The Eye

                                                                   

 

                     What if the reflection you see is not yours

 

Blind from the age of two, 20-year-old Hong Kong classical violinist Mun undergoes a corneal transplant. At first, she is happy to have her sight restored, but is soon troubled when she starts to see mysterious figures that seem to foretell gruesome deaths. She confronts her doctor's nephew (a psychologist) about the strange entities she has been seeing through her new eyes. When she looks in the mirror, rather than her own reflection, she sees Ling, the previous owner of the corneas. Determined to find out what is causing the visions, Mun travels to the northern Thailand village where Ling lived. There, she learns about Ling's troubled life.

Ling was disliked by the villagers. Having the ability to see death caused them to look down upon her as a witch and chased her away whenever she came near. One day, Ling foresees a huge disaster. Despite her pleas, no one believes her, some even throw water at her to make her go away. Soon enough, the village is engulfed in a huge explosion of an unknown cause, killing at least 300 people. Ling and her mother survive because their house is situated far away from the blast. Feeling that it was all her fault, Ling hangs herself.

Ling's mother is both sad and outraged. All those years, she always protected her daughter and never gave up on her. Yet, Ling gave up on herself; therefore her mother won't forgive her. Because of this, Ling's spirit is restless, recreating her death night after night. Ling eventually possesses Mun and hangs herself. Hearing Ling's cries of help, her mother rescues her daughter and the two make up. Shortly thereafter, Ling's spirit leaves.

On the way back, Mun's bus is stalled in a traffic jam. As she looks out the window, she sees hundreds of dark figures lumbering about in the street. Horrified, she runs out of the bus. Knowing a huge catstrophe is imminent, she runs through the stopped cars yelling for people to get out. Suffering the same fate as Ling, no one believes her, thinking she is crazy.

Meanwhile up ahead, we find out the cause of the traffic jam is a huge tanker truck that has toppled over and is blocking the entire road. Unknown to everyone, it starts leaking natural gas. This is a reference to a real gas explosion in Prathunam Bangkok in the mid 90s. As it spreads along the ground, a driver, who had turned off his engine earlier, restarts it, triggering a fire. The fire reaches the truck and it explodes, causing a chain reaction as other cars blow up and knock over a telephone pole. Glass flies into Mun's eyes, blinding her and causing her to fall onto the pavement, which saves her from being scorched by the fire. Afterwards, we are shown the dark figures leading the souls of the deceased away, as Mun lays unconscious. In a flashback, we see Ling standing alone as the village burns around her. She breaks down and starts crying.

In the epilogue of the film, we are shown a scene similar to the beginning of the film- that of Mun (now, blind, once again) walking the streets of Hong Kong. Except, now she isn't alone, and has the support and company of her psychologist.

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

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Directed by The Pang Brothers
Produced by Peter Ho-Sun Chan
Lawrence Cheng
Jo Jo Hui Yuet-chun
Eric Tsang
Written by Jo Jo Hui Yuet-chun
The Pang Brothers
Starring Lee Sin-je
Lawrence Chou
Chutcha Rujinanon
Music by Orange Music
Distributed by Panorama Entertainment
MediaCorp Raintree
Release date(s) May 9, 2002
Running time 98 mins.
Language Japanese
Budget  

 

 

 

 

 

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