A Tale of Two Sisters

Director: Kim Jee-woon
Writer: Kim Jee-woon
Starring: Lim Soo-Jung, Moon Geun-Young, Yeom Jung-Ah, Kim Kab-Su
Year: 2003
Duration: 114 mins
Country: South Korea 
BBFC Certification: 15

Out of all the writers and directors associated with the creative and artistic boom in horror and thriller titles that emerged out of Japan and South Korea in the late nineties and early 2000s (giving us such classics as Ringu, Dark Water and Memories of a Murder) Kim Jee-Woon surely stands as one of the most talented, his lyrical, visually arresting filming style gifting movies such as A Bittersweet Life or I Saw the Devil a cinematic flair that has rarely been matched in either the East or the West.

While making a name for himself in his native South Korea in the late nineties with films such as The Quiet Family, Kim Jee-Woon only really came to mainstream Western audience’s attention with 2003’s stylish ghost story A Tale of Two Sisters. Now regarded as one of the key works associated with the classic J and K horror of the early Noughties, Arrow are bringing A Tale of Two Sisters to an absolutely stacked new Blu Ray edition. The only question, then, is how does the film hold up almost twenty years after its debut?

The film tells the tale of two sisters (you’d never have guessed that, eh?) Soo-mi Bae and Soo-yeon Bae, who return home to their father’s house after Soo-mi has been released from a mental institution. The girl’s controlling step mother, Eun-joo Heo, seems desperate for everything to appear as though it were normal, but a dark secret remains unspoken among the members of the family. Soon, through a series of sinister manifestations, the family’s past will come to light, with shocking and tragic revelations. 

Despite being based on a Korean folk tale, A Tale of Two Sisters actually feels, much of the time, like a traditional Western gothic novel. All the ingredients are there; the isolated country house, the cruel step-mother, oppressed daughters, a mysterious past, all liberally sprinkled with a malevolent and threatening ghostly presence. For the first half of the film, Kim Jee-Woon (who also wrote the screenplay as well as directing) further adheres to an almost novelistic tone, ensuring that A Tale of Two Sisters is slow and studied, taking its time to build up characters and atmosphere. I actually found this to be where the film was most successful. The unsettling and disquieting mood keeps the audience on their toes, where nothing is ever quite what it seems. 

Kim Jee-Woon takes the same admirable restraint when it comes to the film’s scares. While never achieving the same nerve shredding power of Ringu or Dark Water (despite a scene that liberally borrows from both Japanese folklore, as well as recalling Herbert Wise’s The Woman in Black) A Tale of Two Sisters nevertheless delivers quietly tense and unnerving moments that still quicken the pulse.

As the extras reveal, Kim Jee-woon is a director, much like Guillermo Del Toro, for whom camera work, set design and use of colour are as vital storytelling tools as dialogue and story structure. Much as Del Toro utilised these tools to ensure that Crimson Peak (which, like A Tale of Two Sisters, is confined to mostly one location) always felt beautifully constructed, so does Kim Jee-Woon, with his gliding camera work and carefully considered production design adding lyrical layers to the story’s gothic overtones.

As much as Jee-Woon gets praised for his technical accomplishments, his work on the script of A Tale of Two Sisters and his direction of the actors gets far less attention, perhaps unfavourably so. While not being the most original of ideas, the film’s story about family discord and tragedy has a refreshing depth for the genre, while the performances in the film are top notch across the board. The stand out here is Jung-ah Yum as the titular sisters cold and unhinged step mother, who manages to dominate and frequently steal whatever scene she is in.

Yet despite the striking direction, gripping performances and insightful script, A Tale of Two Sisters is unfortunately not the masterpiece some consider it to be. The film’s latter half (especially if you are watching it for the first time) descends down its own rabbit hole, layering twists and turns upon each other in a confusing spiral that may leave some audience’s heads spinning (as it certainly did for some of the film’s original critics). What began as a simple story suddenly becomes convoluted and confused, so much so that watching it all unfold becomes more exhausting to watch than riveting or engaging (thankfully Jee-Woon manages to get things back on track for an emotionally powerful finale). 

