Cello
Cello
| 25 July 2006 (USA)
Cello Trailers

A cellist is haunted by strange events after a car wreck.

Reviews
Hellen

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Sexylocher

Masterful Movie

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ChicRawIdol

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

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Haven Kaycee

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

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Derek Childs (totalovrdose)

Motivation - this is one notion I kept thinking about after the film's completion: what were the creator's motivations behind the development of this movie, while at the same time, what was motivating Mi-ju (Hyeon-a Seong), the lead character, the directionality of her decisions been difficult to fathom, although I, at the same time, could postulate my own personal speculations. The film however never openly reveals 'she is doing this because...', leaving much room for an audience to contemplate.By the end, Cello feels like a movie we have seen before, combining themes and ideas present in films like Wishing Stairs and Sometimes They Come Back, along with an assortment of unique and stereotypical genre tropes. The scares that are present are less of the 'jump' variety, and more of the 'gasp', the film never officially terrifying its audience. At the same time though, Cello is depressingly disturbing, not so much in its ambiance, but in its content, possessing a similarity to a Greek Tragedy.The films begins with Mi-ju in a bloodied state in hospital. We can assume she has recently experienced a traumatic car crash from the indicative blurb, though, can we be sure? Cello is a lot like a compass. If 'north' led towards the most logical and cognitive plot, then Cello points everywhere else for the majority of the feature, causing the viewer to think deeply about what is happening, the answers that are slowly provided occasionally having the rug pulled out from under them, forcing the audience to again wonder what is happening. In this sense, the narrative progression of the feature cannot entirely be trusted, which acts as an intellectual stimulus.After experiencing something horrific, which is slowly revealed over the course of the story, Mi-ju now works as a Cello instructor. In her spare time, she connects with her family: her husband Jun-ki (Ho-bin Jeong), her autistic daughter Yoon-jin (Ji-eun Choi), her youngest daughter Yoon-hye (Ji-hye Jin), and her sister in law Kyeong-ran (Bit-na Wang). Not long into the movie, Mi-ju buys Yoon-jin a cello which she fancies while at the shops, and her husband hires Ji-sook, a silent and mysterious housekeeper.It initially proves difficult to decipher what of the many changes in Mi-ju's life is the catalyst that eventually leads to a malevolent presence invading her life, and that of her family. However, if she doesn't figure out what is happening, and soon, she may not have any family left. A story of love, family, jealousy, betrayal and revenge, Cello is a film that shows behind every smile is a past, as haunting as it is unforgettable, and though we might be able to leave our past behind, sometimes, it doesn't want to leave us.

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p-stepien

Cello instructor and would-be music professor Hong Mi-ju (Hyeon-a Seong) entrapped within unresolved past issues becomes haunted by an unnamed ghost, which has clear bad intentions and will stop at nothing to enact revenge for an unnamed wrong. Pretty standard Asian ghost theme? You betcha."Cello" is so deeply in tune with the Asian ghost film phenomenon that it starts eating its own toes within the first few scenes. However repetitive the story a proper execution would at least keep up interest in the unfolding story, even if surprises are few and far between. Hyeon-a Seong gives off a terrible performance painstakingly imitating emotions with the utmost failure being that of fear. Supporting cast further dilute the story with some laughable reactions, which make 1980s slasher movies look almost Oscar worthy. Scare factor is severely diluted not only down to performances, but also thanks to the unwaning deja vu attacks. Held together by a slow meandering plot which lacks both compassion or tension with frights signalized by overtly noisy and predictable music / sounds reaching the finale is an arduous task. Once there the story does offer some respite to those, who traversed the journey with a nicely tied in twist conclusion, notwithstanding the irksome humdrum leading to the point.

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LCShackley

I used to teach music theory. I flunked a student one time and his mother went ballistic, sending slanderous letters about me to the dean, the president, and eventually even the board of the school. Well, let me just say that her treatment of me was mild in comparison to what happens to the teacher in THIS trashy horror flick.Well, at least that's what we're led to believe at the beginning. The offended student is getting revenge on her snooty teacher. But then other weird things start happening. We see the same scenes repeated, but with different characters and outcomes. We have odd supernatural sounds and horrific nightmares. We have a bizarre mute housekeeper who creeps everyone out, but who stays because the husband feels sorry for her. (Would you keep a housekeeper who had "swallowed acid" if you had two young girls in the house?) There are deaths (including two animals and a small child), suicides, and an autistic child who loves the cello.This film can't seem to decide what it's really about. Mental illness? Revenge? Self- punishment? Competition in the world of music? It's just a bunch of random plot elements hung together on a cello string. It's one thing to have surprises in a movie; it's another thing to be misled by an idiotic script. And it's got an ending that's a weird combination of GROUNDHOG DAY and CARRIE.My most profound memory from this movie is: "Wow, Korea has the CLEANEST parking garage floors in the universe." I'm already forgetting the rest.

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fulcigore

I am not really a fan of Asian horror cinema, most likely because my first impressions of the genre came from boring remakes like The Ring. I picked up Cello on sale at Wal-Mart (!) of all places, because the cover caught my eye.Cello was a good horror movie with some quality chills and good direction. The story starts with a music teacher at a school who obviously plays a cello. She has difficulty with a certain student, who is a pretty important figure story wise. The plot really gets going when we are shown a pretty intense car wreck. From there many crazy things happen to build the story and make a good horror flick. Of course there are several staples of Asian horror such as creepy little girls etc.The movie has some real gritty tension between two competitive characters and some good twists to keep the viewers interested. The acting is pretty top notch and the film looks good in terms of picture quality and the sound mix is good.If you enjoy Asian horror movies and good creepy stories, check out this Korean import.

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