A Tale of Two Sisters [Archive] - Horror Digital Forum

Cydeous

11-05-2003, 08:16 AM

Has anyone seen this Korean film? I recently saw it at a film festival and I loved it. There is an R3 double DVD of this that is very tempting (if I had a region free player). Does anyone have it and can comment on it?

Apparently, the rights to do a Hollywood remake have been bought. It's supposed to get a 2004 theatrical release. If that happens, then I'm sure that the original will get an R1 release. However, we all know how these things sometimes turn out.

taxidriver6

11-05-2003, 05:08 PM

I have the R3 2disc of this. Got it from DVDAsian. What a beautiful set it is! It comes with a collectible frame of film and I believe a few hundred or so of these will have autographs included.

I had heard so much about this that I was afraid that it'd be overhyped. That wasn't the case at all. Part ghost story/part psychological horror, this film is another example of why Asian horror is miles ahead of anything being done on these shores. While I was watching, I couldn't help think that this would be the kind of film that a young Roman Polanski would've made. Go check this out now. Now I gotta get cash to get another Korean horror called Memories Of Murder that just came out.

ANd yes, the remake rights led to a bidding war and Dreamworks won - for a tidy sum of $2MIL!

ArtofFighting

11-05-2003, 07:11 PM

I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression that Memories of Murder was more of a serial killer/drama/suspense film than a horror flick. I've got both A Tale of Two Sisters and Memories of Murder on order though, so I'll let you know for sure just as soon as I've seen them. Also, to anyone potentially interested in the R3 KOREAN limited edition of Memories of Murder, it's going out of print very soon with a suspected release of a standard version.

Cydeous

11-07-2003, 04:16 PM

taxidriver6

11-07-2003, 06:55 PM

Thanks for the info. I really want this but I don't have a region free player. Does anyone know if PC DVD drives are region coded and if so, is there a software work around?

How does "Memories of Murder" compare to this film? Are there any other notable films that you can recommend? I've seen quite a few of the Japanese splatter films that I enjoy but wouldn't purchase. I prefer real horror to gore.

From my understanding they all are, or at least mine is. There are programs out there you can by that will make your PC DVD drive region-free like DVD Genie, etc. Below is a link courtesy of DVDTalk that allows for a free 30 day test period of DVD Region Free. Check it out.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=297574&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

apl

11-16-2003, 05:36 PM

anybody know anything about a hong kong release of this film? $35 seems a bit steep for a blind buy! thanks,
aaron

Cydeous

11-16-2003, 06:48 PM

YesAsia has it for $25.99:

http://us.yesasia.com/en/SrAllDept.aspx?section=index&code=c&searchby=apg&did=0&str=tale+of+two+sisters

Trucci

11-23-2003, 05:17 PM

Incredible movie, easily one of the best horror films I've seen in awhile. Boy do I have a lot of questions. I think it'd be better to discuss when more people have seen this little gem.

Also I've heard lots of good things about Memories of Murder. It's also topping the ticket sales at #1 this year in Korea including import films.

Vincent Pina

12-01-2003, 04:21 AM

www.cd-wow.net has a single disc R3 DTS version for a mere $13.99. I ordered as a blind buy because I really loved this director's contribution to the Three trilogy called Memories.

Cydeous

12-02-2003, 04:13 PM

That disc is €13.99, not $. It's still a good price, though. Too bad the 2 disc version's 2nd disc is in Korean only. Hopefully this will make it to R1 since the US remake is being made in 2004.

Vincent Pina

12-03-2003, 08:00 PM

If you click on the American flag to the left side of the page when you enter the website, it will convert to dollars, and it is actually $13.95.

onebyone

03-09-2004, 03:49 AM

I just watched this movie and liked it A LOT. It was atmospheric, heart breaking, scary, and just all around good storytelling. I appreciate that they took the time to tie up just enough loose ends in the movie that we can have a basic idea of what happened, but didn't belabor the point. There is still just enough room for personal intepretation.

Also, all the acting was stellar. A few scenes it was almost hard to believe it wasn't a documentary because it was just so realistic.

At any rate, another good recommendation from the Asian horror forum. Thanks a lot.

Cydeous

03-09-2004, 04:02 PM

I thought you'd like it, onebyone. I think that there is going to be an American re-make of this film but it is supposed to be directed by the same director of the original. Although it doesn't need a re-make, at least the original's director will be involved.

Trucci

03-10-2004, 03:46 PM

Kim Ji-Woon is directing the remake? Crap, does that mean he's going to Hollywood?

Ash28M

03-26-2004, 02:21 PM

I thought the film was great. I was looking for the 2 disk set but if the extras are in Korean with no Subs then there really is no point spending the extra money.

