Rose Da Silva takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears and Rose begins a horrific... Read allRose Da Silva takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears and Rose begins a horrific journey to get her back.Rose Da Silva takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears and Rose begins a horrific journey to get her back.
- Awards
- 8 nominations total
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
With that in mind, the reason why Silent Hill worked for me was because it had a story to tell. Granted some of us are already familiar with the storyline and are frustrated with the pace of the film. Others may gripe at how much of a disappointment the movie was because of the lack of certain monsters, the lack of development in the characters they liked best, the lack of answers to puzzling questions, the fact that the storyline was too convoluted and confusing et cetera et cetera.
Yet, the heart of the film lies mainly on one simple idea - Silent Hill is first and foremost, a physical manifestation of a child's mind that is shattered, tainted and shackled by an abuse so terrible that one is unable to articulate it into words. (Ever wondered why Silent Hill is called "Silent" Hill in the first place? If you think along the lines of language being an ineffective medium in the expression of "truth", *cha-ching*! You're right!)
In this light, I cannot understand why so many people had a problem with the pacing of the movie because in the first place, such apparent "meandering" is necessary to the entire film. And why not? The inability for any one character to get to the heart of the problem is prevalent during the entire narrative framework of the film *No one* character dared to talk about it and those who sought the truth are met with an air of secrecy. The "truth" therefore, is oppressed by a *complete breakdown of words* and all that is left is to "show" and let the people "experience" what had happened themselves. (Such is the path that Rose must take because she "chose" to seek out the truth surrounding her daughter's psychological problem and since language fails in Silent Hill can the "truth" cannot be communicated through "words" it must be "shown".)
The same rule applies to Christopher. He tried to uncover the "truth" but was thwarted by people who are reluctant to talk about the town. Everyone who had prior knowledge of the town was unable or unwilling to describe what happened because they 1) are suppressing their guilt 2) are afraid of opening up a can of worms that is best left forgotten. Even Rose and Cybil are faced with a group of people who were so adamant into seeing things in their point of view that they have "blinded" themselves to the atrocity of what has taken place in Silent Hill. (Notice how most of the monsters i.e. Nurses, Pyramid Head, Janitor, are in a state of blindness? Coincidence? I think not.)
And still at the heart of all THAT, a child's horrifying story is desperately waiting to be told. The meanderings are not meant to be a flaw in the plot, in my opinion, but an attempt to show how the outside world tried to suppress and confine the deepest desire of a little girl - the desire for "truth" to be known. Therefore the "truth" cannot be "told" because words will ultimately fail in Silent Hill. It must be "shown". That was why Rose had to go through all the various stages of her journey to seek out the "truth". That was why it was crucial the narrative had to be mapped out thus and it reached its summit in the dramatic finale where the fanatics were reluctant to accept the "spoken truth" but was forced to accept it nevertheless through a physical manifestation of "truth" - the manifestation of their past deeds.
Hence in my opinion, this film isn't about monsters, busty characters, bloodshed, storyline or whatever it is that one normally looks out for in a film of this genre. This film is about a little girl's story that is struggling to surface in a world dominated by a viciousness she could not comprehend but fall victim to nevertheless. Think about it. To be thoroughly abused in a world that you never fit in and cannot comprehend. And later to want to seek vengeance for the wrongs that had been done to you but are unable to articulate it into words because there is no one out there who understands or listens to you. The intense hatred due to the complete lack of control that one is forced into, the desire to achieve "satisfaction" at any cost and the obsession with "vengence" - now that's a scary thought for a little girl of 10 to have, wouldn't you say?
So was it good? Heck yeah. And I'm going for another round of this when my next paycheque comes in.
But that is also the downfall of the movie (imo). It is very compelling in the beginning, but when it reaches a certain point (let's say the middle of the movie), the scares don't work anymore. The effects still remain great, but I'm just not feeling it. As a game that would work, because you're actively involved, but as a passive viewer, you get bored. So the best adaptation yet, shows us that there is more to the adaptation process, than filming a game ...
The cast is really exciting. There's a series of fresh faces, actors that you may be familiar with but you haven't seen then a thousand times before, they're going to bring life to the characters. The producers very deliberately went toward actors from independent film because they bring with them something different, a different quality. Actress like Radha Mitchell, Debora Kara Unger, Tanya Allen, Laurie Holden and Alice Krige, it's much more exciting to see somebody who doesn't used to do this kind of movie, but the audience of this type of film love that. For the role of Rose, Radha Mitchell, needed somebody with that blend of vulnerability but strength and determination as well. We have to feel her fear but also appreciate when she stands up to all these terrifying moments.In fact, the producers spent lots of time finding the perfect Rose. In terms of the sensibility that Christophe Gang was having in this character, Rose is sophisticated and very vulnerable and Radha Mitchell has both quality, she has a freshness and energy and excitement and life, there's this original look to her, all of which are precisely what the producers needed for the central character to lead us through this horrific environment. The director is focused on female character with just females leading the story in a way, with exception of two male characters: Sean Bean and Kim Coates. Christophe Gans is almost exorcised the idea of femininity by polarising it with the male characters, and all the women are in this kind of fantasy nightmare.
Did you know
- TriviaIt took director Christophe Gans five years to obtain the rights to make the film. He was given the rights after he sent Konami a video of an interview describing how much Silent Hill meant to him. Along with the interview, he sent scenes that he filmed on his own dollar cut up and overlayed with music from the games.
- GoofsThe image of West Virginia on Cybil's arm patches is backwards.
- Quotes
Dahlia Gillespie: Why didn't she take me? Like the others?
Rose Da Silva: Because you're her mother. Mother is God in the eyes of a child.
- Crazy creditsThe first segment of the ending credits plays out much like the ending credits of the games.
- Alternate versionsIn Canada, there is rumored to exist an extended cut of the film which runs approx. 132 minutes. It is also said to be the full uncut version of the film itself, which to this day, has never been released outside Canada. This version, being the full version of the movie that was filmed contains longer, sometimes more explicit scenes, more disturbing features (as well as extended scenes that explain everything unlike in the American Theatrical Cut) that was possibly all cut to prevent an NC-17 rating in the USA.
- ConnectionsEdited into Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)
- SoundtracksWaiting for You (SHF1)
Vocalist Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
Written and Performed by Akira Yamaoka
Courtesy of Konami
(plays in the gas station diner)
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Terror en Silent Hill
- Filming locations
- Brantford, Ontario, Canada(Silent Hill main street)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $50,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $46,982,632
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $20,152,598
- Apr 23, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $100,605,135
- Runtime2 hours 5 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
