Oh, one so hates to go against the grain, but this film was a great disappointment to me. Where other gems from the far east, such as Dark Water and The Eye, managed to so successfully blend character, atmosphere, tension and plot this film just seemed to mash them all up together into a deeply unsatisfying gruel. I have just been perusing the message boards and am frankly aghast that so much time has been spent trying to make sense of the convoluted and contrived plot. More amazing still is that, given all the man hours at the keyboard, no one seems any closer a comprehensive explanation than they did when they started. One is tempted at first to concluded that the various twists and revelations contained within the film are too clever by half, but on closer examination we find they are less that half as clever as the viewer deserves. This is a tale not only of two sisters, but also of a wicked step mother, an indifferent father, a suicide, a murder, a ghost, an asylum, another ghost and a closet. Or is it? Or was it? Or will it prove to be? Jumping about chronologically like a time machine with hiccups and failing to establish any clear narrative threads this was a screenplay in need of serious editing and major rewriting long before the camera started turning. There were plenty of great ideas here, they just didn't all belong in the same movie and by forcing them all to cohabit the script we were left with a product which was for me considerably less than the sum of it's parts. Admittedly it's parts, like those of the curates egg, are not all bad; not by a long chalk. Individual scenes conjure a genuine sense of dread and tension, malice and suspense. The photography is in places breathtaking and the performances are confident and yet subtle. Sadly, however, this is not enough. I believe this is a not a film alive with ambiguity and mystery as so many seem to suggest; but one plagued by confusion and compromise. Girls, go to your room and don't come down until you've got your stories straight.
Review of A Tale of Two Sisters
