My review...
Hey, I made a video reviewing this film, would be awesome to hear people's opinions of it :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvx0QdocTWI&list=PLHxmJ2TEoMjimhY0 asctGJyYisURV-XBz
Why not post your review here?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3tGxnFKfE
http://tinyurl.com/LTROI-story
Haha just because I filmed it all, and writing is not my strong suit. Neither is talking for that matter, but i'm half decent at editing!
shareAh, okay, I didn't read the link, so I didn't get that it was a youtube review, my bad.
I have two issues with your review.
Firstly, the "ghost" that climbs onto Su-Mi's bed (the one with the hand crawling down the leg) is the "ghost" of the girls' mother, and not the "ghost" of Su-Yeon. Also, this "ghost" is part of Su-Mi's nightmare and isn't intended to be a real "ghost" (yeah, I did just say real ghost) within the film itself.
Secondly, Su-Yeon can't be a ghost in the film due to the scene where Su-Mi and Su-Yeon come from the jetty, into the house, and they are met by Eun-Joo, towards the beginning of the film (@12mins 20sec). In this scene Eun-Joo is talking and interacting with both Su-Mi and Su-Yeon, and both the girls interact with Eun-Joo. If Eun-Joo is a figment of Su-Mi's imagination, which I'm sure we all see that to be the case, then how on earth would Su-Yeon's ghost be able to interact with something that isn't really there? That just doesn't make any kind of sense to me.
There is also a huge clue on the front cover of the UK DVD/BluRay. Su-Mi is the central person in a group of three physically connected characters, not to mention Su-Yeon looks like she's meant to be dead. All the time, the father stands there, oblivious. The parallels to the characters in the story are undeniable.
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I agree that A Tale of Two Sisters is not a scary film in the slightest, although it does have a couple of good 'jump scares', and is creepy as hell, its horror lies in the psychological trauma of Su-Mi.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3tGxnFKfE
http://tinyurl.com/LTROI-story
You make some very good points, I agree with the majority of them.
I agree that that ghost is Su-Mi's mother, but in my interpretation the apparition wasn't a nightmare! I think she's kinda confused, as is Su-Yeon's ghost. They sense that Su-Mi is acting out the role of the step mother, and are trying to tell her the truth, but are unfortunately creepy ghosts so they can't really :P
Also yeah... when I made the review, I think I kinda wanted Su-Yeon to be a ghost, for some reason haha. Like I said it is open to interpretation, but now thinking about it you're right... it wouldn't make sense for Su-Yeon to be 'the girl under the sink' and trying to tell Su-Mi to stop her psychological meltdown if she doesn't know that she's dead and is walking around with Su-Mi.
Did you enjoy my review? It's sort of a mix of a genuine review and an attempt at a comedy sketch, so not sure if it works or not :P
Sorry if I haven't explained myself well, like I said i'm rubbish at writing! x
"it wouldn't make sense for Su-Yeon to be 'the girl under the sink' and trying to tell Su-Mi to stop her psychological meltdown if she doesn't know that she's dead and is walking around with Su-Mi." - sam-murphy-1991
Actually, that is a very good point, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not making that connection. Thank you.
"Did you enjoy my review? It's sort of a mix of a genuine review and an attempt at a comedy sketch, so not sure if it works or not :P" - sam-murphy-1991
Yes it was fun, and not boring like someone just sitting there talking to camera.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3tGxnFKfE
http://tinyurl.com/LTROI-story share
"Secondly, Su-Yeon can't be a ghost in the film due to the scene where Su-Mi and Su-Yeon come from the jetty, into the house, and they are met by Eun-Joo, towards the beginning of the film"
The only persons in the house when they get back from the hospital are Sumi and her father. Eunjoo is not there. She and Suyeon are both in Sumi's imagination.
"The only persons in the house when they get back from the hospital are Sumi and her father. Eunjoo is not there. She and Suyeon are both in Sumi's imagination." - overseer-3
Obviously.
If you think I have ever said anything other than that, you need to work on your reading comprehension skills.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3tGxnFKfE
http://tinyurl.com/LTROI-story share
I know what you meant. I think overseer-3 got confused between Eun-Joo (stepmother) and the stepdad (Moo-Hyeon?) but yeah! :P Do you think that the ghost at the end, with Eun-joo, was real or another hallucination by Su-me?
Thanks, it means alot when people complement my reviews, I don't do very popular films coz i'm not sure if i'm good enough :P haha x
"I know what you meant. I think overseer-3 got confused between Eun-Joo (stepmother) and the stepdad (Moo-Hyeon?) but yeah!" - sam-murphy-1991
I was a bit snarky with overseer-3, we have history. I shouldn't have been, and I apologise.
