"The Others"
Mikometer Rating: 7 of 10

 

"The Others"
Mikometer Rating: 7 of 10

Well, by the looks of it, the dog days of summer have arrived, and with them this years entry into the "horror of summer" genre. I guess the Hallowe'en season is off limits to serious moviemakers these days. Probably way too many Scream movies, not to mention Friday the 13th quickies that maybe releasing your horror film in October denies it any credibility as a serious cinema. The trend began two years ago with "The Sixth Sense", the remake of "The Haunting" and "The Blair Witch Project." This year, hopefully to wash away the bad taste of "Scary Movie 2" (didn't see it, but I caught the original on HBO, and had walked out on the theater showing, I found nothing original nor laughable, only deplorable) from the palate of the unsuspecting theatergoer, a Spanish director named Alejandro Amenabar has released a true horror movie, in the haunted house genre, that is at once an original yet also highly reminiscent, in the best way, of movies and books past.
"The Others" is set on one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Britain in 1945, and the atmosphere evokes the 40's. The movie is a period piece, and is skillfully directed with a slow and deliberate hand as if it were made during that period, without the quick cutting, cheap surprises or digital imagery which seem to permeate so many movies today. The mood of "The Others" is foggy and uncertain, claustrophobic and otherworldly, and this menacing foreboding grasps the viewer from the very first scene, and doesn't let up. This is a film where atmosphere is one of the most important things in the script, and, like DuMaurier's Manderley, the house in which Grace and her two children live, is a major cast member, and the film holds our interest because the atmosphere is so foggy and dank that we don't know what is around the next corner. We, like Grace and her children, are trapped on the island.
Certain "ghost stories" in the movies seem to be "crafted" out of elements designed to "shock" the audience. In my opinion, Roger Zemeckis, while being a gifted storyteller, missed the horror boat with "What Lies Beneath". It seemed full or artifice and forced mood. In "The Others" we are under a sense of dread from the beginning, and this dread comes not only from the atmosphere, and the large English house, but from the actions of the main character, Grace, in that house. The first shot in the movie is of Nicloe Kidman, in an oscar worthy performance, as Grace, in bed, screaming as she wakes.
We do not know what has gone before, or why she screamed. That uncertainty will follow us, as Grace meets her day.
She is alone with her two childere in the house, her husband has been away at war, and hasn't come home even though the war is over. Most people left the island when it was occupied during the war by the Germans. The only place we are introduced to is the house, enshrouded by fog. Three characters, who look as though they were picked fromthe pages of a Dickens novel, knock at the front door. They are Mrs. Mills and two other servants, who have come looking for work, since Grace's servants unbelieveably disappeared some time back. Grace is very controlling of her children, reading to them from the Bible, and making sure each room in the house is dark, lit only by candlelight, becuase the children have a condition which makes them allergic to light. Mrs. Mills hires on, and Grace tries to maintain the house even while she comes slowly to believe it is haunted.
The plot is very good in this movie, and the deliberateness of the proceedings only serves to increase the dread. This is a movie with some twists and turns, and for me was very satisfying. Although I did "guess" some plot elements ahead of time, I don't think the movie is too predictable, and even gave the audience with me one good "gotcha" scare.
This is not a "big summer movie" and will undoubtedly drop from sight in a few weeks.
When everybody seems to be going to Scary Movie 2 and American Pie 2 and Rush Hour 2 and anything else easily digested and thrown away, films like Amenabar's often get lost in the summer trash heap. I am constantly amazed that so many good films aren't popular. But art isn't a popularity contest, even though the media would have you believe it is. The numbers aren't high for "The Others" because it won't appeal to everybody right out the gate. Hopefully enough people might see it because Kidman't performance is being touted. She didn't really "act" in Moulin Rouge, and as much as I enjoyed the film, it certainly wasn't an actor's film. Nicole is eye candy like everything else. She has two good scenes in "Eyes Wide Shut" but is shut out of most of that movies near three hour length by scenes of Tom walking around. "The Others" is a film, like "To Die For" or "Dead Calm" which showcases her power.
Early on in the film, Grace demonstrates that the door into any room in which you enter in the house has to be locked, before the other door is opened. The claustrophobia and sense of the character's sense of organization is keenly felt. The character is trying to keep her demons out of sight. She needs her little world locked up and safe. We do not know what she needs to be safe from. Even Mrs. Mills, who seems so grandmotherly and accomodating at first, begins to give clues that something "other" than what we think we understand is going on.
Acting, atmosphere, creepiness, set design, all top notch.
There are no computer animated ghosts, nor computer animated shots of their presence. The children are just creepy enough. The little girl reminds me somewhat of Drew Barrymore as a child. By far not the best film of the year, but a worthy afternoon or evening at the movies. It's a good thing films on this scope and size are still being made, and can be made with a star of Kidman't caliber. Tom Cruise's production company is involved, so it might have been Kidman's project. She is delightfully edgy as a woman who might be seeing the first signs of tears in her sanity, yet is trying not to let the seams show.
I thought this was a remake of "The Innocents", the movie version of Henry James "The Turn of the Screw" when I first saw the previews, and it does have that kind of credentials. "The Sixth Sense" was stylish. One of my friends even liked "The Others" better than "Sixth Sense". While I don't agree, I do think "The Others" is a stylish horror film, and I call it POSSIBLE PLOT POINT ALERT: "A Ghost Story in Reverse." The screenplay, also by the director, is first rate. I'm recommending this one before it goes away.

Mikometer Rating: 7 of 10

'The Others' PG-13
Nicole Kidman: Grace
Fionnula Flanagan: Mrs. Mills
Christopher Eccleston: Charles
Alakina Mann: Anne
James Bentley: Nicholas
Eric Sykes: Mr. Tuttle
Elaine Cassidy: Lydia

Dimension Films presents a Cruise-Wagner Productions/Sogecine/Las Producciones del Escorpion production, released by Dimension Films. Director Alejandro Amenabar. Producers Fernando Bovaira, Jose Luis Cuerda, Sunmin Park. Executive producers Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Rick Schwartz. Screenplay by Alejandro Amenabar. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe. Costume designer Sonia Grande. Music Alejandro Amenabar. Production designer Benjamin Fernandez. Set decorator Emilio Ardura. Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes.

Review written and copyrighted 2001 by Michael F. Nyiri