A Tale of Two Sisters

A Tale of Two Sisters
Theatrical release poster
Hangul 장화, 홍련
Hanja 薔花, 紅蓮
Revised Romanization Janghwa, Hongryeon
McCune–Reischauer Changhwa, Hongnyŏn
Directed by Kim Jee-woon
Produced by
  • Oh Jeong-wan
  • Oh Ki-min
Written by Kim Jee-woon
Starring
Music by Lee Byung-woo
Cinematography Lee Mo-gae
Edited by Ko Im-pyo
Production
company
B.O.M. Film Productions Co.
Distributed by
  • Cineclick Asia
  • Big Blue Film
Release date
  • 13 June 2003 (2003-06-13)
Running time
 114 minutes[1]
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Budget $3.7 million[2]
Box office $1 million[3]

A Tale of Two Sisters (Hangul: 장화, 홍련; RR: Janghwa, Hongryeon; lit. "Rose Flower, Red Lotus") is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror drama film written and directed by Kim Jee-woon. The film is inspired by a Joseon Dynasty era folktale entitled Janghwa Hongryeon jeon, which has been adapted to film several times. The plot focuses on a recently released patient from a mental institution who returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events between her stepmother and the ghosts haunting their house- all of which are connected to a dark past in the family's history.

The film opened to very positive reviews from critics and won Best Picture at the 2004 Fantasporto Film Festival.[4] It is both the highest-grossing Korean horror film and the first to be screened in American theatres.[5] An American remake titled The Uninvited was released in 2009 to largely negative reviews.

Plot

A teenage girl, Su-mi (Im Soo-jung), is being treated for shock and psychosis in a mental institution. She is released and returns home to her family's secluded estate in the countryside with her father (Kim Kap-soo) and younger sister Su-yeon (Moon Geun-young), whom she is protective over. The sisters have a cold reunion with their stepmother, Eun-joo (Yum Jung-ah).

Eun-joo sleeps beside the sisters' father but he becomes uncomfortable and goes to sleep in the living room. Su-mi experiences a terrifying nightmare where the ghost of her late biological mother climbs on her bed with a broken neck. The next day, Su-mi finds family photos which reveal that Eun-joo was formerly an in-home nurse for her then-terminally ill biological mother. She discovers bruises on her sister's arms and angrily confronts Eun-joo about the abuse. That night, their uncle and his wife arrive for dinner and Eun-joo tells bizarre stories that bewilder them. The uncle's wife suffers a violent seizure and tells her husband that she witnessed the ghost of a young girl beneath the kitchen sink. When Eun-joo is in the kitchen alone, a ghost girl is seen watching her in the background.

After finding her pet bird dead and seeing defaced family photos of herself, Eun-joo locks Su-yeon in the closet. Su-mi releases her hysterical sister and is confronted by their father, who repeatedly begs her to stop acting out. She retorts that he is blind to Eun-joo's abuse against Su-yeon. Her father tells her that Su-yeon is dead but Su-mi refuses to believe it.

The next morning, Eun-joo drags a bloodied sack through the house, whipping it. Su-mi believes that Su-yeon is inside the sack and attempts to open it. Eun-joo and Su-mi get into a violent physical altercation. Su-mi's father arrives to find an injured Su-mi lying unconscious.

It is ultimately revealed that Su-mi and her father were alone in the house the entire time. The characters of Su-yeon and Eun-joo were manifestations of Su-mi's dissociative identity disorder. Throughout the film, Su-mi simultaneously switched personalities, acting as herself and Eun-joo. She hallucinated Su-yeon as a result of not being able to accept her death. In her "Eun-joo" mode, Su-mi imagined scenarios where she impersonates Eun-joo "abusing Su-yeon" but in reality injures herself to act out these situations. The bloodied sack simply contains a porcelain doll.

The father and the real Eun-joo, a much different woman from the imaginary version, send Su-mi back to the mental institution. That night, Eun-joo hears footsteps in Su-yeon's old bedroom. Simultaneously, Su-mi hears a mysterious whistling and recognizes it as Su-yeon, which is in stark contrast to her delusion of Su-yeon, who was unable to whistle. Eun-joo enters the room to investigate and the real ghost of Su-yeon crawls out of the closet. It is implied that Eun-joo is killed by Su-yeon, who finally gets her revenge. Su-mi smiles, appearing to have finally found peace.