One of the pleasures of the film, however, is going back and re-watching it once you know the story. Even if certain scenes in the film still don’t make sense once all its cards have been revealed, I certainly found it to be a far more entertaining watch the second (and third, and fourth!) time around.

Ultimately, A Tale of Two Sisters is a beautifully graceful and mournful film that combines some of the best Western and Eastern gothic traditions and horror tropes into a satisfying whole (despite a few stumbles along the way). Yet, in the same way that its scares never really get under your skin, the story never really hits the heart like you feel it should. For all the tragedy of its story and the elegance of its telling, A Tale of Two Sisters unfortunately evokes admiration far more often than genuine emotion. 

Arrow are releasing A Tale of Two Sisters on Blu Ray on the 16th August. The picture quality is great throughout, with a rich, deep, film like appearance. The majority of the film takes place in dark, moodily lit interiors, but thankfully the encode is strong with no hints of macro blocking or compression. To my eyes, this appears to be a fantastic presentation of the film. Sound is equally good, coming in both 5.1 surround sound and 2.0 stereo flavours. I watched the the film with the 5.1 track and it evoked a great atmosphere, making great use of the rear channels.

Extras are as follows. As you can see, this release is absolutely bulging and is only one perfect bound book and a hard outer-slip case away from being a deluxe edition!

• Brand-new Audio commentary by Korean Cinema historian Pierce Conran & critic James Marsh
• Audio commentary by writer/director Kim Jee-woon, lighting cameraman Oh Seung-chul and cinematographer Lee Mo-gae
• Audio commentary by writer/director Kim Jee-woon and cast members Im Soo-jung and Moon Geun-young
• Always on the Move: The Dynamic Camera and Spaces of Master Stylist Kim Jee-woon, a brand-new visual essay by Korean Cinema historian Pierce Conran
• Spirits of the Peninsula: Folklore in Korean Cinema, a brand-new visual essay by cultural historian Shawn Morrisey
• Imaginary Beasts: Memory, Trauma & the Uncanny in A Tale of Two Sisters, a brand-new visual essay by genre historian and critic Kat Ellinger
• Behind the Scenes, an archival featurette shot during filming
• Outtakes, archival footage from set
• Production Design, archival featurette about the intricate look of the sets
• Music Score, archival featurette
• CGI, an archival featurette
• Creating the Poster, an archival featurette about the iconic original poster
• Cast Interviews, archival interviews with Kim Kab-su (Father), Yeom Jung-a (Stepmother), Im Soo-jung (Su-mi), and Moon Geun-young (Su-yeon)
• Deleted scenes with director’s commentary
• Director’s analysis, an archival featurette in which Kim Jee-woon discusses the complexity and ambiguities contained within the film and why they were important to him
• Director’s thoughts on horror, an archival featurette in which Kim Jee-woon discusses his feelings about the horror genre
• Psychiatrist’s Perspective, an archival featurette exploring the psychological reality behind the story of the film
• Theatrical Trailer
• Stills galleries

Commentary with Kim Jee-woon, Oh Seung-chul and Lee Mo-gae: This commentary is in Korean, with subtitles. In this first commentary featuring director Kim Jee-woon, he discusses the technical aspects of the film along with the DoP and Cameraman. They methodically go through each scene in the film, explaining the lighting choices and mise-en-scene, as well as camera angles and lighting, explaining how they develop the themes of the story and the characters. It is interesting to hear them explore what worked well and what they thought could have been better. For anyone interested in the more technical side of film making this is an essential listen – others might find it a little dry in places however.

Commentary with Kim Jee-woon and Im Soo-jung and Moon Geun-young: Here, Kim Jee-woon discusses the film with the two actresses who play the sisters. It is again in Korean, with subtitles. This conversation feels slightly more informal compared to the previous commentary, and is far more focused on story and character. Kim Jee-woon steers the conversation for the majority of the running time, with the actresses only interjecting occasionally (usually after the director has asked them a question!).

