Hi, hello, how are ya? It’s raining again in sunny California, but other than that things are pretty good here on my side of the world.
If you read my last post then you know I developed a healthy crush on Sydney from THE EYE (2008) thanks to her gorgeous looks but, honey, would I say the American remake version was my favorite when compared to the original version from Hong Kong? Mmmmh, no, not really, but I would say that thanks to it I was incredibly curious about the story line and it made me want to find and watch the original version as soon as possible, and so I did.
Introducing, THE EYE (2002):
I was lucky enough to find the movie on YouTube two days after watching the American one, so you know the info was fresh on my mind and could not stop myself from comparing the remake with this, the 2002 original.
I would not say the remake was better, even though its production value was superior because ‘Merica. I would not say the original was better either, even though its characters had more soul and life in them, and the story… the story unraveled little by little like an opening flower where the audience learned about the events along with their leading lady, Wong Mun (Lee Sin-Je), and was not cheated by ‘disrespectful’ or ‘painfully obvious’ clues *cough ‘Merica cough* and where the shadow of Death was a comforting image and where the dead seemed to be soothed by it, where the reason why Wong was able to see ghosts after her cornea transplant was because of unresolved issues from the donor whose sad and tragic story was, mind you, beautifully explained and showed in a black and white flashback, where you wholeheartedly sympathized for her even though Wong was suffering because of her, and Dr. Lo, oh Dr. Lo, thanks to him Wong was able to keep herself grounded even when things looked dire for her, oh, and the ending, the—SPOILER ALERT—violent and gory ending where dozens of people died on a meaningless accident which was not prevented by Wong because where do you think we are? ‘Merica? NO! Accidents happen and people die and it’s sad and unfair and also sometimes people get cornea transplants and start seeing ghost and after all their struggles nothing matters in the end because LIFE! Oh wait, wait a second, l would say the original 2002 version from Hong Kong was indeed the better movie.
Exactly two months after watching THE EYE (2002) for the very first time ever, and after having rewatched it a couple other times since then, I still get overwhelmed by its simple clean elegance. Brava!
In Love and Fear,
- Marath
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