A blind concert violinist gets a cornea transplant allowing her to see again. However, she gets more than she bargained for when she realizes her new eye can see ghosts. She sets out to find the origins of the cornea and discover the fate of its former host.
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Reviews
People are voting emotionally.
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
This film surprised me, as I've always heard mixed reviews of the Pang brothers, but all of my usual streaming services have been giving me problems lately (stupid college wifi) and I noticed that this and the 2008 remake were free on Hulu right now, so I decided: If this video ever loads, why not watch it? Turns out Hulu loads more effectively on my Wifi network than Netflix or Screambox, so I watched this late last night, and I was actually very impressed! The film does have a couple of frightening moments but it functions more as a thriller and drama, led by a nuanced and passionate performance by Angelica Lee, with a solid supporting cast at her side. This film also contains a lot of beautiful imagery, showing the Pang Brothers' eye (HA! yes, pun intended) for visual language. What I was most impressed by was the ending-- figuring out how to end a film of this kind is so difficult, but the Pangs do so with grace and style.All in all, if you're a fan of Asian cinema and haven't seen this yet, check this one out. Now, watch as I prepare to roast the American remake...
Just a boring boring movie with no point at all. No deep thoughts. People said this was scary? I guess there were a few slightly scary scenes. The whole thing was just slow, and ultimately pointless.I do like some Japanese horror films (this one is in Hong Kong), but this one is just lame. I can't understand these good reviews. I feel like I wasted my time on this.At least throw in some twists or a mystery, like the American remake "The Uninvited" of the Korean horror film "A Tale of Two Sisters". (Actually I liked the American version of that better, but both were good). Those weren't all that scary either but at least there was a point to it.Just slow, boring, and no fun. I can't say much more about it without giving a spoiler.
Wong Kar Mun went blind at the age of two, 18 years later she undergoes a cornea transplant that appears to be a success. Unfortunately that success comes with a terrifying side-effect; the ability to see unhappy ghosts .Gin Gwai (The Eye) is directed by the Pang brothers Oxide and Danny and stars Angelica Lee (Mun) and Lawrence Chou (Dr.Wah) as the two main principals.No matter what source of reference you use for film reviews, one thing that can be guaranteed as regards Gin Gwai is how divided people are on it. One of the few things that most tend to agree on tho is that it's visual flourishes are nothing short of fantastic. And they are. Blended with the editing, music, sound, camera-work and the effects, it therefore fuels the fire of those calling it style over substance. It's also fair to drop onside with those folk decrying its over familiarity with its central themes. If you have seen Irvin Kershner' The Eyes Of Laura Mars, Michael Apted's Blink and M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, well you wont be watching anything new thematically here. But the Pang brothers have crafted a thoroughly engrossing, menacing and nerve gnawer of a film, one that delivers chills and scares for the discerning horror sub-genre fan.Here's the crux of the matter with Gin Gwai, it is the opposite side of the Asian horror coin to the likes of the blood letting Audition. This is pure and simply for those not in need of murder death kill to fulfil their horror needs. I was creeped out immensely by this film because the ghost and supernatural side of horror is what really works for me, as long as it is done effectively. To which Gin Gwai most assuredly is. The various scenes shift from ethereal unease to hold your breath terror, from classrooms to lifts, to hospital wards, the brothers Pang, with beautiful technical expertise, held me over a precipice of dread. Even the opening credits are inventive and have the ability to send a cautionary shiver down ones spine. There's a barely formed, and pointless, romantic angle that marks it down a point, but as the blistering (literally) last quarter assaults the senses, so as the time for reflection arrives, Gin Gwai ends up being one of the this decades best horror pictures. To me at least. 9/10
I must confess to some slight disappointment with the Pang Brothers' 2002 offering, "The Eye," but only because of the great buildup that one of my film bibles, "DVD Delirium 2," has given it. "A surfeit of perturbing imagery and sound...among the best genre fare to emerge from Hong Kong in the last decade...creepy, moving and truly shocking...unforgettably disturbing," the writers in this usually dependable guide tell us. Well, I did not find the film to be "all that," but a second viewing, with lowered expectations, revealed that the picture still does have lots to offer. In it, we meet a pretty young violinist, Mun (excellently played by Lee Sin-Je), who had been blind since the age of 2. A cornea transplant not only restores her vision, but, as a bonus, allows her to see the spirits of the recently departed, as well as the shadowy conductors of the newly dead, and foresee when those people will die. Along with her therapist, Mun investigates the mystery of her donor and tries to avert a flaming catastrophe. The Pang Bros., Danny and Oxide (love that name!), have directed their film in a very flashy manner, and edited it likewise (they also coscripted), and while the picture is consistently interesting and beautiful to look at, darn it, it just isn't that scary. Only two scenes generated a chill down this viewer's spine: the one in the calligraphy class (a truly startling sequence) and the one in which Mun shares an elevator ride with the spirit of an antigravitic old man (but even in this scene, I kept wondering why Mun couldn't just hit the button for another floor and jump out). So although the film is very well done and should certainly please most viewers, those looking for some genuine scares should probably seek elsewhere...although I'd be willing to bet that this film is still waaaay superior to the Hollywood remake. At least, that's the way I, uh, see it.