Critics Commentary by Pierce Conran & critic James Marsh: In this commentary, Pierce Conran and James Marsh provide an enthusiastic appreciation of the the film, covering everything from the film’s context within the K-horror boom, the director’s art house influences to the film’s nods to The Shining. This is a fun, informative commentary that effectively covers both the thematic and technical aspects of A Tale of Two Sisters.

Always on the Move: This new 16 minute visual essay by Pierce Conran focuses mainly on how Kim Jee-woon uses camera, framing and editing in his films, with a particular emphasis on how he uses those techniques in A Tale of Two Sisters. For fans of the director, this is an insightful and interesting look at his work. Definitely worth a watch.

Folklore in Korean Cinema: Cultural historian Shawn Morrisey provides a 22 minute visual essay on folklore in Korean cinema. Morrisey initially compares Korean folklore to its British variant, before going on discuss how the ghosts in A Tale of Two Sisters differ from other Asian films. He also explores in depth the folk tale that inspired the film and how A Tale of Two Sisters both ties into and differs from folk traditions. Even if you are not a huge fan of the film, this is a fascinating watch.

Imaginary Beasts: Arrow provide us with a third visual essay, this time hosted by Kat Ellinger. Over 31 minutes, Ellinger explores the history of gothic and its female focus and how A Tale of Two Sisters ties into that gothic tradition. Coming across like a slickly produced university lecture, complete with quotes from other sources, this is a wonderfully in-depth analysis of how A Tale of Two Sisters relates to both classic Western gothic tropes as well as those from the Far East.

Behind the Scenes: We are now moving onto extras that have presumably been ported over from older DVD releases. The first is a 21 minute behind the scenes look at the film. There are a few interviews here with the director and cast, but this mainly consists of lots of candid behind the scenes footage.

Outtakes: This is a rather pointless 3 minute collection of silent outtakes scored to music…not of very much interest at all I’m afraid.

Interviews: Here are four separate interviews (totalling 45 minutes) with the main actors in the film. What makes these unique, however, is that Kim Jee-woon is the interviewer. These turn out to be candid and informal chats about the film that highlight as much criticism as they do appreciation. Like he is in many of the extras, Jee-woon is very critical of his own work, which leads to come very interesting conversations. These are some of the highlights of the disc.

Deleted Scenes: Kim Jee-woon  goes through 15 deleted scenes (about 25 minutes in total) explaining where they would have appeared in the film and why he had to cut them out. There is nothing stunning or revelatory here, but the scenes are interesting to watch and the director adds interesting commentary, including a hard decision about cutting what he considers to be two of the best performances from the film. 

Featurettes: Arrow include several archival featurettes on the disc, covering Production Design, Music, CGI and the design of the film’s poster. These are brief but nevertheless informative, with the highlight being the featurette on the film’s production design, which shows the huge amount of work that went into designing the look of A Tale of Two Sisters.

Director’s Thoughts: Over two interviews, Kim Jee-woon discusses his thoughts on A Tale of Two Sisters and the wider horror genre in general. In the first interview, he tackles some of the criticism levelled at A Tale of Two Sisters and goes on to defend his artistic choices. In the second, he talks about the horror genre, specifically Korean horror and the lack of appreciation for genre films in his native country. This interview goes on just a little bit towards the end, when Kim Jee-woon and the interviewer go into an analysis of DVD extras!

Psychiatrist’s Perspective: In this short 5 minute interview, a psychiatrist praises is the film for its depiction of mental health and trauma. Too say too much more would ruin the film! This is certainly interesting to watch though (but only once you have seen the movie!)

Letters: In two extras not actually listed on Arrow’s site (but are certainly on the disc!) are two letters written by Im Soo-jung and Moon Geun-young to each other, reminiscing about their experience shooting A Tale of Two Sisters one year after filming finished. Im Soo-jung writes a more poetic letter, while Moon Geun-young writes a sweet and more naive love letter to the film. These are interesting and rather unusual extras and that round out a stunningly comprehensive package!!

Arrow’s Blu Ray will also come with a slipcase and booklet in its first pressing (I didn’t get the chance to view the booklet for this review). If you are a fan of the film or are interested in watching it, I’d recommend picking this up ASAP before the first edition goes out of print, which I feel may happen rather quickly!!