K-lover61
UK
This review may contain spoilers
A lovely, complicated but not impossible, film
I loved this film. It needs watching a couple of times to really get the plot, as the subs are not great and, as the film is a little complicated already, that doesn't help!
Hye-Joong has no memories before the age of 4 because they've been suppressed. She consequently suffers nightmares that are beginning to affect her actual life and at times (when she has the urge to harm herself) is actually possessed by the spirit of a character that's introduced later.
Soo-ryun was hired as a nanny, because Hye-joong's mother was sick and when she arrives, has with her, her own baby, Hwan. There's no incest as the lead characters are not related (it would have been impossible for her Dad to have fathered Soo-ryun's baby and it be born, in such a short space of time!)
The tragedy, I felt, happened because a character had misunderstood something they witnessed and what they were told about it, in an earlier kitchen scene.
Attention needs to be paid to the scene towards the end of the film, directly after Hye-joong is separated from Hwan, because the things that are shown at the site at which she ends up (baby Hwan's grave), explain how its possible for the film to end the way it does.
The fairytale like qualities of this film and the lead actors, Hong Jong-hyun and Jung So-min, portraying their characters so well, made this a magical, if at times very sad, film. I found the character of her Aunt pretty irritating; she asks a Shaman for help (in fact forces her), but then proceeds to completely ignore her advice at the most crucial times! I liked the Shaman character and thought Lee Seung-yeon portrayed her well.
There is blood and ghosts (I didn't find them scary), but everything fits and doesn't feel like it's been plonked in purely for shock/effect.
This is only my take on the film and I've left a lot out so as not to spoil it completely with this review, but as so many posts have indicated that the film is impossible to follow, the few semi-spoilers I've written will hopefully be enough to help explain the story.
I recommend watching!
Hye-Joong has no memories before the age of 4 because they've been suppressed. She consequently suffers nightmares that are beginning to affect her actual life and at times (when she has the urge to harm herself) is actually possessed by the spirit of a character that's introduced later.
Soo-ryun was hired as a nanny, because Hye-joong's mother was sick and when she arrives, has with her, her own baby, Hwan. There's no incest as the lead characters are not related (it would have been impossible for her Dad to have fathered Soo-ryun's baby and it be born, in such a short space of time!)
The tragedy, I felt, happened because a character had misunderstood something they witnessed and what they were told about it, in an earlier kitchen scene.
Attention needs to be paid to the scene towards the end of the film, directly after Hye-joong is separated from Hwan, because the things that are shown at the site at which she ends up (baby Hwan's grave), explain how its possible for the film to end the way it does.
The fairytale like qualities of this film and the lead actors, Hong Jong-hyun and Jung So-min, portraying their characters so well, made this a magical, if at times very sad, film. I found the character of her Aunt pretty irritating; she asks a Shaman for help (in fact forces her), but then proceeds to completely ignore her advice at the most crucial times! I liked the Shaman character and thought Lee Seung-yeon portrayed her well.
There is blood and ghosts (I didn't find them scary), but everything fits and doesn't feel like it's been plonked in purely for shock/effect.
This is only my take on the film and I've left a lot out so as not to spoil it completely with this review, but as so many posts have indicated that the film is impossible to follow, the few semi-spoilers I've written will hopefully be enough to help explain the story.
I recommend watching!
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