DefJeff

04-01-2004, 05:51 AM

I appreciate that they took the time to tie up just enough loose ends in the movie that we can have a basic idea of what happened, but didn't belabor the point. There is still just enough room for personal intepretation..

I finally got around to watching this today, after picking up the 2 disc set. I must say , this movie just blew me away. I can definitally rank it among my favorites, I found it to be just that good.

I quoted OnebyOne here because this is just one of the many things that I found about this movie that worked so well. I wouldn't exactly say this scared me, it had a few jump scares, but overall it was more creepy then scary. The music used was fantastic, and I thought it fit the mood of the movie perfectly. But what really got me was the twist at the end ...I loved it.

For anyone interested in checking this out, I'd have to say try to go into it knowing as little as possible, it will enhance the experiance.

I bought the 2 disc set as I said above, it comes in a nice slipcase and the film frame is cool. The extras are in Korean without English, but I do look forward to going through the few ones that won't matter, like the deleted scenes.

Andrew

04-01-2004, 06:51 AM

Is the quality on the single and two-disc releases more or less the same?

Paff

08-10-2004, 03:20 AM

Is the quality on the single and two-disc releases more or less the same?

I have the single disc HK release. The guy who sold it to me said the quality was pretty much the same. Since he could have made more money by selling me the 2-disc version, I trusted him. The HK version is amazing...great picture, and fantastic DTS sound. Pick it up, if you haven't already.

As for the movie, I was really impressed. This is exactly the kind of movie I've been looking for, and I can't wait to watch it again. Great atmosphere, camera work, story, everything. Easily one of the best horror films of the last few years.

If only the distributors would unclench their keisters and let us show it at our film festival in the fall...

SaviniFan

08-11-2004, 06:26 PM

Is the quality on the single and two-disc releases more or less the same?

I can't speak for the 2 disc since I also got the single, but I am amazed at the quality of the transfer on this. The detail is amazing, which helps since the movie uses very detailed wardrobe and furniture fabrics. This is a
must buy if you are region free.

Grim

08-18-2004, 04:03 AM

Watched this movie yesterday. Very cool film with a great twist. Blows anything M. Night Shymahanahayama did right out of the water.

Agent Z

03-30-2005, 09:46 AM

Here is a review for the recent R1 Tartan 2-disc edition. Sounds good and it looks like I'll be double-dipping. :)

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=15083

RyanPC

03-30-2005, 11:38 AM

Here is a review for the recent R1 Tartan 2-disc edition. Sounds good and it looks like I'll be double-dipping. :)

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=15083

Can't wait to pick this one up... it sounds like a killer disc. :banana:

tobaccoman

03-30-2005, 12:22 PM

I'll definitely be picking this up as I have yet to see it. I can't wait. I totally missed thise on this weeks releases. I'll have to wait until next week when I get paid to grab this and Orgazmo.

Paff

03-30-2005, 04:39 PM

That would be triple-dipping for me.

Unfortunately, this makes my Hong-Kong R3 bare-bones edition quite worthless now.

But I'm never getting rid of my Korean 2-disc version, with the strip of film. That has a boatload of extras too, except I don't speak Korean...

eric_angelus

03-30-2005, 04:47 PM

I guess I am pretty much the only person on here who did not like this movie. I simply thought it was a big mix of stuff we have seen all too often lately...

From the 'ghost' with the long black hair who moves all creepy and makes scary noises to the twist ending that has been done dozens of times (Fight Club, Haute Tension, Identity, The Machinist, Secret Window)

I really did not think this movie was anything at all special or original.

Paff

03-30-2005, 05:11 PM

But it's more than that.

The cinematography is among the best I've ever seen, and the sets rival Suspiria. The pacing of the film, from slow to fast back to slow, along with quiet/loud/quiet is also amazing.

Some things may be overused plot devices, like the younger sister being dead, but it took several viewings for me to finally realize that the "stepmother" (I don't think she even is married to the father) is not in the film until the very end! The older sister is imagining TWO people!
Finally, it's very unique in the final scene. Most (western) films would play that up as a big climactic scene, but instead we get Su-Mi calmly walking to the lake as her sister is dying a horrible death upstairs

Eric's complaints remind me a lot of people bitching about The Others, in that if you can figure out the ending, it must not be a good movie. That's bunk. It's the ride there that makes a movie so good, and the ride does not get any better than A Tale of Two Sisters.

eric_angelus

03-30-2005, 05:30 PM

I did figure out the ending, as I have at alot of movies...I can still appreciate the beauty of the craft...this movie simply did nothing for me. Just because you can figure out the ending (or simply because you had it spoiled for you...how many people can watch something like Psycho or The Crying Game and not already know the twist? They still will probably end up liking the movie) I felt it existed purely on the ending alone with no worthwhile ride to get me there. As for

She was imagining TWO people! All I could think of was the movie Adaptation with Nicholas Cage ranting "The killer, the cop, and the victim are all the same person! Isn't that fucked up!?" And that line was meant to show us he was simply a bad writer.

