MOTW #7 A Tale of Two Sisters

[Kikabi]

MOTW #7

A Tale of Two Sisters - 2003 (South Korea)

Written and Directed by Kim Ji-woon

Su-mi (older daughter): Lim Su-jeong
Su-yeong (younger daughter): Mun Guen-yeong
Eun-joo (Stepmother): Yum Jung-ah
Moo-hyeon (Father): Kim Kap-su

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa185/Kikabi/Movies/ToTS1.jpg

MOTW #8 The Fly (David Cronenberg)
MOTW #9 Hellraiser
MOTW #10 Demons (Demoni)

[Kikabi]

A Tale of Two Sisters

I love a movie that, when all it's secrets are revealed, practically insists that I go back and watch it again in order to figure out the mysteries before the reveals. Of course, such a movie has to terrific or it's not worth the trouble. A Tale of Two Sisters is an excellent movie that draws you in with it's sure-footed direction, outstanding cinematography, terrific acting, and with two young girls who are sympathetic and complex.

Who couldn't fall in love with the younger daughter, Su-yeong, and understand and appreciate Su-mi's obvious love and protectiveness of her sister. Especially in face of crazy step-mother! Who is oddly sympathetic herself, since it's clear she tries, but tries too hard and is over her head, since she doesn't know how to behave in her role. And, of course, why would she know how to behave as a mother and a wife . . .

Repeated viewing is extremely rewarding as you find all manner of subtle clues that might have passed you by earlier. I didn't notice until my fourth viewing that while there are two pair of legs in the water where the girls are relaxing on the dock, when the father calls for Su-mi (he never says Su-yeong's name except once), there are only one pair of legs in the water.

My only complaint about the movie is the father character. He's far too passive, it seems to me. He's just there. It must be a very difficult position to be in, living with a severely mentally-ill daughter and I suppose it would have detracted from the story to see his side of things. He tells her he wants to her to open up to him and explain things to him, at the same time, he keeps himself distant from her and rarely confronts her.

The ending is complicated, a knot Kim Ji-woon left for us to unravel for ourselves. Fortunately, it's a fascinating puzzle of a movie. It's a 10/10 for me.

[yorrick brown]

so good ,good old hollywood is remaking it.but they`re going for the less complex more scares rout,oh joy...not.

ok so the only people in the house are sue -mi and her dad and the rest were ghosts right?.

i wouldn`t call this a horror or a supernatural thriller more a drama with scares.like most asian ghost movies it moves along at what most would call a snails pace,taking its time so most people looking for a scream movie or nightmare on elm st will be bored but this has some great scares.the kid under the sink and the hand coming around the door were killers if you`ve got a weak heart.

overall pretty good but i wouldn`t recommend it to horror blood and guts fans.

[Romero&Juliet]

the fact that, by coincedence, I went out and bought this today without realizing that it was a schmoe Movie Of the week, proves that I am - well, a complete schmoe. :D

[Kikabi]

:D And proud to be one - well, here, at least!

[Kikabi]

Originally posted by yorrick brown
ok so the only people in the house are sue -mi and her dad and the rest were ghosts right?.

Almost. Su-yeong, the younger girl, is a ghost who doesn't realize she's dead until her father says it. The memory of her death comes back, which, I think, is why she starts screaming. And Su-mi has surpressed that memory. There's also the ghost of the mother in the house.

But Eun-joo is a real person, although not Su-mi's step-mother. She worked with Moo-hyeon and they probably were having an affair, which Su-mi suspected, while her mother was still alive, and they continued their relationship after her death. It's the real Eun-joo who, towards the end, encounters the mother ghost in the house during the scariest scenes.

I don't think Kim Ji-woon was completely successful in his goal for this film. He wanted to dramatize multiple personality disorder by showing the secondary personalities physically interacting with each other and with the primary personality, Su-mi.

It works best with Eun-joo as the step-mother when during the dinner party scene and when she goes to bed with Moo-hyeon. Then we can look back and realize the others see it's Su-mi and that's why they're all so awkward. Especially the father.

It's hard to tell if Su-yeung is supposed to be a secondary personality as well as a ghost, or just a physically manifested ghost Su-mi interacts with. She does disappear for a while after learning that she's dead. I don't know what Kim Ji-woon had in mind concerning her. I have my own theory.

With MPD, the primary personality is very rarely aware of having secondary personalities. In stressful times, they go into a disassociative state and one of the secondary personalities emerges. Some of the secondary personalities may be aware of some of the others, but mostly, they're not.

So Eun-joo and Su-yeung could be aware of each other, but, technically, Su-mi wouldn't be aware of Eun-joo or Su-yeung. And there can only be one personality "on stage" at a time. It's not possible for Su-mi and Eun-joo to interact, (or Su-yeong and Eun-joo) since either one or the other's personality would be dorminant.

There are a lot of other things in the movie that don't quite work if Su-mi has MPD. So, I don't think he succeed in what he wanted to accomplish regarding this.

While seeing this for the fourth time, I kept thinking that she's schizophrenic and in a delusional state through most of the story, believing herself to be Eun-joo, at times, maybe even hallucinating Su-yeong and Eun-joo when she's not, in delusion, thinking that she is Eun-joo. Su-mi is at the right age for this disease to start manifesting itself.

After I thought this, I listened to the phsychiatrist's interview on the Deluxe Edition. He came to the same conclusion. This doesn't actually mean anything, since this isn't the director's intention. But it's one way to interpret what's going on since he does leave a lot to interpretation.

Sorry for being so long-winded - again.:rolleyes: I know I'm gabby. Any one else have any thoughts about the psychological aspects of the movie?

[rilocay]

Kikabi, youv'e really got me itching to pop this in again after so many years.

I watched it only twice, and did enjoy the hell out of it but never got so much as what Kikabi. I love the movie how everything builds up and the ending makes it oh-so worth it, a great watch..but before i go any further this needs a re-watch.

and SPOILERSSSSSSSS






Fark the kitchen sink (or was it just cupboards i'm a little hazy) creeped me out big...gotta love that bit!!





END SPOILERSS

[Cronos]

Any one else have any thoughts about the psychological aspects of the movie?
Does the fact it bored the hell out of me count? :p

Maybe I need to watch it again, first time round it was pretty late and had commercial interuptions from what I remember, but I really didn't like A Tale Of Two Sisters, I don't know if that's partly down to my becoming bored with the whole asian fascination with ghosts in their films. It failed to engage or entertain me, the scares just made me laugh and I didn't like the ending (understood it at the time but didn't like it). I do remember it having some very nice direction at times though, that was one of the few positives I got out of the film.

3/10