Janghwa, Hongryeon (2003)

Director:

Ji-woon Kim

Writer:

Ji-woon Kim (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 June 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Horror | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Our sorrow was conceived long before our birth

Plot:

Two sisters who, after spending time in a mental institution, return to the home of their father and cruel stepmother...

Plot Keywords:

Surreal | Guilt | Delusion | Sister Sister Relationship | Evil Stepmother

Awards:

12 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Kap-su Kim	...	Bae Moo-hyeon (Father)
Jung-ah Yum	...	Eun-joo (Stepmother)
Su-jeong Lim	...	Bae Soo-mi (Janghwa)
Geun-yeong Mun	...	Bae Soo-yeon (Hongryeon)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Seung-bi Lee	...	Mi-hee

Also Known As:

A Tale of Two Sisters (International: English title)
2 soeurs (France) [fr]
Dos Hermanas (Peru) [es]
Istoria dyo adelfon, I (Greece) (festival title) [el]
Medo (Brazil) (DVD title) [pt]
Pahan yhteys (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]
Tansu (Japan) [ja]
Two Sisters (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and disturbing images.

Runtime:

Korea:115 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Ireland:16 (original rating) | Malaysia:U (re-rating) | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Portugal:M/16 | Peru:18 | Ireland:18 (re-rating) (2005) | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Sweden:15 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Yuler-Myun, Bosung, Jeollanamdo, South Korea

Company:

Masulpiri Films

Trivia:

In the original story, the sisters' names are Janghwa and Hongryeon (Rose Flower and Red Lotus). In the movie, they are Su-mi and Su-yeon (still mean Rose and Lotus).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the hospital scenes, there is no scar on the back of Su-mi's hand.

Quotes:

Bae Soo-mi: Shall we kill them?
Bae Soo-yeon: Let's set them free.
Bae Soo-mi: She'll have a cow if we mess with her precious. I'd hate to see that.

Movie Connections:

References Ringu (1998)

Dark and authentic film of the world of the imagination's ability to distort and frighten..

I first saw this film two years ago in the cinema, and fell in love with this dark tale of two brooding teenage sisters coping at home in their large country house with their their father and their step-mother. Their relationship with their step-mother is strained to say the least, with the step-mother appearing to be increasingly becoming unstable in her battles with the younger girls. The film though slants with Oriental style ghost effects and horror, which adds a strange and unsettling aspect to the story that on first viewing is not clear, but is all the more intriguing.

The direction is incredibly good, and the acting is stunning, with the step-mother in particular incredibly good swinging from one mood style to another in the film. The large house adds eeriness, and there are enough points in the film where you will jump out of your seat. This film to me clearly shows why Korean cinema is possibly the best most original in the world at the moment. You simply don't get anything like this in the Western World, sadly,and really i can see it being influential on film makers around the world in the next decade.

Highly recommended viewing in my opinion, a real joy and scare...