Hansel and Gretel screens at the ICA from 16 January, and moves to the Prince Charles on 30 January, before getting a selected nationwide release. It made an appearance at the BFI London Film Festival 2008, so if you missed it then, now’s your chance to see it.
Following a car crash on a country road, Eun-soo (Chun Jeong-myeong) awakens to find himself lost in a thick forest, where Young-hee (Shim Eun-kyoung) a girl in a red cloak and carrying a lantern, beckons him to follow her. She leads him to a picturesque house situated deep in the forest, where he meets her postcard perfect family.
The house is a wonder of bright colours, kitsch décor, toys and confectionary but lacks a working telephone and a mobile network signal. After gratefully accepting the family’s hospitality for the night, the next morning Eun-soo sets off to find his car but once again becomes lost in the forest, inevitably finding himself back at the house, where he is forced to spend a second night.
Come daybreak, Eun-soo finds a note from the parents informing him they have left on urgent business and requesting that he look after the children for a couple of days. This is merely the beginning of a week-long nightmare during which Eun-soo gradually learns the truth about the strange children in his care, and the existence of a hand drawn story book that seems to predict his own future…
A dark and gripping modern age fairy tale for adults, HANSEL AND GRETEL is also a feast for the eyes, boasting sumptuous production design by Ryu Seong-hee (The Host; Oldboy) and outstanding cinematography by Kim Ji-yong (Forbidden Quest; A Bittersweet Life).
Links:
- Reviews at Twitch and Beyond Hollywood