Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Hansel & Gretel - Korea

          Director:  Pil-Sung Yim
          Year:  2007
          Plot:  "On the way to visit his ill mother, Eun-soo gets into a car accident.  Disoriented, he wanders in the forest until he meets a young girl.  She leads him to her home deep in the forest, but the fairy tale like house encompasses a secret."

          I have been meaning to watch this movie for some time now, but never really got around to it.  My current knitting project (a rainbow tank top) calls for a lot of time, so I figured I would try to catch up on some movies.  It turns out that I had been missing out on a wonderful movie by putting this one off.  I am not sure what it was that made me put this one a list and forget about it, but I am glad I finally got around to watching this.
          It only took a short time, about 10 minutes, before I was hooked.  Now I usually don't talk about sets and lighting or anything because I don't have a clue what I am talking about, but even I know this had some great sets.  The house had a nice creepy feeling too it even with the fairy tale quality.  To me, the sets and all really added to the feel of the movie.  When everything seems normal and you might question the genre, the set just doesn't feel right and causes you to start questioning what you are seeing.
          Of course, the set can't carry the movie on its own.  A good movie need the actors to sell what the set is showing you.  This movie did well in that manner as well.  I thought the acting was great, especially from the kids.  The children in this movie really had some depth to them.  One minute you can be against them and their slightly skewed idea of how things should be, and the next, you are worried about them.  This really was the point of the movie that I loved.  It is the fact that the bad, isn't always bad.  It is something I was taught as a writer, a character cannot be all good or all bad and be believable.   There has to be a some good and some bad in all.

          This is definitely a movie I suggest.  It wasn't a 'scary' movie, but it definitely had a creepy feel to it, especially at the beginning.  This movie might not be a good one for a night when you want to be forced to hide under the covers, but it is one that should be watched.