Flashbacks reveal the day that led Su-mi to be institutionalized. Her father and Eun-joo, who was still the nurse of Su-mi and Su-yeon's mother at the time, arrive home, engaged to be married. This causes both sisters to become extremely upset. Su-yeon discovers that their real mother hanged herself in Su-yeon's closet, depressed by the engagement. Su-yeon attempts to revive her mother, causing the closet to collapse on top of her and slowly crush her to death. Eun-joo decides to help the dying Su-yeon but encounters Su-mi, who engages in a heated confrontation with her. Angry, Eun-joo decides to leave Su-yeon to die and reminds Su-mi that she'll "regret this moment" as Su-mi leaves the house, unaware of both her sister and her mother's conditions.

Cast

  • Im Soo-jung as Bae Su-mi
  • Moon Geun-young as Bae Su-yeon
  • Yum Jung-ah as Heo Eun-joo
  • Kim Kap-soo as Bae Moo-hyeon
  • Lee Seung-bi as Mi-hee (Eun-joo's sister in law)
  • Lee Dae-yeon as Su-mi's doctor
  • Park Mi-hyun as Mrs Bae (Moo-hyeon's first wife and Su-mi's and Su-yeon's mother)
  • Woo Ki-hong as Sun-kyu (Eun-joo's brother)

Production

The film is loosely based on a popular Korean fairy tale "Janghwa Hongryeon jeon" which has been adapted into film versions in 1924, 1936, 1956, 1962, 1972, and 2009.

In the original Korean folktale, the sisters' names are Janghwa and Hongryeon (Rose Flower and Red Lotus). In the film, they are Su-mi and Su-yeon (though the names still hold the meaning, Rose and Lotus).

Im Soo-jung (Su-mi) originally auditioned for the role of Su-yeon (played by Moon Geun-young).

Kim Jee-woon originally wanted Jun Ji-hyun to play Su-mi, but she refused the role because she thought the script was too scary. Her next film was an unrelated horror film, The Uninvited.

Reception

Director Kim Jee-woon.

It is both the highest-grossing Korean horror film and the first to be screened in American theatres.[5] With a limited American release starting December 3, 2004, it grossed $72,541.[3] A Tale of Two Sisters garnered very positive reviews, with an 87% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[6] Meanwhile, Metacritic scored the film 65 out of 100, meaning "generally favorable reviews" from 19 critics.[7]

Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times described A Tale of Two Sisters as "a triumph of stylish, darkly absurdist horror that even manages to strike a chord of Shakespearean tragedy – and evokes a sense of wonder anew at all the terrible things people do to themselves and each other."[8]

Awards and nominations

2003 Sitges Film Festival[9]

  • Nomination - Best Film

2003 Screamfest Horror Film Festival

2003 Busan Film Critics Awards

2003 Blue Dragon Film Awards

2003 Korean Film Awards

  • Best New Actress - Im Soo-jung
  • Best Art Direction - Park Hee-jeong
  • Best Sound - Choi Tae-young

2003 Director's Cut Awards

2004 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival

2004 Fantasia Festival

  • Most Popular Film

2004 Fantasporto Film Festival

  • International Fantasy Film Best Actress - Im Soo-jung
  • International Fantasy Film Best Director - Kim Jee-woon
  • International Fantasy Film Best Film
  • Orient Express Section Special Jury Award

2004 Gérardmer Film Festival

  • Grand Prize
  • Prix 13ème Rue
  • Youth Jury Grand Prize

2004 Grand Bell Awards

  • Nomination - Best Actress - Yum Jung-ah
  • Nomination - Best New Actress - Im Soo-jung
  • Nomination - Best Cinematography - Lee Mo-gae
  • Nomination - Best Art Direction - Cho Geun-hyun
  • Nomination - Best Lighting - Oh Seung-chul
  • Nomination - Best Costume Design - Ok Su-gyeong
  • Nomination - Best Music - Lee Byung-woo
  • Nomination - Best Sound - Kim Kyung-taek, Choi Tae-young

Remake

DreamWorks announced the two lead actresses on June 28, with Emily Browning as Anna Ivers (Su-mi), and Arielle Kebbel as Alex Ivers (Su-yeon). Although originally titled A Tale of Two Sisters like the original film, it was later renamed as The Uninvited.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A Tale of Two Sisters (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 25 June 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  2. ↑ Hancinema. Retrieved 2012-06-04
  3. 1 2 "A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Fantas Through Awards". Fantasporto. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  5. 1 2 http://media.www.kentnewsnet.com/media/storage/paper867/news/2009/02/03/News/the-Uninvited.Stays.True.To.Typical.Korean.Horror.Films-3610298.shtml%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  6. ↑ "A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 23 July 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "A Tale of Two Sisters Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  8. ↑ Thomas, Keven (17 December 2004). "A stylish and creepy Korean 'Tale'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  9. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/awards
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