intelligent movie-making

Rating: 10/10 (5 April 2002)

The Others made me shiver. Indeed it was the old-fashioned fear that hides in every corner of a 19th century mansion surrounded by fog and such tension it's almost touchable. The Others could happen in any place or time but director Alejandro Amenabar has chosen the post WW II period to be the set of his two hour traffic. Grace(Nicole Kidman), a mother-of-two lives in rare conditions: her offspring has a disease which keeps them inside the house, curtains closed. The story begins to open after her new household helpers arrive. It is amazing how such little can sometimes turn out to be the best. Amenabar plays with our smallest fears which tend to get more frightening our minds twisting them. Everything in this movie is ment to be.
The cast is troughoutly talented and wonderful. N. Kidman does another great part in a year which in it's diversity to Moulin Rouges Satine shows her changing capability. Grace does have the air of coolness surrounding her appearance and reminds Kidman's previous screen personas but this time it actually has a positive effect. The children, Alakina Mann and James Bentley, do have both innocense and confidence in their performances.
The story is calmly revealed bit by bit but it manages to keep the viewer focused. Amenabar's directing is one hundred procent quality: He does not offer answers on a plate and visions and the story based on the 40's subtle atmospehere surprises -literally.