Bimil (aka Secret Tears, aka The Secret) (2000)

[Mandi Apple]

While I'm currently on a Park Ki-hyung kick, has anyone seen his earlier horror-genre movie Bimil (aka Secret Tears)? I seem to recall pdn having mentioned it before

http://imdb.com/title/tt0268996/
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movie...ml?v_id=230182
http://www.seoulselection.com/shoppi...w.html?pid=169
http://www.timeout.com/film/74265.html
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?lay...77886 72&cs=1
http://hanbooks.com/secretregion3.html

Looks interesting indeed

[pdn]

It's a great kick to be on!A lot of reviews of his earlier film ACACIA have disputed its horror film credentials (just what do these people think a horror film is anyway?) and they would surley balk at SECRET TEARS being described as such.
This is a horror film thats closer to MEMENTO MORI than RINGU.If you are the kind of person who found MM too slow moving then avoid this like the plague!In fact it's the kind of film that the phrase deliberately paced was invented for-there is a lot of use of slow motion and very little camera movement,there is also excellent use of still frame in a some scenes.
The actors also seem to be performing in slow motion to fit in with the rest of the film.All the performers play their parts to perfection-although Kim Seung-Woo has an annoying habit of trying to act the thought process.But the film truly belongs to lead actress Yoon Mi-Jo ,an absolutely beguilling presence as the object of Ku-Ho's obsession.
The potentialitly exploitive relationship between the adult male character and the young teen girl is handled very sensitively-in fact the director balances it with the extra marital affair between Ku-Ho's friends,Hyun-Nam and Do-Kyung,who condem(understandably) the growing relationship and another story involving child prostitution.
There is little in the way of blood or violence but what moments there are are all the more powerful for it.Also this is another Korean horror film centred around water - in fact there is an interesting parallel between the end of this film and the begining of Memento Mori.If you are looking for a spook show in the style of THE GRUDGE look elsewhere, however if you like horror films that require the use of that lumpy grey thing in your head then dive on in!
The Korean dvd from Spectrum is excellent and well worth picking up.Extras include the entire soundtrack as well as the usual making of's and trailers.

[Mandi Apple]

Thanks for the review pdn - it sounds very much in the same vein as Acacia so I'll be looking forward to seeing it!

I managed to get hold of a copy of the Spectrum release this morning at Yesasia, but it proved to be fairly elusive otherwise - I saw it on a few Korean movie sites (Seoul Selection, hanbooks.com etc) but the shipping was prohibitively high, so the Yesasia copy worked out to be the cheapest

[pdn]

Hope you enjoy it.It's allways been a bit difficult to find.I got mine shortly after it came out and YESASIA were the only site carrying it.Also,does anyone know why the English title is Secret Tears - the title on the dvd is simply Secret.

[Astroantiquity]

I thought Secreat Tears was serviceable. I was wondering when the "horror" will start.

[Mandi Apple]

Yes, but plenty of people have said that about Acacia as well and I thought that made an excellent, atmospheric and very subtle horror movie, despite its lack of obvious scares...

I have no idea about the 'tears' part though, from what I understand 'bimil' simply means 'secret' in Hangul, so perhaps the tears bit got tacked on as artistic licence, I can't think of any other reason...

[pdn]

When i talk about horror i tend to cast the net pretty wide,mainly because i have yet to hear a satisfactory definition of what a horror film is.It's just such a subjective thing.Also, i think the word horror is not very accurate anyway.Most horror films shock or frighten or make the audience feel uneasy,but few are genuinely horrifying.
My view when it comes to films is that horror is where you find it.
For example a film that would definitely make my all time top ten horror films is Picnic at Hanging Rock.That's a film that contains little violence or blood and no real scares - yet its atmosphere seeps into your skul and buzzes around your brain for days afterwards.
I can understand why someone watching Secret Tears expecting to see an example of the (so-called) new wave of Asian horror would come away more than a little dissapointed.I don't know.Maybe horror film as a metaphysical drama is a better description.

[Kairoesque]

Just a question about this movie, I've become intensly interested in this so I have to ask. Is this a horror movie? Or more of a dark drama like A Tale Of Two Sisters?

[Dabo127]

Oooh. =] I liked Acacia. And this sounds reeeeally good. Is there an R1 copy floating around somewhere...? I don't have the benefit of a region-free player.

[Mandi Apple]

As far as I know, it's only had a Korean release so far, which is a bit strange - I might have expected a Western company to pick it up for release by now, but maybe it's not "super-scary" enough for them Even the Korean release was a bit obscure TBH - I think we had to pick it up from Yesasia: http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept...id-1001815911/

So, ahem, to answer your question: not that I personally know of, sorry Dabo127

To answer Kairoesque's question: it's more of a romantic supernatural suspense/psychodrama than a horror. It's not even as dark as Tale of Two Sisters: that's not to say it's not a good movie, because I thought it was. But if you've seen Acacia (and by that I mean a general 'you', not you personally) and didn't find it scary, you're gonna find Bimil even less so

[Kairoesque]

Thanks for the heads up Mandi! Just had to ask to how much I should expect from this movie. I'll probably get it along with Acacia around next month (totally broke atm ). Ever since I saw the particularly stomach churning trailer of Acacia and then the slightly distressing one for Bimil, I've been really interested in both of them :shrug: But let's not get offtopic

[Dabo127]

Seriously?? O.o Darrrn. Thanks for the info, though.

Ah well. Just another excuse to get a region-free player. ;P

[Inferno1980]

This has been on the wishlist for awhile and I finaly ordered the Korean release. Can't wait! Love Whispering Corridors and Acacia.