"Do you think that the ghost at the end, with Eun-joo, was real or another hallucination by Su-me?" - sam-murphy-1991
Here is something I have posted previously, in response to a question about the blood oozing up from the floorboards (sorry about the wall of text)...
Ten percent of me thinks the blood could be a metaphor for Eun-Joo's guilt, as in the phrase "blood on your hands"? Ninety percent of me thinks differently.
Lets assume that when we watch this scene we are seeing the real Eun-Joo. It is a valid assumption, we have just seen Eun-Joo and Bae Moo-Hyeon (the father) leave Su-Mi at the hospital and return to the house. So this is the real world where physics reigns and there is no such thing as ghosts. So far so good. But then Eun-Joo hears something and goes to investigate, we can't be sure what she hears but the film is trying to suggest that she can hear somebody whistling. From her 'creeped out' reaction we can say that she doesn't think it is Bae Moo-Hyeon that is whistling, so who or what does she think it is? Remember, this is the real world, so there must be someone there, if there is whistling, right? Then she hears a door close, the noise is coming from upstairs.
We see Eun-Joo's slippers on the floorboards, we don't know whether this is upstairs or not, and the blood as it oozes up between them. So, your question, who's blood is it?
If this blood is on the ground floor (1st floor in US) then it seems most likely that it is Su-Yeon's, from when she was dragged along in the bloody sack. But that can't be, as Su-Yeon was never in the sack, she was dead and buried at that point in time. The sack wasn't even bloody as it only contained a doll and possibly some sheets. But there is nothing in the film that would suggest that someone else's blood would be oozing up from the floor.
How about if Eun-Joo is upstairs? We have a problem, there was no mention of blood being all over the floor here either.
Maybe the assumption that this is happening in the real world is wrong. Before this scene with Eun-Joo and the blood in the floor, we were shown Su-Yeon crying on her bed, with her mother sitting at her side with a tear stained face. Then we see Su-Mi on her hospital bed with a tear stained face, believing that she can hear Su-Yeon whistling (this is really cruel, as Su-Mi keeps imagining Su-Yeon maturing by learning how to whistle, having her first period, something that Su-Yeon will never be doing ). This is after the big revelation scene where Su-Mi has had to face the reality that Su-Yeon is dead, and so we see that Su-Mi is once again slipping into an alternate reality where Su-Yeon is alive and well, and needs protecting. Poor Su-Mi. So what I now believe is happening is this, The final scenes with Eun-Joo and the blooded floor, the freezing room, the wardrobe and its ghost, her final scream, are all in Su-Mi's head, and not in reality at all. I used to believe that those scenes were there to show the audience that Eun-Joo feels some guilt for her part in Su-Yeon's death (I still think she feels guilt), but now I believe that they are a revenge fantasy for Su-Mi to comfort herself. Being Su-Mi's delusion would explain Su-Yeon's blood in the floorboards, because if one thinks about it, only Su-Mi would think there was ever blood on that floor, so only Su-Mi would experience the blood oozing up. Another thing to support this view is Eun-Joo's slippers. Whenever Eun-Joo is Su-Mi's projection she is wearing those grey slippers http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/3176/greyslippers.png, in the flashback to the real Eun-Joo, she is wearing the patterned slippers http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6784/vlcsnap2012092000h04m05.png. She is wearing those grey slippers when the blood oozes out of the floorboards, ergo, Eun-Joo is a projection of Su-Mi at that point and so the blood isn't really there (but it is fake Su-Yeon's fake blood)." - Jameron
TL:DR - The final scenes where Eun-Joo meets the "ghost" and screams, are Su-Mi's revenge fantasy.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3tGxnFKfE
http://tinyurl.com/LTROI-story share
No, I wasn't confused at all. Let's see, I've seen this film about 10 times by now and I have my own feelings about it just like everyone else does.
When someone makes a declarative statement that "Suyeon can't be a ghost because...." I immediately start laughing. Whether she is a literal ghost or simply her memory is haunting all those people who were present and did nothing while she was dying, she continues to HAUNT people. That's the most important thing. That's why the director freezes the camera on the faces of everyone when Suyeon gives out her initial scream. I know that if I had heard a scream like that I would have IMMEDIATELY gone running to see who was in trouble, but all those people in and around the house do nothing. They all have to live with various amounts of guilt, with Sumi feeling it the most because she lost her mother and sister on the same day and she knows the evil nature of Eunjoo, whereas the father, either on purpose or just through stupidity, fails to recognize it.