Grim

03-30-2005, 08:26 PM

This thread caused me to revisit the film and it is still wonderful. I'm glad Tartan is starting to sell stuff in the states now. I was kind of confused when I started seeing their name on DVD's without the little "import" sticker.

Agent Z

03-30-2005, 08:37 PM

From the 'ghost' with the long black hair who moves all creepy and makes scary noises

Actually, the female apparition with long black hair has been a common motif in asian horror for a long time (as in well before movies ever existed). As a comparison, it would be like watching a film about vampires and complaining that every vampire movie has the same vampires with sharp teeth and the penchant to drink blood, not cast reflection, etc etc etc...

Paff

03-30-2005, 09:39 PM

Good point Z

That also goes a little towards explaining why those Morning Musume girls were so freaked in that Ring video.

SaviniFan

04-11-2005, 03:42 PM

Not trying to beat a dead horse here, but I just picked up the new Tartan region 1 DVD of this and have watched it for the 3rd time. Never have I seen a film that I enjoy more with each viewing. This movie is fast cracking my top 5 all time favorites and pretty much taken my top spot in Asian films. Its so beautiful to look at and so well paced. Even knowing the ending already doesn't dull the viewing experience for me.

A must see if you haven't already.

Paff

04-11-2005, 04:59 PM

You're not beating a dead horse at all. It's an amazing film. I'll get that Region 1 disc eventually, but I'm in no rush since I already have the Korean special edition with all the same features (except the extras aren't subbed). Also, I had to watch the movie a few times to prepare for showing it at our film festival (where I couldn't even see the film, the theater was so crowded), and then saw it twice on it's brief theatrical run a few months later.

dwatts

12-02-2005, 10:44 AM

I finally got around to watching this one last night - I've owned the damn thing for months and months......

A worthy entry into Asian horror for sure. As I often find, the thing is so beautiful to look at (aided by a transfer to DVD that is a wonder to behold), that even when the film is simply providing long shots of rooms, people, and countryside - it's a stunning thing to SEE.

The Director also provides us with some great close ups of legs, feet, eyes, hands and on objects. The camera work is very fluid, flowing over everything on the set including floors, bed clothes, the wallpaper and more. He's just sucking in every visual element of the environment and caressing it - it's really quite an experience.

As for the movie itself, it does take some diciphering. To say too much would be to ruin the film quite frankly. The scares were few and far between for me. Rather, the film relies on an oppressive mood the pervades everything.

A solid film then - I'm going for a 7 to 8 out of 10.

RyanPC

12-02-2005, 12:18 PM

Glad you enjoyed it, dwatts. It really is a beautiful film, but also very scary as well (there were a couple of scenes where I didn't just jump, I cried out-- and I rarely do that). I forgot all about the 2-disc edition for some reason, and I found the single disc for $9 at Wal-mart, so I picked that up instead. I was kind of pissed when I remembered about the 2-disc set, but oh well, it's not a movie I can watch all the time anyhow. It's much like The Shining in that way; visually, it is outstanding but I have to be in a certain mood to sit down and watch it. With movie like A Tale of Two Sisters, I like to be able to relax and take it all in, and if I'm not able to do that, I won't enjoy the movie.

By the way, I really liked the twist at the end. It should have been predictable, but I never saw it coming.

SaviniFan

12-02-2005, 01:48 PM

Personally I think this movie has great replayability. I've watched it 4 times so far and I swear that each time I've come to appreciate it more and more. So many little things you can pick up on with each viewing and as dwatts stated, the environmental detail is exquisite and beautiful to behold.

DefJeff

12-02-2005, 06:53 PM

By the way, I really liked the twist at the end. It should have been predictable, but I never saw it coming.

Yeah, like I mentioned earlier in the thread, I loved it too. It made an already great movie amazing for me. And your right, it should've been obvious, but I know I didn't see it coming. That also adds to the replay factor in my opinion, upon subsequent viewings I was like, "oh damn, that makes so much sense in relation to what happens" and just loved it.

DVD Connoisseur

12-02-2005, 07:30 PM

Caught this film when I had free Film 4 over here in the UK, one weekend. Wow! Beautiful movie, really enjoyed it. One of the best Asian horror movies, IMHO.

