The Woman in Black - Review
Posted by Andrea Lake on Thursday, March 1, 2012
Under: Ghosts
Wow!
It's not often that words fail me, but I'm going to try to do justice to this film, somehow!
Daniel Radcliffe plays a widowed lawyer who has been engaged to sell a house and he has been told that he has to complete all the paperwork in respect of that house. He travels to a lonely village where he is most definitely persona non grata and the locals try to persuade him to leave. Having been given the "don't fail speech" off his employer, Arthur Kipps resolves to do the job properly and visits the estate to be sold.
This film, set in the late 1800s to early 1900s, has a very tense, emotional feel. The title character, the woman in black, had a baby out of wedlock (one assumes) which was adopted by her sister and brother in law, brought up as their own child. Tragedy besets the child at age 7 when he is travelling by horse and cart and an accident occurs, ensuring the boy is lost to the marshlands. The woman in black promises to "never forgive"; and an endless cycle of pain and suffering begins for the villagers as the woman, Jennet, encourages the children to kill themselves because she is unable to find her own son. One by one, as years go by, she steals the lives of child after child.
Probably the most emotionally challenging part of the film is when you realise that these children are essentially forced to commit suicide and are not in full control of their actions. With the nanny and his child en route from London, Arthur tries to make amends for Jennet's loss, enlisting a local to help him dredge the marsh and he does succeed in finding the body of the lost child. The local man, Sam, has a wife called Elizabeth who appears to have mental health problems, but it becomes apparent that she is in fact channelling the spirits of the dead children. The woman in black is not alone in the haunted house, the villagers' children are also constant watchers.
You will have to see the film yourself to find out whether or not Daniel Radcliffe succeeds in stopping the malevolent ghost from her killing spree, but I heartily recommend this film. The tension had me jumping out of my seat on several occasions, and the bleak landscape contributed greatly to the dark nature of the film.
If you're wanting to see Harry Potter, I suggest you watch one of those films instead - there was no sign of him here! However, I would suggest Daniel Radcliffe steers clear of trains on his next film. :)
It's not often that words fail me, but I'm going to try to do justice to this film, somehow!
Daniel Radcliffe plays a widowed lawyer who has been engaged to sell a house and he has been told that he has to complete all the paperwork in respect of that house. He travels to a lonely village where he is most definitely persona non grata and the locals try to persuade him to leave. Having been given the "don't fail speech" off his employer, Arthur Kipps resolves to do the job properly and visits the estate to be sold.
This film, set in the late 1800s to early 1900s, has a very tense, emotional feel. The title character, the woman in black, had a baby out of wedlock (one assumes) which was adopted by her sister and brother in law, brought up as their own child. Tragedy besets the child at age 7 when he is travelling by horse and cart and an accident occurs, ensuring the boy is lost to the marshlands. The woman in black promises to "never forgive"; and an endless cycle of pain and suffering begins for the villagers as the woman, Jennet, encourages the children to kill themselves because she is unable to find her own son. One by one, as years go by, she steals the lives of child after child.
Probably the most emotionally challenging part of the film is when you realise that these children are essentially forced to commit suicide and are not in full control of their actions. With the nanny and his child en route from London, Arthur tries to make amends for Jennet's loss, enlisting a local to help him dredge the marsh and he does succeed in finding the body of the lost child. The local man, Sam, has a wife called Elizabeth who appears to have mental health problems, but it becomes apparent that she is in fact channelling the spirits of the dead children. The woman in black is not alone in the haunted house, the villagers' children are also constant watchers.
You will have to see the film yourself to find out whether or not Daniel Radcliffe succeeds in stopping the malevolent ghost from her killing spree, but I heartily recommend this film. The tension had me jumping out of my seat on several occasions, and the bleak landscape contributed greatly to the dark nature of the film.
If you're wanting to see Harry Potter, I suggest you watch one of those films instead - there was no sign of him here! However, I would suggest Daniel Radcliffe steers clear of trains on his next film. :)
In : Ghosts