Fun The Uninvited (4 Inyong shiktak) "A Table for Four" re-visit; re-think; re-spond
- Thread starter sitenoise
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plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
I've started the first few minutes then took a break because it was a bit of erm, I'm not sure how to put this, it wasn't as engaging. I decided to finish it once you guys started giving feelers so now I guess this is the feelers I was asking, I'm gonna finish it. I'm glad Jun Ji Hyun isn't overacting here.
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
I started watching Memoir of a Murderer just this morning and I'm loving it.
clayton-12
Member: Rank 4
I think I've recovered enough to have a crack at it
divemaster13
Member: Rank 4
I've been sick all week and just now saw the schedule for this. I'll see what I can do.
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
Hope you feel better now. Get well soon.
clayton-12
Member: Rank 4
OK ... initial off-the-cuff thought - it was a way stronger film in the second half, or after the first quarter when it abandoned the pretence of being a generic ghost story.
Did the girls on the train, and for that matter, the suggestion of Jung-won's shamanic/spiritual/supernatural powers really serve any higher purpose than as a plot device to get him together with Jeong-yun?
Did the girls on the train, and for that matter, the suggestion of Jung-won's shamanic/spiritual/supernatural powers really serve any higher purpose than as a plot device to get him together with Jeong-yun?
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
I agree with you on this. I mentioned on my previous post how I found the first minutes uninteresting but the second half was really strong I was eager to watch it until the end.
I don't think so. I think it was what it was..the plot device. Have you finished the movie? I thought they were siblings (ha! Really the siblings angle in every story seems to stalk us) but...
[Edit] Okay I'll stop there in case you haven't finished it yet.
sitenoise
Member: Rank 5
Hmm. I'm not sure about Jung-won's powers. Were they only evidenced by the fact that he could see the two girls? Now, them ... yeah, they didn't have anything to do with the story. Did they?
This is a typically complex Korean tentacled story. A slow burner, too. I didn't remember Jung-won being such a crybaby. I'm going to give that props, though. Better than the manly man who gets angry until he figures things out. My only wince of bad acting was Gianna' scene on her kitchen floor saying "You asked me to tell you. blah blah". That was out of place to the rest of the film's pace and intensity. Other than that, no complaints.
My burning question(s):
Who was the woman Gianna saw falling upside down past her window? And when? Why didn't the director show Jung-won and Gianna make similar eye contact when it was her turn?
How many kids actually got tossed off the balcony? And who actually tossed them?
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the awesome kills in the film. Geez Louise. I had also forgotten those. The dying kitty on the street. Oh man. The kid and the dump truck. How did they do that? And what's her face after the trial. That was right up there with the scene from Pulse (Kairo) where the kid falls off the power tower.
sitenoise
Member: Rank 5
I enjoy Korean commentaries on religion (Secret Sunshine, The Wailing, to name a couple). I loved Hee-eun's story about the people praying for rain, and then no one brings an umbrella. Boo Ya! And her observation that people don't go back into the church when it starts raining on them. Not sure what that one means, but it seems powerful.
sitenoise
Member: Rank 5
I was restless at the beginning, as well. but ultimately I appreciated it. Often film makers will start with the climax to get your attention and then backtrack to show what led to it. Dream Home (Wai dor lei ah yut ho) [2010] • Hong Kong is a good example. That seems like cheating to me.
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
I really struggle with Korean, Japanese, Chinese names so I'll label them with the names that's registered in my brain. I know the leads to be Park Shin-Yang and Jun Ji-Hyun.
Only one kid got tossed off the balcony. As to who did...the movie told us it was the friend. But I like going unlikely routes so I'm still formulating my own story that it was JJH all the while...........
I have a counter theory/question to that. Weren't the two girls on the subway the same toddler girls that were supposedly children of Moon (the defendant-friend) and JJHs?
The woman Gianna saw falling upside down was the talkative woman she bumped into while reading the elevator..the one carrying the cat.
Only one kid got tossed off the balcony. As to who did...the movie told us it was the friend. But I like going unlikely routes so I'm still formulating my own story that it was JJH all the while...........
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
And here are mine:
1) Was Jun Ji-hyun the mother of the two girls who died on the subway?
2) The husband’s mysterious story. What was he exactly? Was he trying to protect his wife and why was the wife keen to leave him? I know she said he doubted her but seems like the husband had some fishy something because of that call he got from the witness. This is where I got really confused: The witness calls to extort. Husband declines but bumps the car to show he was pondering on it. Cut to next scene, the court trial. Witness says he helped JJH with her bags and assisted to the lift then saw her screaming upon seeing Moon (the defendant-friend) holding the baby on the terrace. If the witness’ testimony is that, then it worked to the wife’s favor. But I see no other reason for why he would attempt to extort from the husband if what he saw was something else, something that will indict the wife. I was getting the impression it was JJH who dropped the baby, and the witness testified otherwise because the husband gave in to the extortion.
3) Pardon me as you know I only watch from legitimate sources so there must be some problems in the subs I got but who died in the fire? It was shown that the sister died of suffocation, but there was a scene when his adoptive sister told him, “He died” and Park Shin yang asked “on the fire???” and she answered, “I don’t know” and he then made an uncomfortable, questioning look. Who was she referring to that died??
1) Was Jun Ji-hyun the mother of the two girls who died on the subway?
