Janghwa, Hongryeon (A Tale of Two Sisters) (2003)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 57
Fresh: 49 | Rotten: 8
Restrained but disturbing, A Tale of Two Sisters is a creepily effective, if at times confusing, horror movie.
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Critic Reviews: 18
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 3
Restrained but disturbing, A Tale of Two Sisters is a creepily effective, if at times confusing, horror movie.
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 31,754
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Movie Info
This supernatural horror film from Kim Jee-woon is inspired by the ancient Korean folktale "Jangha and Hongryun." Set in an isolated lakeside house, it begins with two young girls, Su-mi (Im Su-jung) and Su-yeon (Mun Geun-yeong), returning home after a period of hospitalization following the death of their mother. In the meantime, their father Mu-Hyun (Kim Gab-su) has married Eun-joo (Yeom Jeong-ah), whom the girls obviously despise. Strange, violent visions begin to disturb Su-mi and she
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Cast
-
Lim Su-jung
Su-mi -
Jeong-Ah Yeom
Eun-joo -
Kim Gab-su
Mu-Hyun -
Mun Geun-yeong
Su-yeon
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All Critics (57) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (8) | DVD (12)
The atmosphere of mounting dread is matched by just-right performances, design and camerawork.
Top CriticThere's a reason why Hollywood has been so busy in recent years remaking Asian horror movies. Scare for scare, they're generally better.
It may not be a pretty picture, but A Tale of Two Sisters is definitely a satisfying piece of less-is-more cinematic horror.
The gorgeous slow-moving cinematography by Lee Mogae is remarkable.
The film seems unnecessarily vague on a rational level, but it's spot-on as a psychological study of a twinlike sibling relationship, and the ways in which memory can suppress trauma and soothe a mourning soul.
Ji-woon Kim may be the Korean David Lynch and his juxtaposition of seemingly innocent and suddenly searing situations is marvelously unnerving, as are the constantly shifting personalities of most of his characters.
...boasts a suffocating atmosphere and a disjointed storyline that turns the screws on your nerves while leaving you to puzzle over the plot
It's truly a masterpiece in the end.
Kim Ji-woon's psychological skin-chiller painstakingly teases apart the traumas that bind a widower, his teen daughters... and his high-strung second wife in a suffocating web of guilt, suspicion and fear. The American remake, The Uninvited (2009), pales
Kim Jee-Woon's serious approach has its merits, but it also creates some problems that mar, without ruining, the film's effectiveness.
A very tasty exercise in supernatural and psychological horror.
Despite its third-act problems, A Tale of Two Sisters easily passes the scare test.
This is a carefully structured film about grief and guilt, as well as horror. They don't resolve every disturbing moment or confusing element: they leave some questions hauntingly unanswered.
I like what it's trying to do -- use a ghost story surface to tell a tale of guilt, blame, and madness -- but was disappointed in the conventional tactics it used.
The film feels haunted by the relationship between Im and Moon, who cling to each other in the face of a hostile hostess, even though that may not be their best option.
The sort of foreign cinema that horror fans will dig . . .
This movie scared the hell out of me!
...yet another pointless, interminably paced Asian horror flick that's inexplicably garnered heaps of praise and adulation...
There's more rank dread and inscrutable mystery in any one scene of this South Korean psychological thriller than in all the American horror films of the past 10 years.
Well-tread territory.
Even at its most maddening and cute, the elaborate interplay between hallucination and reality rewards attention.
Audience Reviews for Janghwa, Hongryeon (A Tale of Two Sisters)
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Foreign Titles
- A Tale of Two Sisters (Janghwa Hongryeon) (2004) (DE)
- A Tale of Two Sisters (Janghwa Hongryeon) (2004) (UK)
A Tale of Two Sisters is unique horror-film with a daring structure. Comparisions to David Lynch's twisted nightmares cannot be avoided and at times it even resembles some of the most complex films of Lynch's. At it's core there is a mystery which is revealed little by little, but only in the very last minutes there is the ultimate revelation that will put everything in this cinemtic puzzle into place.
Those who are searching for somehting original and fresh will find it here. There are some cliched elements from J-horror thrown in here which feel a bit unnecessary, but overall they don't ruin the tension and are honestly very scary to sit through.
Director/writer Ji-Woon Kim has made a tragic and deeply disturbing horror-film filled with family traumas, dreamlogic and psychological depth that is hard to match easily. For any horror fan out there A Tale of Two Sisters is a must see. If you enjoy the good scares, you will certainly find them here.