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Others,
The
(2001) |
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Nicole Kidman stars as Grace, a woman raising two children by herself in a remote mansion in the Channel Islands. World War II is over, but Grace's husband never returned. Meanwhile, she is left to bring up her two photosensitive children, Anne and Nicholas. When their house help disappear en masse they are replaced by three others - a matronly housekeeper, an elderly gardener and a young mute girl. Almost immediately, strange things start happening. Doors unlock by themselves, sounds of running and breathing echo through the house. A piano is played by an unseen hand and Anne, Grace's rebellious and precocious daughter starts seeing apparitions and speaking to an unseen child, Victor, and his companions. Is the house haunted? Are the three sinister new entrants to blame? Is Grace losing her mind - as we are told she did earlier? Or is it a cruel joke played on her by her children? In The Others, director Amenabar has taken an age old story and rather than reinvent it, as has been the case with several modern day horrors, has chosen to return to its roots. There is an old fashioned simplicity to the film. Gone are the brash, over blown effects that have become almost compulsory in Hollywood. Instead Amenabar deals in minimalism and simplicity. Whether this was the result of budgetary constraints is not known but the effect on the film is more than positive. The Others remains small, focussed and intense throughout. There is no flab or fat to cut. The film is shot almost entirely inside the mansion, with cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, production designer Benjamin Fernandez and Chilean-born Amenabar creating a world of moody light and darkness. Inside, shadows and sounds conjure up images. Outside the rolling fog draws in the claustrophobia. The film's atmosphere is seeped in eeriness and suggestion as the audience are left to imagine what lies beyond the camera's eye. The performances are spot on as well, with Kidman outstanding as the puritanical, icy mother. Statuesque in her beauty (apparently made up to look like Grace Kelly) but rigid in manner. She is well supported, in particular, by Fionnula Flanagan as the mysterious Mrs. Mills and the two children. The Others
is an old-fashioned ghost story and its success shows that the
best horror movies are made without resorting to special effects
and gore. The Others is everything that the overblown,
top-heavy and hugely expensive Haunting remake was not.
So if you're looking for that creepy, spooky effect, which gives
you a ripple of fear down the spine as well as some genuine
shocks, then The Others is your film. Thoroughly enjoyable
and highly recommended.
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