I was astonished to find that I had first intended to watch this film two Octobers ago, having taken it on holiday to Scotland with me with the aim of watching it on my laptop. I remember taking it with me along with a small stack of other DVDs and being so overwhelmed by the experience of watching Twilight (I don’t necessarily mean that in a good way) that I didn’t get around to any of the other films but concentrated on books instead.
But this year Carl cleverly included a movie watching peril for his RIP VI challenge and I created myself a little list, of which this and The Nightmare Before Christmas (which I won’t review because I watch it at least once every year) were the only ones I got around to watching; go figure.
As this is a psychological creepy film I am going to try very hard to talk about it without giving away any spoilers; this may be difficult but I will do my best.
So The Others has Nicole Kidman apparently abandoned by her staff in her stately home on an island previously occupied during the Second World War, waiting with her two young children for her husband to return from the fighting. Three mysterious new servants turn up and we begin to see how odd the household actually is – the children are apparently incredibly sensitive to light and so doors are kept locked and unlocked as people move through the house and the curtains kept drawn and windows shuttered to protect them from the outside world.
And that’s when all the strange occurrences begin. Noises. Presences. You get the picture.
This is a really effective and atmospheric chiller. The sense of isolation is constantly reinforced by the fog which occasionally surrounds the house, and the small community goes through its daily routine without any visits from the outside world. Well, not many anyway.
I was very impressed with the performances, especially from Nicole Kidman who is an actress I can take or leave; when she’s good she’s brilliant (as here) but I’ve often been underwhelmed by her choice of projects. The two children are very good indeed, and it’s always lovely to see Eric Sykes on good form. But my favourite has to be Fionnula Flanagan who is simply wonderful as the housekeeper who knows more than she is willing to share.
I’ll have to confess that I knew the outcome of the story in advance (it is a film that has been kicking around for quite a while after all) and as with Fight Club it’s difficult to now what I might have thought of the film without this background. But I didn’t know exactly how it was all going to work out, and there was still a huge amount to enjoy, so still a great experience.
This is a film I know I will go back to in future. A good watch for RIP.
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November 13, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Kathy
I really liked this movie, and unlike you, I didn’t know the outcome before I watched it. Here is how it affected me: I thought the movie was scary and creepy until the truth was revealed. Then, in retrospect, it wasn’t scary anymore; it was just sad.
November 13, 2011 at 8:43 pm
brideofthebookgod
Yes, sad is absolutely right, I agree.
And I knew the what about the end but not the how or why so there was still a lot to find out.
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November 29, 2011 at 8:09 am
The Awakening « Bride of the Screen God
[...] would make a good companion piece to The Others which I saw for the first time recently, possibly too much of a sense of foreboding in both to make [...]
January 5, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Carl V.
This is, by far, one of my favorite “horror” films. I much prefer a film filled with atmosphere and quiet darkness and The Others delivers that so well. We watched it again for RIP this year and despite several viewings it never fails to elicit chills in all the right places. It was beautifully shot, superbly acted and it works so well. I’m only sad there aren’t more films like this.