HorrorSpeak---Terror Awaits You in Every Forum!!!!: A Tale of Two Sisters

WARNING:Reviews may contain minor or even major spoilers. Proceed with caution...or don't. Its up to you

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Directed by Ji-woon Kim

Cast:

Kap-su Kim:Bae Moo-hyeon (Father)
Jung-ah Yum:Eun-joo (Stepmother)
Su-jeong Lim:Bae Su-mi
Geun-yeong Mun:Bae Su-yeon

Story

Upon returning home from their stay in a mental institution,2 close sisters must indure their seemingly cruel and psychotic stepmother (who was partially responsible for them going to the loony bin to begin with) and their father who is willing to do nothing about it...oh and apparently there are some ghosts to worry about too...but is everything really what it seems? You'll just have to see for yourself to find out

Comments

Due to the fact that Asian horror cinema has been having a kick ass mean streak with me (the wonderful Battle Royale and fuckin great Ju-On The Grudge) and the fact that I had been hearing nothing but great things about this film,I expected nothing short of being blown away by Tale of Two Sisters...well unfortunatly I must report that that isn't exactly what happened,but it is still a great film nonetheless

By the time the film was over,I was dead certain that the film was a dash of The Sixth Sense with a pinch of Lost Highway thrown into the mix as well. The bulk first half of the film was the drama that was going on within the family as reguards to Su-Mi's dislike for her stepmother Eun-joo. The film is a bit of a commentary on the extreme side of dealing with that sort of change in the family household. There were also some VERY Sixth Sense like ghosts around from time to time. Very much psychological

However,there is a HUGE twist a little bit past the halfway point that changes everything you think you know about the film and which causes the film to go into what I call "haywire mode". Timeframes change almost within minutes as do perspectives and identities. This is where the Lost Highway influence comes into play. The viewer has to struggle and really pay attention to what frame in time the film is in and who is really doing what and whose perspective is the film REALLY looking at. It is a very cleaver idea in theory,but it brings about some problems

The main pattern I see with Asian films is that in one form or another,they go all over the place. Whether it be timeframes or characters faces or whatnot,Asian films can be hard to follow at times. Battle Royale had troubles keeping the viewer informed as to who exactly was who and what face was what (with exception of the highly developed members of the cast) and Ju-On couldn't stand still with what timeframes it was in. However,in neither of those films was it so all over the place that you pratically lose touch of what is really going on. Sadly,this is Tale of Two Sister's main fault. Its eratic second half jumps from one point to another so much that the viewer will be struggling to put the pieces together to figure out just what the fuck is going on.

Then comes the end. A jump so far back in time that it takes place BEFORE the film's beginning to kinda tie everything together into a nice and neat little package. The viewer learns the exact history as reguards to the family and why exactly everything was so messed up within the family. However,the ending PURPOSEFULLY doesn't explain EVERYTHING involving the film cause lets face it,that would be too easy and you wouldn't have to use your brain for this film (which is something I like to do quite often)

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT!! HIGHLIGHT BLACK TEXT IF YOU WISH TO READ OR SKIP IT

Just to give you a little idea as to what to expect and what the twist is,the main element that the viewer will be trying to put together is "who exactly killed who". Thats all I'll say other than I have my own theory,but to discuss it would be spoiling the film too much

Final Tidbits

Wasn't much of a score,but when it came in,it sounded quite beautiful and surprsingly fitting for the film. There are also moments of unseattling musical pieces and sound effects within the film

Surprisingly,given the film's poster of a family picture in which the sister's cloths are covered in blood,there is little gore in the movie. Not to say there isn't any,but I was expecting more. Little splotches of blood (due to one of the sisters having their period...that was more than I needed to know damnit),a hand stabbed with scissors that doesn't really show any blood,and a large blood trail left from a large sack being dragged across the floor. There are a few more gore moments,but nothing spectacular

No nudity of any kind in the film. You want nudity or sex? Look elsewhere cause you won't find it here...however I must say that the sisters were so close that I thought they would start breaking out into lesbianisim at any time,but that just might be my perverted mind talking

Ji-woon Kim didn't really do anything spectacular with the directing of the piece. Although I must say that the house had quite the dark atmosphere behind it. I also dug his use of slow motion and this one part of a ghost early in the film when both sisters were in bed

Final Comments

Qualms in structuring aside,the film made for a pretty good mindfuck. Not quite what I was expecting,but still a rewarding watch on some levels. I have GOT to learn to stop having high expectations for movies cause thats what partially ruined the movie for me

Kefka's Final Review

**** out of 5

--------------------
"The Cheat Commandoes will NEVER find our desert headquarters...since we relocated to my nanna's backyard!"

-Blue Lazer from Homestar Runner-

Post Extras: