Asian horror is in vogue at the moment- and with good reason. Consider the most recent attempts at this genre from the West- they’re either rubbish, or they’re remakes of Asian films. The Korean film ‘A tale of two sisters’ is definitely a film worthy of attention; it’s almost an Asian horror greatest hits- it has so many elements from Korean, Thai and Japanese film making
The film follows Su-mi (Su-Jeong Lim) and her sister Su-yeon (Geon-Yeong Mun) as they return from a mysterious trip. Their step mother (Jung-Ah Yum) is trying to play happy families, and pretend that they all get along, but the two girls despise her. Su-mi has always found it easy to confront her evil step mother, while Su-yeon, a quiet and nervous girl, is always quite guarded around her. With the girl’s return to the family home, something strange has arrived, but the question really remains- is it evil spirit of the dead, or is it the evil from the step mother’s hatred?
The plot goes through twist and turn, taking the audience on a rollercoaster rise through the supernatural- the only problem with rollercoaster’s is that eventually you’re going to start feeling dizzy. It is possible that the film just has one or two twists too many, by the end you might find yourself feeling a little bit giddy. The film is paced pretty well through the most part, but unfortunately it seems to fizzle out towards the end. That being said, the film is still vastly more exciting and creepy than anything Hollywood has to offer, and it’s certainly a very haunting work.
The film’s directed by Kim Ji-Wun, whose previous work includes ‘The Quiet Family’ (1998) and ‘The Foul King’ (2000). Hopefully for the new trend of Asian films getting UK cinematic release, we can expect to see some more of his work on the big screens. The Cinematography is stunning and beautifully sedate for the majority of the film, making the gorier of the scenes doubly shocking.
In sum, this is a beautiful and scary film. It may be a little long and slow moving for some, however- this is a somewhat of a signature for Asian horror films- they want to take the time to tell their story, and they want you to become completely involved in it.
Surprise surprise, DreamWorks has already bought the rights to remake it for a Western audience. Watch it now so you can say “Oh, the original was waaaaaay better…” |
