Nonureva Really Surprised!

GazerRise Fantastic!

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

kluseba This contemporary movie is another little imaginative masterpiece coming from South Korea that doesn't stop to bring fresh ideas to the film industry. This particular film is a modern adaption slightly inspired by the world famous German fairytale "Hänsel und Gretel".The mysterious story kicks off surprisingly quickly. Young salesman Eun-Soo is on the road to visit his sick mother and has an argument with his pregnant girlfriend on his cell phone when he suddenly has an accident and temporarily loses conscience. As he awakens, he meets a young and warm hearted girl that leads him through a deep forest and to an old house where she lives with her dynamic younger sister and a wary young boy. They do live in isolation with two adults and seem to have everything they need to be happy: they have a big selection of toys, a wonderful garden and many candies for breakfast. Eun-Soo soon realizes that the adults are not the kid's parents as they quickly go away and leave him alone with the three kids. Eun-Soo establishes a confident relationship with the three children but he soon realizes that they are not like other kids. They do everything to keep him in the house and there seems to be no way out to civilization through the strange woods. When another strange couple gets lost and comes to the house, the tension slowly rises between all residents. Eun-Soo finds also out that the two adults from the beginning didn't make it through the woods and encountered a series of fateful events. But as Eun-Soo realizes that the three seemingly innocent children have been through unspeakable events in their early childhood, he realizes that he needs to find out their most disturbing secrets and to face his own tragic fate to get out of the forest.Despite a more or less predictable story line, the film convinces on many other levels. First of all, it features many stunning images, sometimes colourful and enchanting but dark and frightening at other moments. The costumes, decorations and special effects relate this film to the fantasy genre first but the movie also includes some important portions of the drama genre and some minor horror elements. The creative artwork is definitely worthy to borrow the name of a fascinating old fairytale.Another strong point is without the glimpse of a doubt the solid acting. Especially the three children play their roles close to perfection. They act like real children but at the same time, they have some strangely mature behaviours and one is never all to sure if these three mysterious kids are angels, demons or both of it until the end.The tension in this atmospheric movie rises more and more and features many diversified cinematic elements such as flashbacks or moments when scenes of past and presence happen on a parallel level until a certain climax. The movie gets more emotional but also tension filled towards the end while the ending is as enchanting and well catalysed as the opening scene.In the end, any fan of imaginative fantasy movies, fairy tales in general and contemporary South Korean cinema shouldn't miss this movie. It has this certain magic mood, features numerous solid ideas and has no notable lengths. It's clearly not the best movie coming from this fascinating country but still easily in the top ten of the best South Korean movies of the last decade.

Tim Kidner My title doesn't quite trip off the tongue, but one thing about fairy tales is that they can be set and adapted to anywhere in the world, the characters being wholly universal.Premiered on Film 4 tonight, as part of a 'Fright-Fest' double bill, this eerie movie starts out like all Hollywood 'horror' flicks - you know, dark slippery road at night, middle of an impenetrable forest, driver uses his mobile - almost enough to put folk like me off, but maybe clever as it entices the new cinema-going market as they feel smugly content with what they're watching - until:Yes - a fairytale house in a clearing, with cute kids and cuter parents and lovely toys and dreamy food...again, drawing us in but generating a sense of unrest and unease, as we know this is labelled as a 'horror' movie and ultimately, things have to get sinister and bad at some point. These they indeed do, but it takes time, maybe too long but, for once, there's a real story that's far more than some lazy adaptation. I'm not really au fait with the original Grimm story, but this extends and takes it to another dimension, without the sense of feeling that it's gone too far. It is ultimately the story that generates the most chills - how often can you say that, these days?The art direction is the trump card here, along with the acting of the three main children. The associated cinematography and music assist greatly, bringing it all up to a standard that's amongst the best from modern Korea. There is quite a lot of violence, but only where the story requires it and some shocks to keep the blood pumping. It probably won't provide enough instantly gratifying gore and gruesome details for Friday night party types to Twitter about but for those wanting a more meaty fare, this has a lot going on.

johnstonjames as far as American horror films go, this film is equally as good and possibly much better than the standard fare that is commonly offered American audiences. it is certainly more beautifully crafted than the typical American/Canadian horror stock film usually released every so often. in fact it's only problem is that it is often so beautiful to look at that you are a little distracted from the other elements in the film. but only somewhat.the story here is pretty eerie and gets emotionally intense. it also weaves in the traditional 'Hansel and Gretel' fairy tale into the storyline without being clichéd or using a obviously trite twist. the only thing that was obvious to me or that i could use for comparison was Rod Serling and 'The Twilight Zone' movie.although in subtitles (which i prefer), the acting is very emotional and on a strong feeling level and comes across the language barrier. especially the young actor who plays the lead role of the young man lost in the woods. the child who plays the complex and often sinister Man-Bok is also excellent and maybe even at times more impressive given the nuances of his character.as well as having some hauntingly beautiful photography and set design, this film also displays a outrageous sense of humorous design as in all the little robots and toys and animals in the house, drapes and wallpaper.the message here is surprisingly moving, but that doesn't make a lot of the movie any less chilling. this movie delivers thrills and chills but also manages to be substantial, worthwhile entertainment. that can't always be said for a lot of movies produced here in this country.

RResende Another experience in korean recent films. I think South Korea is producing some of the best films we get these days. It feels like there's some kind of a film school there, which still allows their filmmakers to work freely on the ideas side. The technical and imagery side of this cinema is great, some of the best photography i've seen recently comes from korean films.This one could actually have been something powerful, it was ambitious, but it fails, to me.Basically it tries to be a mix of three elements: suspense/horror, mapped into children's drama, mapped into Grimm's brothers tale..it is horror because we have a designated viewer, someone who represents us is the story. His fears are passed onto us, because what happens to him, we feel it ourselves, or are supposed to. We have a house, not specially interesting on the spatial side, except for the attic. That house is explored by the main character, and we explore it with him, and we fear all the way. Yet none of the common things of true horror films occur, and we feel heavy all the way, suspenseful, without being 'scared'. So it's half the way between horror and suspense. This proximity to a genre is a vessel in which the other elements are inserted. It's interesting the safety that the 'genre' gives filmmakers. They know they can rely on certain elements that will give audiences several references, that won't make them feel lost. It may be a trick for lesser filmmakers to secure they make an understandable film, or it may be a safety net that allows them to do something bigger, on the eye, or narrative. This one, i think, was supposed to be on the second case..there is a past to those children. Later in the film we come to understand that's what the thing is all about. They're family past, the whole thing about them not growing up because of the mistreatments adults gave them is the stuff that feels and gives sense to the narrative. So, we are intended to be given a twist as we fall for the children's motivations and start facing them as victims instead of devils..Hansel & Gretel, the tale, structures loosely the narrative. The horror elements give the mood, establish a genre, the Grimm's story supports the visual elements, and some plot elements. More important, it is a story, the key to the film. Notice that the main character, our designated protagonist gets free when he burns the story.So this is all about narrative over layering and mixing narrative threads. We have three lines explore, and three children puppeteers. Get it? The thing is i didn't connect to the thing, the film is intellectually ambitious, but failed to reach me. I suppose it had a lot to do with pacing and narrative balance. The bits are disconnected, i thing some serious revision and editing and general rhythm would have made miracles here.The photography is intense and highly competent, though not much in the mood of what we see. Still, it's a high mark for korean cinema. Lucky those directors, for having such artistic values at their services.My opinion: 2/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com (FantasPorto 2009)