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The Others Main Cast:
Director: Alejandro Amenàbar Rating: 4 Stars - recommended. Plot Summary: It’s 1945 on Jersey Island and Grace (Nicole Kidman) is living in an isolated mansion with her two children Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicolas (James Bentley). Grace’s husband has gone to fight the Germans and is missing in action. The children suffer from a rare disease and have extreme reactions to sunlight. To prevent the children from being exposed to sunlight Grace keeps the curtains closed and has a rule that when going from room to room the next door can only be opened when the last door has been locked. Grace and the children are practically imprisoned in their own home. When three servants arrive at her door one-day looking for work they are hired but then Grace starts hearing strange noises in the house. Are the children playing tricks or has it something to do with the arrival of the new servants or could it be something more sinister… Review: The Others is an old fashioned ghost story with no special effects or monsters but plenty of atmosphere, tension and suspense. First, the scene and atmosphere are set. Grace moves through the house with a dimly lit oil lamp and a big bunch of keys as she opens and locks each door behind her. The dim light and dark corners of the house create a creepy atmosphere. The huge old house is shrouded in a dense fog that also adds to the creepy mood. Then the suspense is built up slowly. Perhaps the build up is a little slow in places. Strange noises are heard in the house and Anne tells her mother that she has seen strange people in the house. There is very little action in this film but the sound, look and mood of the film compensate for this. There are frights that will make you jump but not as many as there should have been. I heard a few complaints that the ending to the story was obvious but I have to admit that I didn’t know what was going to happen. There are also a lot of religious and biblical references in the film especially in relation to what becomes of us in the “afterlife”. Nicole Kidman is excellent in this film. She makes you feel as if we should be afraid because she herself looks terrified at times. She also looks genuinely like a woman who is about to snap but who is able to keep it together for the sake of the children. The children are very good. Alakina Mann plays Anne the elder of the two. She is braver and more confident than her young brother Nicolas (James Bentley). Nicolas has a fantastic genuinely worried expression on his face for most of the film! Usually for very good reason! Mrs. Mills, one of the servants, is performed well by Fionnula Flanagan. She is quite "motherly" looking but at the same time knows more about the house than she is perpared to tell! Lasting thought: This thought is inspired by Grace’s young daughter Anne who is at the age where she is questioning everything. She asks her mother “in a war how do you know who the baddies are?” Reviewed by Niall Quinn, PremierMovieReviews 2001 |