A Tale of Two Sisters
Those of you who enjoy Asian horror movies and have seen A Tale of Two Sisters, please tell me if I'm on the right track here, at least in your opinion. I really liked the movie but it did have a few problems.
Problems:
1. So slooooooow. Certain parts I just really wanted the movie to get on with it.
2. A bit confusing.
3. Not enough scary stuff. Some scenes were SO FREAKING SCARY and then there was nothing for forever.
Anyway, this is my understanding of the movie. I understand that Su-yeon was dead, and her death drove Su-mi to the mental hospital, and this was her homecoming. Su-mi was still a bit nuts and fantasized that her sister was still alive, and interacted with her. What got confusing for me was the stepmother's role in things. It seemed like Su-mi was using a doll to represent Su-yeon and then was abusing it, pretending to be the stepmother, to further villianize her because she hated her stepmom. Is this the way anyone else interpreted the movie? Because if that's not it, I am totally confused.
The film was beautifully shot, just gorgeous to look at. I noticed right off that everyone was only addressing Su-mi, but it didn't occur to me that it was because Su-yeon was dead. I just thought they were favoring Su-mi and ignoring Su-yeon because they're jerks. I loved the idea of the "haunted" armoire, very scary. But the scene that scared the HOLY FUCK out of me was the one where Su-mi sees something very dark crawling around at the end of the bed, then that thing turns its head and looks at her. I could just imagine how freakin' scared I would be if I saw something like that crawling around the floor of my bedroom. Then they had to take it that much further by having the ghost float up onto the bed with Su-mi and loom over her. OHMYGOD I think I would have a heart attack if I saw something like that getting onto my bed with me. American horror movies just don't know how to take fear to such an intimate level. That's why they hardly ever scare me like this.
The other scene that was really disturbing was the one where the uncle's girlfriend had the seizure, if that's what it was. I don't know how the actress brought herself to that level, to be able to fake such a horrible, disturbing seizure. It was just like, WOW, holy CRAP. I don't really understand why the woman had it at that moment; in fact, the entire scene was a bit confusing, with the whole conversation between stepmom and her brother (the uncle). I didn't really understand the significance.
Another thing that became ambiguous with the revelation that Su-yeon was dead - was Su-yeon haunting the house, and the stepmother felt her presence, or were the scenes where the stepmom encountered Su-yeon's ghost (like where the ghost was ubder the kitchen sink) all the fantasies of Su-mi? Were we supposed to know?
Overall, a fairly good movie, though a few things could have been done more to my liking.
A random funny story I keep meaning to tell: I mentioned One Missed Call a little while ago. There was a stuffed bear in that movie that played music. I have a teddy bear from childhood, Muffy, that plays music when you wind it up (it has a music box in it). So when I went to get into bed, the shaking of the mattress made Muffy's music box play a few notes on its own. XD Not the first thing you want to hear when you've just watched a horror movie with a similar bear in it, even if it was a stupid movie. Then, last night, I have a very fuzzy, vague memory of moving Muffy from one spot on the bed to another because he needed to fill that empty space (seems really important when you're pretty much asleep and noncoherent). But I didn't remember doing it when I first woke up. XD I tell ya, that was a pretty weird feeling to wake up and see Muffy staring at me, when he was in a different spot when I went to bed. Then later, I remembered moving him. XD So amusing.
Problems:
1. So slooooooow. Certain parts I just really wanted the movie to get on with it.
2. A bit confusing.
3. Not enough scary stuff. Some scenes were SO FREAKING SCARY and then there was nothing for forever.
Anyway, this is my understanding of the movie. I understand that Su-yeon was dead, and her death drove Su-mi to the mental hospital, and this was her homecoming. Su-mi was still a bit nuts and fantasized that her sister was still alive, and interacted with her. What got confusing for me was the stepmother's role in things. It seemed like Su-mi was using a doll to represent Su-yeon and then was abusing it, pretending to be the stepmother, to further villianize her because she hated her stepmom. Is this the way anyone else interpreted the movie? Because if that's not it, I am totally confused.
The film was beautifully shot, just gorgeous to look at. I noticed right off that everyone was only addressing Su-mi, but it didn't occur to me that it was because Su-yeon was dead. I just thought they were favoring Su-mi and ignoring Su-yeon because they're jerks. I loved the idea of the "haunted" armoire, very scary. But the scene that scared the HOLY FUCK out of me was the one where Su-mi sees something very dark crawling around at the end of the bed, then that thing turns its head and looks at her. I could just imagine how freakin' scared I would be if I saw something like that crawling around the floor of my bedroom. Then they had to take it that much further by having the ghost float up onto the bed with Su-mi and loom over her. OHMYGOD I think I would have a heart attack if I saw something like that getting onto my bed with me. American horror movies just don't know how to take fear to such an intimate level. That's why they hardly ever scare me like this.
The other scene that was really disturbing was the one where the uncle's girlfriend had the seizure, if that's what it was. I don't know how the actress brought herself to that level, to be able to fake such a horrible, disturbing seizure. It was just like, WOW, holy CRAP. I don't really understand why the woman had it at that moment; in fact, the entire scene was a bit confusing, with the whole conversation between stepmom and her brother (the uncle). I didn't really understand the significance.
Another thing that became ambiguous with the revelation that Su-yeon was dead - was Su-yeon haunting the house, and the stepmother felt her presence, or were the scenes where the stepmom encountered Su-yeon's ghost (like where the ghost was ubder the kitchen sink) all the fantasies of Su-mi? Were we supposed to know?
Overall, a fairly good movie, though a few things could have been done more to my liking.
A random funny story I keep meaning to tell: I mentioned One Missed Call a little while ago. There was a stuffed bear in that movie that played music. I have a teddy bear from childhood, Muffy, that plays music when you wind it up (it has a music box in it). So when I went to get into bed, the shaking of the mattress made Muffy's music box play a few notes on its own. XD Not the first thing you want to hear when you've just watched a horror movie with a similar bear in it, even if it was a stupid movie. Then, last night, I have a very fuzzy, vague memory of moving Muffy from one spot on the bed to another because he needed to fill that empty space (seems really important when you're pretty much asleep and noncoherent). But I didn't remember doing it when I first woke up. XD I tell ya, that was a pretty weird feeling to wake up and see Muffy staring at me, when he was in a different spot when I went to bed. Then later, I remembered moving him. XD So amusing.