2) The husband’s mysterious story. What was he exactly? Was he trying to protect his wife and why was the wife keen to leave him? I know she said he doubted her but seems like the husband had some fishy something because of that call he got from the witness. This is where I got really confused: The witness calls to extort. Husband declines but bumps the car to show he was pondering on it. Cut to next scene, the court trial. Witness says he helped JJH with her bags and assisted to the lift then saw her screaming upon seeing Moon (the defendant-friend) holding the baby on the terrace. If the witness’ testimony is that, then it worked to the wife’s favor. But I see no other reason for why he would attempt to extort from the husband if what he saw was something else, something that will indict the wife. I was getting the impression it was JJH who dropped the baby, and the witness testified otherwise because the husband gave in to the extortion.
3) Pardon me as you know I only watch from legitimate sources so there must be some problems in the subs I got but who died in the fire? It was shown that the sister died of suffocation, but there was a scene when his adoptive sister told him, “He died” and Park Shin yang asked “on the fire???” and she answered, “I don’t know” and he then made an uncomfortable, questioning look. Who was she referring to that died??
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
I loved them too! A big whoopsie to the so-called faithful. I know what the latter means, I can write a million words about it. Its about people, when faced with rain (metaphor for problems) seems to forget that there's a church they can always go back to (when in fact just a matter of moments ago they were right there, down on their knees praying). Its like when their world starts to crumble, they forget to turn to a place that can give them shelter.
sitenoise
Member: Rank 5
Hmm. I think it's only that Korean thing of giving you enough to invent such a theory. Which is cool, but I think this one is unlikely. The subway kids were at least a couple/few years older than the toddlers. That timeline could be possible. I dunno.
I don't think so. She saw them at crybaby's table and referred to them as "your children".
Okay, but what does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Why did that woman jump? What does she have to do with the story, except to initiate later discussions on whether or not it's possible to make eye contact in such a case?
I'm leaning towards one kid. But we clearly saw two kids hanging out. And we definitely saw Gianna standing on the balcony in one shot. Again, that seems like a Korean thing, like in Spider Forest where one girl becomes another. I don't know which way to go on this one. What would be the story enhancement to go either way?
I thought the church girl was talking about Gianna's baby being "accidentally" dropped from a balcony. Crybaby randomly selected "fire" as a possible accident, I think (because of his past). Church girl referred to the baby as "He" but that might be the only time a gender pronoun was used on it. This rubs against your theory of Gianna being the mom of the two "girls". But this is getting confusing now. Maybe it's like the Chinese thing of everyone being a "He".
Ahh ... thanks for that. Very nice.people, when faced with rain (metaphor for problems) seems to forget that there's a church they can always go back to (when in fact just a matter of moments ago they were right there, down on their knees praying). Its like when their world starts to crumble, they forget to turn to a place that can give them shelter.
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
Correct. I also thought it was far-fetched but I wanted to put significance to why is it always two children. But yeah, the timeline doesn't fit.
Yeah, correct again. Theory debunked.
This is one aspect I'd really want to ponder on. All this time I thought her significance was that it was JJHs first "witnessing of death". Like her baptism to the world of the crazy. But I believe there is something more to it...ugh, I hate it. I want to go over the streaming site again but its so hard when our internet speed here is as fast as my brain (read: slow).
Yeah, that shot of Gianna standing on the balcony. I knew it, she was the culprit! That's why the defendant-friend committed suicide. And the witness extortion! The story fits.
Wasn't church girl/adoptive sister referring to Park Shin-yang's biological dad? If that would be it, she was acknowledging that PSH was indeed adopted. As opposed to the father who stood by his story that PSH is his real son.
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
Guys, don't you think the husband is a character worth studying? He deserves a spin-off. lol. He has his own story. Don't brush him aside. He's as significant as the leads.
clayton-12
Member: Rank 4
I thought both babies were tossed off the balcony by the friend Moon Jeong-sook. She had already dropped one when Jun Ji-hyun came in to see her dangling the second one over the railing.
His wife has to leave because she knows nothing can ever, ever put things right, that whether he knows it or not, their relationship is doomed forevermore. She was the one who used her power to unlock her friend's memory, and it was those memories that drove her friend to kill the babies - nothing will ever take away the burden of guilt that the wife carries for what has happened.
The husband, on the other hand, still loves his wife. He doesn't know the dark secret she carries, he doesn't have a sense of the guilt that she does carry. There's a question mark over his wife's mental health, but the witness can testify that she was not present when the tragedy occurred. The witness doesn't particularly want to get involved in such a sordid case, but if he has to, he wants something in return, and the husband is desperate that the witness takes the time to show up and tell the truth. (I don't think the witness' testimony is false - the scene of him helping with the bags had already been played prior to him giving evidence.)
I think so too - in fact, I think that, unlike Spider Forest the whole film had quite a straightforward narrative.
But if the dead girls on the train is just a plot device to bring together the two central characters, it's quite a clunky mechanism. Particularly compared with the absolutely chilling economy with which the backstory of Moon Jeong-sook is told.
clayton-12
Member: Rank 4
Pretty much so. There was a couple of other direct but very brief references - Jun Ji-hyun mentions that he's one of three people, including herself, that she knows to possess these powers, and there's something about some significance of the five concentric circles Jung-won draws as a child ... it seemed to me that the biological father may have been upset by these when he was beating Jung-won, in the house that seemed to be heavily adorned with Eastern religious iconography.
plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
I think I missed this part.