Koch Media Blu-ray:
I re-watched this amazing film debut on a German Blu-ray
appr. one year after having seen it for the 1st time, and
i was eager to know if the film did hold up for a 2nd viewing? The
answer is YES and it was even better the 2nd
time, when you could concentrate on the images, the music and the
mystical and secretive world of the twins.
But DO NOTE: This film is an Art Thriller,
you have to really appreciate the visual qualities of this film, the
dream-
like images, the great soundtrack and the enigmatic world of the twins
to rate is as high as i do.
Somehow this film reached me and went straight into my subconscious.
Kids are often scary on film and twin kids even more
so, as there's a strange aura about them, a strange connection
unfathomable for most people that bonds them . The Schwartz brothers
are fantastic and the atmosphere of this film is
absolutely amazing, dreamlike. A dream yes, but more like a dream
turning into a nightmare, a nightmare from which
you can't wake up or alter in any way, you have to view/dream it all
through to the end.
Mysterious, beautiful, dreamlike and disturbing psychological
horror-thriller. Ridiculously talented work from the
creative duo of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. How can they match
this in the future?
Mother?
As i wrote when watching this film on the US DVD (see
below) ..."You get an intense feeling of isolation watching
this film, and i can't forget a strange scene from a sunny summer
day, dreamlike, a seemingly deserted country town
with only a singing, maybe drunken, accordion player walking in the
street, away from the camera".
Stylized isolation, dreamlike images, the secret world of the children
and the horror makes this film an unforgettable
film viewing experience .... for me that is. Ich Seh, Ich Seh is the
best art horror-thriller i've seen for many years.
The filming location seems to be Waldkirchen ? You
can see the sign when the boys are roaming around, and the
modern villa is situated near Waldkirchen states the mother's for
sale ad (seen on the computer), and Waldkirchen
is a German Bavarian town close to the Austrian border.
Anamorphic widescreen 2.39:1, german audio DTS-HD
MA 5.1 with english subs. Extra: Original trailer, interview
with filmmakers 13 min in german without subs (same interview as on
the US DVD), deleted scenes 8 minutes and
a short casting featurette with the Schwarz twins
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US DVD:
A Desolate Austrian country scene, a modern villa,
a forest, fields, a lake and 2 identical looking boys about 10-11
years old. They're twins and they're exploring their surroundings
as if it were parts of some fairy tale .... a magical
world AND they're always together - Lukas and Elias - Elias and Lukas.
The austrian countryside in summer is gorgeously photographed by Martin
Gschlacht, haunting images and let's not
forget the atmospheric soundtrack from Klaus Kellerman with some added
tunes from Schubert and Brahms.
They're living with their mother in a elegant villa,
but she's mostly in her room sulking so the boys are left on their
own. She's been through some operation and has got her face hidden
by bandages and don't seem to feel well at
all as she's behaves a bit harsh and grumpy towards the boys. Elias
and Lukas don't seem too pleased with their
mothers attitude, why's she like this ?
Right from the beginning, yes, already when the boys are moving through
the woods, we get the feeling that some-
thing bad has happened to the family. Marie-Christine Mettier (Susanne
Wuest), the mother, seems to have been
working in television before ... before something happened. Was it
an accident of some sort ?
Also, there's been a separation and maybe one explanation
to this woman's sadness could be that she's now
divorced and feels alone. We never get the full story on this, on
what has happened.
She needs rest and don't want to meet anyone and she mostly nests
in her room, leaving the boys free to roam
around as they want to. The Mystery of the Boys, well, that's not
a mystery really and quite clearly don't meant
to be either by the filmmakers. Most of us have seen A Tale of Two
Sisters by Kim Je-Woon i guess.
The Mystery is instead something the boys have to decide the answer
to.
That unhappy and cold woman. The Boys want their old
mother back and who's that woman hiding under
the bandages ? Who is she and why is she there ? And now the goings
get nasty.

Elias and Lukas - or is it Lukas and Elias ?
This is a GREAT psychological horror-thriller with
an artmovie sensitivity and with some disturbing scenes.
The Kids were amazing and they're real life twins also naturally and
played by Lukas and Elias Schwartz.
Beautiful but at the same time sad "lonesome" images of
the 2 brothers in the fields outside and in the
quiet house filled with sadness, an Eden lost. You get an intense
feeling of isolation watching this film, and
i can't forget a strange scene from a sunny summer day, dreamlike,
a seemingly deserted country town
with only a singing, maybe drunken, accordion player walking in the
street, away from the camera.
It will surely be interesting to see the future efforts
from filmmaker duo Veronika Franz and Severin
Fiala, and they give a sympathetic impression in the interview and
seems to be genuine cult/horror film lovers
anamorphic widescreen 2.39:1, german 5.1 with english subs. Extra:
a 13 minute interview with the
directors in german with english subs and 2 trailers for other films
incl. When Animals Dream (the much
talked about danish horror drama Når dyrene drömmer ....
a very good film that one too)