chance on subtitles (granted, most of the people reading this are probably already into foreign-language movies) you're likely to discover that there's a ton of great stuff out there in numerous languages that's every bit as good as the best English-language movies. Now, the remake might turn out to be good too, but this Definately is.
On the subject of foreign-language movies (for the benefit of those who might be new to them, which, again, probably doesn't apply to most people reading this) one area where South Korea really excels is with horror movies, like this one. There's a slew of high-quality ones right here on Amazon, and in addition to A Tale Of Two Sisters two of the best ones I can recommend are The Uninvited and The Host (Two-Disc Collector's Edition).
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-03-24
PLEASE CLEAR THESE QUESTIONS FOR ME!!! HELP.
Hi~
I have watched this movie three times-- and I am not stupid. There are a few things I do not understand-- can someone PLEASE clear this up for me:
1.) WHO is in the bag-- the bloody bag--- that is being pulled all over the house and beaten?
2.) Does the older sister DIE in the end-- in the hospital-- seems that way to me--- hence, she is alone at the end of pier at the end?
3.) OKAY-- the hand drops down from the ghost's gown---- WHO DOES THE HAND BELONG TO?
4.) It says on the DVD box there are "hidden" letters somewhere on the DVDs written -- each sister wrote one to the other.... WHERE THE HECK ARE THESE HIDDEN LETTERS?!?!?!??! THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS.
5.) WHY exactly does the younger sister -- get back at her stepmom-- when, from what I can see--- she didn't have ANYTHING to do w/ ANYTHING.
OKAY.
That is all for now..... I may think of something else later--
BUT WHO IS IN THE BAG??????
ugggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I LOOOOOOOOVE THIS MOVIE-----but I am still confused about a few things.
Score: 4 - Posted on 2008-01-16
A tale of two little too late
I bought this simply because I am a horror fan and thought this might be the different movie that not too many people know about, that has something special to offer.A nice cover, a fairytale like name.Oh my poor fifteen dollars, how i wish I had kept you.
The pace of this movie is what really nails me.It goes on about the daily life of this family, slowly revealing tidbits to keep you hanging on for that great moment.When you start to say"hey when is something going to happen?", soon something small happens.Something just enough to make you want to watch and hope like hell that the next "thing" is actually worth watching, because the last "thing" sucked.Finally, at the end of the movie, is the twist.Instead of going off on a rave about how great the build up was, I was left saying to myself"thats it? I waited...for THAT?!" The twist takes away from other small elements introduced throughout to suggest a haunting, and is used to throw you off balance.Oh thats the plot, you should say.If the house is haunted, I cant say for sure.Either way its dissapointing to know that nothing is really done or came about of the haunting.Instead, a twist.I was going to complain about a key moment here, but I am avoiding spoilers at all costs.
I didnt ruin the movie for you if you want to actually watch it-my opinion is not everyones, and im sure someone liked this movie or is still willing to watch it even after my review.But I do warn that the praise for this movie is truly lost upon me,and the same may happen to you.
Score: 2
- Posted on 2008-01-10
Do not buy this film
I have seen my share of asian horror and this was probably the worst film I have ever seen. Do waste your time with it. I am shocked by the amount of people that liked this film. The "twist" was so basic to figure out in the FIRST SCENE. I usually like asian horror because of the pace and twists but this was so boring. Nothing happens for the first 30 min then a Juon ghost appears and the nothing happens again for 30 minutes then a juon rip of ghost come back again then nothing happens for 50 minutes then its over. WEAK! SO dissapointed! : ( see oldboy or something
Score: 1