The Eye (2002)
"Gin gwai" (original title)

A blind girl gets a cornea transplant so that she would be able to see again. However, she got more than what she bargained for when she realised she could even see ghosts. And some of ... See full summary »

Directors:

Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang

Writers:

Yuet-Jan Hui, Danny Pang,

Stars:

Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou, Jinda Duangtoy

9 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Angelica Lee	...	Wong Kar Mun (as Lee Sin-Je)
Lawrence Chou	...	Dr. Wah
Jinda Duangtoy	...	Old Lady in the Hospital
Yut Lai So	...	Yingying
Candy Lo	...	Yee (Mun's Sister)
Edmund Chen	...	Dr. Lo
Yin Ping Ko	...	Mun's grandmother
Florence Wu	...	Nurse
Wisarup Annuar	...	Dark Figure
Yuet Siu Wong	...	Ghost in the Hospital
Wing-Wai Chin	...	Hospital Caretaker
Tao Leung	...	Ghost on the Highway
Mylio Lau	...	Wah's Secretary (as Miyuki Lau)
Ousinthorn Chotphan	...	Mun as a Little Girl
Dampongongtrakul Sawadee	...	Yee as a Little Girl

Storyline

A blind girl gets a cornea transplant so that she would be able to see again. However, she got more than what she bargained for when she realised she could even see ghosts. And some of these ghosts are down right unfriendly. So she embarks on a journey to find the origins of her cornea and to reveal the history of the previous dead owner ...

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | blind girl | eye | vision | surgery | 

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Taglines:

Some things are better left unseen

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Palm Pictures [us]

Country:

Hong Kong Singapore

Language:

Cantonese Thai Mandarin English Hakka

Release Date:

9 May 2002 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

The Eye

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

SGD 4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$608,124 (France) (29 August 2003)

Gross:

$503,714 (USA) (7 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Applause Pictures, Mediacorp Raintree Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 110 min 94 min (DVD) 94 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dark/black figure/person that constantly appears in the film when the characters die is the Daoist (Chinese religion) form of the Grim Reaper. In Daoist belief, there are two Grim Reapers, the White and Black "Wu Chang". The Black Reaper is the one that escorts the newly dead to the "other world" of "afterlife".

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Goofs

When Mun hears the moaning woman in the hospital, as she investigates, the position of the straps on the shoulder of her scrub changes.

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Crazy Credits

The credits at the beginning of the film first appear as braile.

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Connections

Followed by The Eye 2 (2004)

User Reviews

a wonderful film with flaws

For the most part, "The Eye" is a competent effort from HK cinema. While most HK films nowadays involve big pop stars in pointless romantic comedies, this film (and also Infernal Affairs) show that there are still talented filmmakers in HK.

The story is about a blind girl named Mun getting a cornea transplant. When she gets her vision back, she begins seeing supernatural beings (ghosts, to be precise). For the first half of the story, we see her experiencing all these haunting encounters. One notable scene is in an elevator. The mystery and creepiness in this first half is incredibly effective and well-made.

The same cannot be said about the second half though. Like "The Ring" (or "Ringu"), Mun travels to Thailand to figure out the origin of the owner of her cornea. What starts out as a supernatural thriller turns into a mystery.

The film seems to be a mix of "The Sixth Sense", "Ringu", and a touch of "Final Destination." The switch of style in the middle and toward the end is somewhat annoying. The ending is an effort of the directors to show that they can do big CGI action sequences too. But, this film would have been good enough to stand on its own without that.

The acting is pretty good. Angelica Lee as Mun is very believable. The same cannot be said about the doctor though. I think this is mostly because his character's motivations are not convincing enough. Why does he give up his whole career to travel all the way to Thailand to help her after meeting her for a few times only? For love? Probably...but I don't buy it at all.

Overall, this film is pretty good. It is a nice effort from promising directors.