A Tale of Two Sisters

Saw A Tale of Two Sisters, a very interesting horror. It's scary enough in places that I had to pause a few times and wimp out for a second, but the film makes heavy use of jump-cuts and montage in a way I haven't seen a horror film do before (not that it hasn't been done, I just haven't seen it.) The plot revolves around two sisters who gain a step-mother after their father remarries. Tension manifests and festers until full-blown stalkings and night terrors arise. The film is essentially a ghost story, but the ghost is obliquely referenced and is only made definite very near the end (and anyway this is just my interpretation.) The film is Lynchianly uninterested in explaining what's going on (though most questions are answered (or answers hinted at anyway) by the end, so don't worry if you're the type of person who gets hung up on ambiguity) so much of the film can be argued and re-interpreted.

The film's jump-cuts are also very evocative and interesting. At one point a character grabs the arm of another one and won't let go. The camera begins a frantic dance, mirroring the physical struggle, jumping between the faces of the two characters, their interlocking arms, the room they're in, and even another character waiting in the hallway outside, ending when the character finally wrenches her arm away. At another time, a character is frantically searching for scissors. Rooting about in the kitchen drawers, she turns and we suddenly see a clip of the step-mother mechanically swallowing pills. Then we're back with the girl searching for scissors again. Like I say, it's not always very clear exactly what's up in this film.

Childbirth and menstruation are themes for the horror sequences. The film's plot and psychodrama unfortunately only really make sense in retrospect, after all twists have twisted, so be prepared to re-watch. Mirrors and duplication abound which should be taken as a warning that some characters may be imaginary, and that identity will be rather fluid in any case. This adds another layer of confusion atop a film which already requires a lot of unpacking. The whole thing falls apart a bit for me at the end, when explanations begin seeping out, but there's enough evocative imagery and weird juxtaposition to keep me interested. If only it didn't have to be a horror.