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A Tale of Two Sisters

post #1 of 17
7/28/05 at 1:26pm
Thread Starter 
'A Tale of Two Sisters' didn't work for me. I approached it as a horror film and, aside from a couple of jump-scares, it didn't manage to get under my skin. Rather than spending the movie in a state of mounting dread, I spent it in confused impatience. Since the movie didn't give me enough clues to even guess what was going on, I found myself marking time until the reveal. When the reveal did come, I found it to be a letdown. Instead of feeling deliciously afraid, I felt cheated.

On the plus side, the movie is beautifully photographed, the sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the actress who plays the stepmother role is S M O K I N apostrophe hot.
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post #2 of 17
7/28/05 at 4:11pm
i totally agree with your comments. i've been meaning to write something up on it like yourself but you summarized it fully for me. thanks! also had kind of the same experience with the movie "fall, winter, spring, summer and fall" or something like that. went in with different expectations than what i got. also, me and my wife were kind of confused with some of the things going on (i.e. the climb up the mountain at the end). we're deep people but that movie just went onto some other plane all by itself....
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post #3 of 17
7/28/05 at 4:26pm
I think it's an amazing movie, and the scariest tragic film I've seen in a long time.
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post #4 of 17
7/28/05 at 4:32pm
I didn't get it. I'm really not sure what happened at the end. I also didn't find it scary. However it is a quite beautiful and atmospheric mood piece. The scene when the sister wakes up and sees something moving in the room is the best example of that type of scene i've seen, although the climax of it with the extra hand destroyed the elegance of it - i thought it was a bit too wacky.

So i highly recommend it, but i didn't find it scary. And i'm still too scared to watch Ringu for a second time.

so, clever people, what did happen in the end?
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post #5 of 17
4/4/06 at 8:39am

Indeed,

What DID happen ?
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post #6 of 17
4/4/06 at 9:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by klimaxx
What DID happen ?
Spoilers




My basic thoughts are that the only people in the house are Su-mi and her father, until the end point where Eun-joo (the step mother) arrives in a gray suit.

She has a massive amount of guilt for leaving her sister to die and in her fractured state of mind conjures up the form of her sister and an antagonist to protect her sister from. Throughout the film she plays the part of all three characters but none of them exist.

A good example of this is the dinner scene where Su-Mi is playing the part of Eun-joo, her fictionalised childhood stories upset Eun-joo's brother.

Eun-joo was at the house before, she attended to Su-Mi's sick mother and had an affair with the father, which led Su-mi to take vengeance and not go to help her sister.

I adore this movie
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post #7 of 17
4/4/06 at 10:09am
I thought it had potential. It could have been something gloriously twisted and creepy but the ball was really dropped.
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post #8 of 17
4/4/06 at 10:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JGButler
I thought it had potential. It could have been something gloriously twisted and creepy but the ball was really dropped.
How was the ball dropped?
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post #9 of 17
4/4/06 at 10:22am
It wasn't handled well for all the reasons Frank and Gusset mentioned. And considering what the movie could have been, I think that qualifies as dropping the ball.

Although, you said you adored it so I get why you ask.
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post #10 of 17
4/4/06 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JGButler
It wasn't handled well for all the reasons Frank and Gusset mentioned. And considering what the movie could have been, I think that qualifies as dropping the ball.

Although, you said you adored it so I get why you ask.
The initial viewing of the movie is not at all helpful. It's only on further viewings that the film starts to come together. There is no real big reveal because everything is already laid out, it's more of a spark to make you put together the pieces of the puzzle. The movie isn't a ghost story as much as it is a pyschological drama, and I think thats where a lot of people get stuck.
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post #11 of 17
4/4/06 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall
The initial viewing of the movie is not at all helpful. It's only on further viewings that the film starts to come together. There is no real big reveal because everything is already laid out, it's more of a spark to make you put together the pieces of the puzzle. The movie isn't a ghost story as much as it is a pyschological drama, and I think thats where a lot of people get stuck.
(Spoilers)

I completly agree. I loved the flick. Great atmosphere, and that slow build towards the end absolutely had me engrossed. The reveal actually occurs 2/3rds in, when you find out her sister is alreay dead, The ending brings you full circle into the hows and whys of what has already occurred.
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post #12 of 17
4/4/06 at 11:26pm
I just watched this sunday night and I thought it was pretty good even though I was a little confused by the time it was over. I had a bit of a nasty headache while I was watching it and I was pretty tired, so I guess that didn't help. My fiance pretty much got the gist of it along the way Spike was thinking about it, and I was going in that direction, but got twisted around towards the end.

Coincidentally, this thread got active again today and reading it enlightened me a little. I actually had some time so I watched it again tonight. The second time through was a bit of a different experience if you look at it knowing where it's coming from.

There was a pretty nifty summary/explanation on Wikipedia I found today, if anyone is interested... here's the link:

LINK
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post #13 of 17
4/19/06 at 12:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall
Spoilers




My basic thoughts are that the only people in the house are Su-mi and her father, until the end point where Eun-joo (the step mother) arrives in a gray suit.

She has a massive amount of guilt for leaving her sister to die and in her fractured state of mind conjures up the form of her sister and an antagonist to protect her sister from. Throughout the film she plays the part of all three characters but none of them exist.

A good example of this is the dinner scene where Su-Mi is playing the part of Eun-joo, her fictionalised childhood stories upset Eun-joo's brother.

Eun-joo was at the house before, she attended to Su-Mi's sick mother and had an affair with the father, which led Su-mi to take vengeance and not go to help her sister.

I adore this movie
That's what I got from it as well. I agree with the adoration of the movie. It's easily the best Asian horror movie I've ever seen. Just amazing.
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post #14 of 17
7/9/07 at 1:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Into Another
That's what I got from it as well. I agree with the adoration of the movie. It's easily the best Asian horror movie I've ever seen. Just amazing.

I agree. In fact, possibly my favorite horror movie ever.

additional spoiler








***




Along with with the above points by Spike Marshall, I'll add that in addition to Su-mi's schizophrenia, the ghost of Su-mi's mother was a real entity in the house - just to clarify. So it was a mix of schizophrenia and an actual ghost.


The ball was not 'dropped' at all. You either got it, or didn't.
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post #15 of 17
7/9/07 at 11:23am
Yeah, i completely found this movie to have one of the most devastating endings i had seen in a while, and to me the scares were effective if underused.
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post #16 of 17
7/9/07 at 11:30am
I remember enjoying this when I saw it a few years ago after Dave Davis recommended it. I have the DVD sitting unwrapped on my shelf. Maybe I'll revisit it soon.
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post #17 of 17
7/9/07 at 3:17pm
One of the few asian horror movies that I wished I owned but still haven't put money down on... I saw it on DVD twice and I wished I had it for my collection.
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