Luna

12-02-2005, 10:39 PM

I'm surprised I didn't post here a while ago, but this was really an excellent movie. It's one of those that I will always recommend to people who want to dip into Asian cinema. It's beautiful to look at and quite heartbreaking. It really gets under your skin.

maskull

01-14-2006, 07:31 PM

DefJeff

01-14-2006, 08:00 PM

I'd say atmospheric ghost stories are best viewed at night, yeah.

I think watching horror films at night/in a dark room pretty much always ups the scary/creepy factor, at least a little.

Cydeous

01-16-2006, 02:55 AM

I have a quick question for y'all. I this movie the kind that you should watch at night, in the dark or is it ok to watch in the daytime? I was about to watch it but then I wasn't sure if it's the kind of film that needs nighttime to make it more effective.

The movie has a lot of dark moments, especially in the how (where most of the film takes place.) So I would recommend watching it in the dark.

shift

02-12-2006, 08:39 AM

Paff

02-12-2006, 09:52 AM

Guys. I finally got around seeing this one.

Now what makes this movie so good that you all really liked??

The ending? egghh.

Maybe this movie just really made no sense. So here I go to see if I understood the movie

Older sister is wacko. She thinks her lil-sister is still alive. Her mom commited suicide b/c dad was having an afair. To top it off. Lil sis actually died when mom hung herself @ the end of the movie.

end of movie?

That's part of it.

Also, the stepmother (if she even is a stepmother) is not even there until later in the movie. Not only does the older sister imagine the younger sister still alive, she also imagines the stepmother tormenting them. The only people in the house are the father and the oldest daughter

Dark Troubadour

02-12-2006, 02:50 PM

I recently bought this one at my local Walmart, and watched it a few nights ago.

I personally found the movie beautiful. The picture quality was breathtaking, and the attention paid to detail seemed to give even mundane things a deeper meaning.

I cheated and read spoilers before watching the movie, but knowing about them didn't take away from the awe I felt as the story unraveled. I personally felt there were some things that could have been addressed more thoroughly in the film, but not knowing the "why" of certain things didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the movie.

I think that maybe everybody is meant to interpret the different "questions" this film leaves the viewer with on their own, find their own meaning behind why everything seemed to happen the way it did. I found an article about the film on Wikipedia that pretty much addresses many of the questions I had in regard to the ending, and reading them put into actual words by somebody else seemed to help me sort out a lot of the confusion on my own. Maybe I just felt better knowing that I wasn't the only person sitting there thinking "OK, now what is happening here, and why"?

Overall though, I love this movie, and am glad I purchased it.

shift

02-12-2006, 06:21 PM

Well. I dig majoriity of any asian film. As for this one. its not my fav.

The only 2 korean films that I really enjoyed are : SAY YES & OLD BOY.

Also another korean movie coming out called
R-Point (feb 14).... says its horror. anyone know about this one? Thanks

X-human

01-29-2010, 04:34 PM

Finally got around to seeing this, which is funny as I've probably own the Korean disc since this thread got started!

I like it, didn't blow my mind, but it kept me going with its mystery. As soon as the girls walked out of the car I knew one didn't exist, but I suspected a totally "imaginary" sister as apposed to a "ghost" sister. Though I guessed wrong which one was real at first, suspecting the strong willed one to be imaginary. Took a few scenes to sort that all out (father talking to her outside cleared it up). I suspected the girl originally killed the mother, in kind of a Cronenberg/Spider sort of way. And that this was repeating itself with the stepmother. My own imagination kept me guessing on this one.

I also thought the whole movie was a flash back, because in the opening the doctor asks "what happened that day," the girl turns her head to the window, we fade through white and are now looking through a car window. This transition pattern signals to me "flash back." So I thought she was in the mental ward before, probably after the mother died, and for the bulk of the movie was now back from it and her father had remarried. The opening scene would be her second trip. Wikipedia straightened it out for me.

I'm slightly confused because the father figure is referred to as an "uncle" of the sisters by the step mom. I suspected these were cousins rather than nieces, and the father figure may only have been the father of one of them. Maybe the sister(s) were left with a step mom (real mom died, real dad remarries, real dad dies) who then married their uncle. One sister even says, "You're less than a bad dad" which to me signally he wasn't the true father at all.

But I guess he really is their father, and perhaps the "step mom" never married him at all.

I'm intrigued by fans saying it gets better with repeated viewings. Originally I viewed this as mostly a one shot. I can reflect on the movie and see how all the pieces fit together (making some scenes, especially the dinner sequence, even funnier in a black sort of way.) I'm think the David Lynch humor of is all is what could give me repeated pleasure.