A Tale of Two Sisters 2003 Tartan Video   Buy It Now

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Bizarre Magazine. My wife tends to buy it off and on, and aside from reading through the articles and eyeing some of the gothic babes that appear in the pages, but I tend to glance at the adds for upcoming DVD releases at well, often forgetting that this is at UK magazine and not published in the United States. I'd heard of a Korean film by the name of A Tale of Two Sisters in a typical Internet browsing session and when I saw the ad staring me boldly in the face, I was ecstatic, until the reality sank in. This was the United Kingdom release; I was going to have to wait a while, and that also meant that I shouldn't run down to the video store and make an attempt to purchase the rather cool looking Hellraiser box set that Anchor Bay had released overseas. After months of wishing and dreaming, a failed attempt to watch a burned promotional copy, and a missed opportunity to see the film when it played theatrically, A Tale of Two Sisters finally arrived, and the blood soaked sisters taunting me, and it didn't take long to put the disc in the player and prepare for a film that a number of people had been ranting about.

While many have classed A Tale of Two Sisters into the horror genre, it falls more into the sub-genre of psychological horror. The film follows Su-mi and her sister Su-yeon who have recently been released from a hospital due to some emotional issues and are now returning to their fathers rather dark and foreboding home. This is anything but a happy home however. Su-mi is constantly at odds with her stepmother and believes that she is unjustly punishing young Su-yeon. Their father doesn't seem bothered by any of it, and our story gets much darker. At night, strange things are going on in the house and it appears as though there may be some ghostly activity. But, there may be a rational explanation for all it of, if in fact it is happening at all.

When A Tale of Two Sisters was playing here locally in Portland, I had the misfortune to hear the one thing that I had dreaded, and it sadly is something that any horror film or psychological thriller immediately gets associated with; the claim was the A Tale of Two Sisters is simply a Korean version of Ringu. Lets get one thing straight; just because a horror film is brought over to the United States, or any other country for that matter, from an Asian country does not immediately mean that the movie is exactly like Ringu. This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have heard or read, and it seems to happen constantly. Before watching another Tartan release, Phone, I once again saw this same logic used. Let me make this perfectly clear; A Tale of Two Sisters is NOT Ringu. It isn't Ju-on, it's not The Eye, and it isn't any other Asian import repackaged, and if this is the impression that you have and want to adhere to, I'd simply suggest that you stop reading this review right now.

Regardless of popular opinion, A Tale of Two Sisters, as mentioned, is a psychological thriller that certainly has elements of horror added in for good measure. It's somewhat what the end result might be if you took a film like The Sixth Sense and added in huge doses of psychosis and mental disorder. It is a ghost story to an extent, but not in the fashion that many of us might believe that we are familiarized with and offers a very different twist.

While I'm not familiar with it, the film is based on a tale from Korean folklore, and a very dark tale it is indeed. The family itself is as dysfunctional as any you may encounter in cinema, perhaps even more so and the grim and gritty tale is mirrored perfectly by the visual appearance of the film. As we see very early, Su-mi's relationship with her stepmother is strained to say the least. Dislike is a much more kind word for the disdain that she has for her, but as the story unfolds, it seems as though it's much more than feeling negative emotions because of a parental replacement. Su-mi goes beyond just teenage angst and her anger is lashed out at almost everyone save for her sister, Su-yeon, who she will do anything for.

Nightfall however is where the strange incidents begin to occur. There are strange ghostly figures, bloody bodies, sounds, and other sorts of creepiness, but as to what the true origins are we are left to speculate, and that is ideal in this case. A Tale of Two Sisters however steers clear of the typical Hollywood horror element in these instances to deliver scares and chills. With almost any horror film made here in the United States, there is accompanying music that generally signifies that something is amiss and we can expect the worst, the problem with that simply being that much of the time it ruins the illusion. However, in the case of Tale, many scenes are devoid of music, creating a good amount of tension. You know that something is coming, you know it will, but Kim Jee-Woon, the films direct, excels at leading us in the wrong direction at times and then throwing in something else for a quick jump.

One of the main comparisons that have been brought up but virtually everyone isn't necessarily in regards to other cinema but instead literature. Grimm Fairy Tales, and even the packaging references this, and the comparison is very accurate. You have more or less the wicked stepmother type and children dealing with both emotional and physical torment. However, there are times when it is very difficult to choose who you should feel the greater sympathy for, and this is somewhat true even after the film has come to a point where you have a slight understanding of exactly what was occurring.

A Tales of Two Sisters however is one of those films that may not necessarily make sense after the first viewing. There were a few times when I was scratching my head after watching it, trying to put everything together. This may be something that turns some viewers off, but for myself, it makes for a fantastic movie. Think of it in terms of watching a movie like Donnie Darko. For those that haven't seen the directors cut, which completely spells everything out by the way, the film had quite a few different theories about the overall plot. A Tale of Two Sisters is similar in that regard, and having initially viewed the film the first time with a friend, we both had our own ideas about what may have occurred, and this debate still continues.

Tartan has done a very good job at bringing out Asian cinema that might not normally get to see the light of day aside from remakes (and I will mention that A Tale of Two Sisters is on the remake list) but it isn't just the quality of films that have been released by the company. Tartan, from the DVD's I've had the pleasure to review thus far, does a fantastic job at adding in extra material. In fact, this is a two-disc release. The first disc features the film of course, but you also have the option to view the film with commentary from the director and stars of the film on one commentary track and then the director, cinematographer and lighting director on the other. You will also find a promotional video for the film as well as a hidden feature (and I'm still searching for that one.)

The second disc on the other hand has a wealth of additional material.  There is a behind the scenes feature, it goes a little further than what we've seen with other DVD releases. You'll find featurettes on the production design, the musical score, a CGI documentary, and even a look at the creation of the poster for the film. If you look further you will find interviews with almost every main cast member, the director, and even a brief commentary from a psychiatrist that looks at the feasibility of the film, and as he states, it is very possible in many regards. There is a deleted scenes sub-menu that goes far beyond the usual two or three scenes and as the case usually is, there are those that deserved to be on the cutting room floor and those that really should have been included in the final version of the film (the poltergeist sequence would have been a great addition.) There is even an outtakes reel from the film, but this is something that in many regards I would advise to not watch prior to initially viewing the film. The same is really true of all the extra material. There is also a photo gallery (which is really more of a slideshow) and yet another hidden feature.

I can't stress enough the fact that A Tale of Two Sisters is not some blatant rip-off of other Japanese or Asian cinema as some people would like to claim. This is like stating that all science fiction films are just like Star Wars; it's simply not true. What A Tale of Two Sisters is however is a slick, smart, psychological thriller that is as dark and gritty as it is emotionally disturbing. Those that are more in tune with the tripe that Hollywood keeps turning out may due well to avoid this as it's more of a film that requires some thought. If you are more into the intellectual side of films though, this is a can't miss release and will be one that you will be talking about for quite a while.

-mike-