There are numerous folktales in Korean culture. Among those, there is “Jang Hwa Hong Ryun Jun”, that is focus of the two movies. The folklore is a popular story of two sisters and the evil stepmother that has been a source for many cartoons, movies, and television series. The most famous of all is a movie A Tale of Two Sisters that was released in 2003, which was extremely popular. Its twisted plots, unique sadness, beautiful scene compositions along with the perfectly matching soundtracks brought a sensation to the Korean horror film industry.
As if this popularity within Korea shed some influence in America, it was remade as The Uninvited in 2009. There was a lot of controversy regarding this movie, especially in Korea because A Tale of Two Sisters is considered as such a masterpiece. Its careful integration of Korean sentiment seemed to be very difficult to reintegrate in an American way.
Although goals of remakes are to portray the original in a different perspective, the audiences’ comparison of the remake with the original is unavoidable. One of the noticeable aspects of A Tale of Two Sisters is its scene composition. This movie is especially pleasing with its aesthetic features, having antique furniture, florid wallpapers, and perfect harmony of colors that have darkish hue. Especially, the field of reeds around the house is almost impossible to forget, emitting both serenity and eeriness. In the remake, numerous attempts to follow the scene structures are spotted. The two sisters wear flowery skirts; the house is in the country side by a lake. However, it is never close to reproducing the colors of the original; mixing vivid colors with dark ones, therefore failing to provide its desolate atmosphere with visuals.
What is interesting about the two movies is that the roles of the two main characters differ. In the Korean film, the older sister is Sumi, and the younger sister is Su Yeon. In the Hollywood version, the older sister is Alex and the younger one is Anna. Both set the younger girls as the weaker and frailer ones. However, what differs is that in the Korean version, Sumi the older sister has mental disorder, and Anna the younger sister in the American version.
Also, the portrayal of the sisterhood differs greatly. Su Yeon is portrayed as an even more fragile character than Anna, with her big puppy eyes that makes the audience to expect tears to drop off soon. Sumi is extremely protective of her sister against the stepmom, acting like her guardian. Her protectiveness presents a deeper relation between the two sisters. On the other hand, although Anna looks weaker than Alex in The Uninvited, she takes care of herself and acts up against her stepmother and father, having Alex as a more friend-like companion. The two sisters in the Korean film shed an atmosphere of motherhood of protecting her baby, making it more sympathetic.
Moving on to the ends, the movie reaches a climax. Huge turnovers make both movies, helping audiences to sort out all the tangled mysteries. This may be the only part where The Uninvited partially does a better job than its counterpart. The American version is more audience-friendly regarding its twisted plots, because it enlightens the audience at once. However, the Korean version is more difficult to figure out the convoluted story and many audiences may need to hold on to the story for a long time or even watch it again. The Uninvited is more clear-cut at the end, setting the audiences free, whereas A Tale of Two Sisters can be described as more thought provoking. However, what I love about the Korean version is that it focuses on Sumi’s guilt as the cause of her insaneness, instead of revenge, like in the American film. The detailed emotional focus brings A Tale of Two Sisters to a whole new level, compared to the complicated American horror film The Uninvited.
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