Janghwa, Hongryeon (2003)

Director:

Ji-woon Kim

Writer:

Ji-woon Kim (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 June 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Our sorrow was conceived long before our birth

Plot:

A family is haunted by the tragedies of deaths within the family.

Plot Keywords:

Stepmother | Ghost | Death | Dream Sequence | Psychotic Child

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-Young Moon	...	Bae Soo-yeon (Hongryeon)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Seung-bi Lee	...	Mi-hee

Directed by
Ji-woon Kim

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ji-woon Kim		screenplay

Produced by
Jeong-wan Oh	....	producer
Jung-Wan Oh	....	executive producer
Ki-min Oh	....	producer (as Oh Gi-Min)

Original Music by
Byung-woo Lee

Cinematography by
Mo-gae Lee

Film Editing by
Hyeon-mi Lee

Art Direction by
Geun-hyeon Jo

Production Companies

• B.O.M. Film Productions Co.
• Masulpiri Films

Distributors

• Chungeorahm Film (2003) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (????) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• 3L Filmverleih (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Arti Film (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (????) (France) (theatrical)
• Comstock (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Karma Films (2004) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Tartan Films (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Tartan (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Zima Entertainment (2005) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Aztec International Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• CDK Entertainment (2008) (Greece) (all media)
• Cineclick Asia (worldwide)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Europa Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Future Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Metro DVD (????) (South Korea) (DVD)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2003) (USA) (all media)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• TLA Releasing (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video USA (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Visionary Thinking (2004) (Bosnia-Herzegovina) (all media)
• Visionary Thinking (2004) (Serbia and Montenegro) (all media)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Dominion3 Public Relations  unit publicity

Also Known As:

A Tale of Two Sisters (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Rose and Lotus (South Korea) (informal literal English title)

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) | Ireland:18 (re-rating) (2005) | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (re-rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Peru:18 | Mexico:B15 | 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:

B.O.M. Film Productions Co.

Trivia:

The movie is inspired by a famous Korean folk tale "Janghwa Heungryeonjeon."

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:

Version of Janghwa Hongryeonjeon (1972)

Top notch South Korean horror.

"A Tale of Two Sisters" is a brilliant South Korean psychological horror that left me speechless.The film offers some delicious moments of ghastly horror and is extremely creepy.The small cast of actors is truly excellent,with lead Im Soo-jung being especially memorable in the lead role.The direction by Kim Ji-woon is well-handled and the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous.The plot is slightly confusing,but some scenes are wonderfully eerie.The action is rather slow,but I was not bored in the slightest;I was extremely curious and intrigued.The house,where the film takes place looks incredibly menacing and isolated."A Tale of Two Sisters" is along with "Ringu" and "Kairo" one of the most original Asian horror films I have ever seen.Watch this masterpiece as soon as possible.My rating:10 out of 10.