Saw this, a psycho-thriller by Korean filmmaker Ji-woon Kim, at the HFA a couple of days ago. I like to go into movies cold, so it wasn't immediately that I figured out that it was a thriller that I was watching. It began in a stark, white room where a doctor is preparing to talk to one of the Sisters. A nurse leads her to a table, seating her across it from the doctor. The doctor speaks empathetically, trying to engage her in talk therapy. She does not answer. She looks down, with her hair obscuring her face. Then she raises her head towards the window, face still covered by her hair. What follows tell us how Su-mi (Su-jeong Lim) ended up where she is today.

Su-yeon (Guen-yeong Mun) is Su-mi's younger sister, and the more traumatized one after their mother's death. Their father (Kap-su Kim) drives them to a house in the country after Su-mi's prior hospitalisation due to a mental breakdown. There they must live by the rules of their proverbial wicked stepmother (Jung-ah Yum). Su-mi must protect her sister from the stepmother's cruelty.

The tension builds ever so slowly. The house is large and immaculate, yet cosy, quite the opposite of the opening image of the movie. As we first enter the house with the two sisters, we don't notice the ominous aura, but it's not long before it bleeds into the apparent reality. The distinction between what's real and what's not remains ambiguous even after we learn what is really going on.

Ji-woon relies on the movie watcher's imagination in many ways. The visualisation of horror, even when we see the apparitions, stops short of unfolding in front of our eyes. The production and sound design are superb, as is the editing.

Wonder what Dreamworks will do with it when they remake it, they've apparently bought the rights.

[My del.icio.us: A Tale of Two Sisters | film | movies]

9:40:28 PM