#1195: AMENÁBAR, Alejandro: The Others (2001)
AMENÁBAR, Alejandro (Spain)
The Others [2001]
The Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by Philip Horne.
Commentary
Featuring Amenábar.
Conversation
Seven Deleted Scenes
Amenábar discusses the reasons for these deletions at length in the commentary and elsewhere. He clearly is a magnificent editor, unafraid of chopping out the fat.
By Spine #
The Others [2001]
Spine #1195
Blu-ray
A remote manor; hushed, candlelit atmosphere; and shivery, supernatural menace. With his first English-language feature, Chilean Spanish writer-director-composer Alejandro Amenábar resurrected the classic gothic chiller to create a ghost story of uncommon emotional resonance. Nicole Kidman stars as a World War II–era mother whose imperiousness masks a terrifying pain, as she keeps her light-sensitive children enshrouded in darkness on her country estate. The arrival of three new servants punctures her insular world—and seems to disturb the balance between the living and the dead. With each stunning twist and turn, Amenábar immerses us more deeply in a realm haunted not only by spirits but also by guilt, trauma, and repression.
104 minutes
Dolby Atmos
Color
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2023
Dolby Atmos
Color
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2023
Director/Writer
On the heels of Amenábar’s previous film — the brilliant Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes) — the director turns his gothic-like ideas inside out and upside down, handing off the entire picture to the stupendous performance of Nicole Kidman (Grace) and two amazing kids — 9-year-old Alakina Mann (Anne) and 7-year-old James Bentley (Nicholas).
Rounding out the cast, Fionnula Flanagan (Mrs. Mills); Christopher Eccleston (Charles); Eric Sykes (Mr. Tuttle); and Elaine Cassidy (Lydia, a mute), all turn in terrific supporting performances.
This is a disturbing piece of cinema.
It is, however, such a superb work of art, with such meticulous attention to detail (DP Javier Aguirresarobe, especially) that any ruffling of our cinematic normalcy is calmed by Amenábar’s painstakingly flawless direction. (He also wrote the thing and composed the score, despite being unable to read or write music!)
Flanagan’s character sums it all up:
MRS. MILLS
“I think that sometimes, the world of the dead gets mixed up with the world of the living …”
Details:
A cello pops in when we see this image!
Eduardo Noriega — the star of Abre; and many other collaborations with the director — made an appearance on the set and dared Amenábar to put him in the film somehow.
Cleverly, Amenábar took a photograph of the actor and had someone paint him into this picture we encounter at a particularly dramatic moment!
Film Rating (0-60):
55
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by Philip Horne.
“We are frightened of the uncanny narrative logic of the film as it propels us ineluctably toward a confrontation with these hidden truths. We care for Grace; she tenderly loves the children; the children even love her. But there is something terrible and human in her that Nicole Kidman has somehow made appallingly real to herself and that Amenábar has made convincing to us, something that has driven her to commit the unthinkable acts that the film’s end leaves us contemplating in horror. The terrifying discovery — as it perhaps should be in all serious horror films — is a self-discovery.”
Commentary
Featuring Amenábar.
“In this film, I’ve tried to answer some questions. This really isn’t a film about answers — it’s a film about questions — one in which I’ve tried to invite viewers to rethink, to ask themselves some fundamental questions about life and death, but always in a way that entertains, of course.”
Conversation
Between Amenábar and film critic Pau Gómez.
Making-of program
From Studiocanal UK featuring Amenábar, actors Kidman and Eccleston, and producer Fernando Bovaira.
Making-of program
From Studiocanal UK featuring Amenábar, actors Kidman and Eccleston, and producer Fernando Bovaira.
Fabulous extra with the various POVs … they were all surprised that the film made money!
Archival programs
About the film’s production, soundtrack, and visual effects, featuring interviews and footage recorded on the set.
Archival programs
About the film’s production, soundtrack, and visual effects, featuring interviews and footage recorded on the set.
Short pieces of each aspect of the filmmaking …
Audition footage
Of actors Mann and Bentley and photography from the “Book of the Dead.”
Audition footage
Of actors Mann and Bentley and photography from the “Book of the Dead.”
Included in the “Book of the Dead” —
Carlos Núñez, Mateo Gil, and the director
Seven Deleted Scenes
Amenábar discusses the reasons for these deletions at length in the commentary and elsewhere. He clearly is a magnificent editor, unafraid of chopping out the fat.
At times Tom Cruise (producer) was insisting on certain trims and Amenábar held his ground and refused.
Trailer
Nicely cut; full of dissolves …
Trailer
Nicely cut; full of dissolves …
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