Gin gwai (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang

Writers:

Jo Jo Yuet-chun Hui (written by) and
Danny Pang (written by) ...

Release Date:

9 May 2002 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

What if the reflection you see is not yours

Plot:

A blind girl gets a cornea transplant so that she would be able to see again. However, she got more...

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Blind Girl | Eye | Vision | Surgery

Awards:

8 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Angelica Lee	...	Wong Kar Mun (as Lee Sin-Je)
Lawrence Chou	...	Dr. Wah
Chutcha Rujinanon	...	Ling
Yut Lai So	...	Yingying
Candy Lo	...	Yee (Mun's Sister)
Yin Ping Ko	...	Mun's grandmother
Pierre Png	...	Dr. Eak
Edmund Chen	...	Dr. Lo
Wai-Ho Yung	...	Mr. Ching
Wilson Yip	...	Taoist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kanta Aeamsamang	...	Young Mother
Wisarup Annuar	...	Dark Figure
Cub Chin	...	Boy's Father
Wing-Wai Chin	...	Hospital Caretaker
Ousinthorn Chotphan	...	Mun as a Little Girl
Sungwen Cummee	...	Ghost in the Elevator
Damrongwiseeatpanich	...	Ling (Age 8)
Jinda Duangtoy	...	Old Lady in the Hospital
Sopol Duriensuk	...	Traffic Policeman
Pornchai Hongrattanaporn	...	Bride
Si Won Ho	...	Ghost in the Restaurant
Panpimol Jeamsakol	...	Thai Nurse 2
Pui Ho Jim	...	Boy in the Car Accident
Narongsak Junjiamrat	...	Young Father
Wirasinee Kuntipan	...	Groom
Mylio Lau	...	Wah's Secretary
Yuk Ha Lau	...	Waitress
Hing Kim Lee	...	Restaurant Owener
Somchai Leelanukul	...	Thai Mini-Bus Driver
Tao Leung	...	Ghost on the Highway
Vuanna Mahachanok	...	Thai Mini-Cab Driver
Tassanana Nuntasapee	...	Ling (Age 4)
Ming Poon	...	Boy with Cap
Dampongongtrakul Sawadee	...	Yee as a Little Girl
Nonlaporn Sombatruksasuk	...	Boy's Mother
Nittaya Suthornrat	...	Ghost in the Classroom
Busarn Thongtiw	...	Thai Nurse 1
Wasarat Thrasarchoti	...	Mr. Ching's Assistant
Sue Yuen Wang	...	Ling's Mother
Yuet Siu Wong	...	Ghost in the Hospital
Florence Wu	...	Nurse
Tian Nan Wu	...	Calligraphy Teacher
Ben Yuen	...	Mr. Ching

Also Known As:

The Eye (International: English title) (UK)
Jian gui (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Seeing Ghosts (literal English title)
El ojo (Argentina) (festival title) [es]
Khon hen phi (Thailand: Thai title) [th]
The Eye (Italy) [it]
The Eye (France) [fr]
The Eye - Mit den Augen einer Toten (Germany) (TV title) [de]
The eye - El ojo (Spain) [es]
To mati (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing images.

Runtime:

99 min | Argentina:110 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Canada:94 min (DVD) | Sweden:94 min (DVD)

Country:

Hong Kong | Singapore

Language:

Cantonese | Thai | English | Mandarin | Hakka

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Applause Pictures

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".

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: While playing the violin solo, Mun's fingers on her left hand never move.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Deadly Visions (2004) (TV)

A decent little horror film

This is a good little Asian horror film that I would definitely recommend renting or even buying, if you like foreign films. A young blind woman receives a cornea transplant and soon finds out that she got way more than she bargained for when she starts being visited by some very unhappy dead souls. It's not very original, true, but the acting is good, the lead character (played by Angelica Lee, is that her name?) is adorable, as is the little girl who plays Ying Ying; there is some serious tension and dread here, especially in the first half hour. The scene in the hospital hallway had my skin trying to crawl off my body, as well as the "Why are you sitting in my chair?" scene. We're talking serious chills. Some of the music IS a bit cheesy and over the top, but hey, you can't have everything, right? The scenes where we see through Mun's eyes in the first few minutes are very effective; we know someone is standing there, we just don't know who it is, and we feel her fear and uncertainty. Not the best movie ever made, but it's definitely worth seeing.

Before I close, I would like to respond to the attitude expressed here by some people that American films are all stupid, and that American filmgoers are all drooling idiots who have to see a throat slashed every few minutes in order to be engaged by a movie. When you make comments like that, you really show how ignorant you are when it comes to American cinema, as some of the finest movies ever made came right out of Hollywood, and no they aren't all slasher films or mindless teen comedies. But then I'm sure you folks already know that, you just want to feel intellectually superior to others. I enjoy a good foreign film, and so do many Americans, but just because they're foreign doesn't mean they're perfect. They have flaws just like any other human effort, so please get over yourselves and try to watch movies with an open mind, because you'll enjoy them much more that way. That's just my two cents.

Watch this movie, it's good.