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Film: The Eye
Year: 2008
Director: David Moreau and Xavier Palud
Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez
Starring: Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola and Parker Posey
Review:
This film follows a young violinist, played by Jessica Alba. She plays in an orchestra that is led by Rade Serbedzija. The first images we get though are of another woman, played by Fernanda Romero. There is fire and that’s when we cut to Alba.
She is nervous because she has not been able to see since she was five years old. The following day she is going to get a cornea transplant. Her sister, played by Parker Posey, is coming to take care of her as well.
The surgery is a success. She has bandages over her eyes and during this time she is visited by a little girl, played by Chloë Grace Moretz. Moretz has a tumor in her head that she is getting removed and Alba promises to officially meet her once she can finally see.
The doctor who performed the surgery is played by Obba Babtundé. He takes off the bandages and Alba can see, but everything is very blurry. In the background she notices a shadowy figure that leaves the room.
Later that night, she sees one of these blurry dark entities again, but it takes the woman in bed next to her on a walk. Alba then learns the next morning that the woman passed away. She is upset by this and wonders who the visitor that came to her was.
Now with her sight back, she has to work with a doctor to learn what things are in her life. She hasn’t been able to see for so long, she has forgotten. This doctor is played by Alessandro Nivola.
The visions do not stop for Alba though and they are starting to bother her. She goes to get coffee with Serbedzija and while he is at the counter, she sees a woman. This woman comes at her, causing Alba to fall over. We do see when the sugar that was spilled is getting cleaned up; there are four fingers like marks in it. Alba also wakes up after one A.M. every night and her room is changed to another.
This causes Alba to start to look into who the eyes she has came from. There are more ghosts and these dark entities that she sees, with the entities only appearing when someone is about to die. Alba does do research and figures out that there is some evidence that cells might hold memories and that could be causing what she is seeing.
Is that what is happening? What are the visions she is seeing mean? Can she solve this problem before it drives her insane? Will she figure out who the corneas belong and be able to see what the other person wanted?
This is my second time viewing this film. I wasn’t a huge fan the first time that I saw it, but I did watch the original Japanese film that is a remake of. I did like that one and that helped me with have a new appreciation of this one. Now I am not going to compare the two all that much, I just wanted to point this out. I will say that this version does have a much more coherent story. It follows a path that makes sense and I liked that about this one. I liked the idea that she is seeing things, but doesn’t know what is real or what is fake. I think this is something we would have issues with if we didn’t have sight. It would be something that would drive you mad, which is what is happening to Alba in this. I liked the story and how it plays out as well. This is one is not as much horror though as the original version unfortunately.
I will say that the acting of this film isn’t bad. Alba is okay in the main role. She is very attractive, but her acting isn’t the greatest. I thought she was decent in this film though. Nivola is kind of arrogant and I wasn’t a huge fan of him. He does make a solid turn by the climax of film though. Posey doesn’t have a lot of screen time. The time that does have is pretty good. I also liked Romero, I thought she was very attractive. She plays a minor role, but did it pretty well. It was good to see Rachel Ticotin and Moretz in this film as well.
I thought the effects of this film were well done. The dark entities that we see are CGI, but it looked pretty realistic. I thought some of the ghost jump scares which were done similar also looked good. The blending of her room was done with computers as well and I found that to also be well done. The score of the film does have Alba playing violin. I did read that she actually learned how to play it, but not sure if that is actually her we hear. The score stands out at times where they are trying to ramp up the tension, but at other times it didn’t. This part of the film didn’t hurt it either way for me. I did also find the editing of the film to be good, as the film never really drags and does move through at a good pace.
Now with that said though, this film isn’t great. I think the original is much better, but this is a decent American remake. This story is much more concise and there is a part in this one that is much less confusing that in the Japanese counterpart. I did find the acting to be okay, but no one really stands out. Alba and Romero are quite easy on the eyes and that helped the film for me. I thought the effects of this film were good. The score was good at times. The editing of the film was well done as well. I just think that his film is slightly above average. They toned down the fear and that hurt it for me. If you liked the original, I would say give this a viewing. If you are into these types of films, I think you will find it at least fun to view.
My Rating: 6 out of 10