Anniversary of The Others
On August 2, 2001, Alejandro Amenábar's film "Los otros (The Others)" was released on the screens of cinemas in two countries - Portugal and the USA.
The film is directed by Alejandro Amenábar according to his own script. Some critics see the ideological and logical kinship of the film "The Others" with the mystical-psychological story of the classic of American literature Henry James "The Turn of the Screw". Although there are practically no plot coincidences between these works.
A month after the premiere, Alejandro Amenábar's film "The Others" took part in the Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the main prize - the Golden Lion. However, the jury of the film festival, chaired by the Italian actor and film director Nanni Moretti, gave preference to the Indian melodrama "Monsoon Wedding" directed by Mira Nair.
Shortly after, Alejandro Amenábar's film "The Others" was nominated for the European Film Academy Award as the Best European Film. But here also the victory was awarded to another film - the romantic comedy of Jean-Pierre Jeunet "Amelie".
The following year, 2002, in his homeland, in Spain, Alejandro Amenábar's film "The Others" received 15 nominations for the national Goya Award. Of these 15 nominations, the film won 8, including the most important ones-Best Film and Best Director.
Alejandro Amenábar's film was received rather ambiguously by critics. Not only are critics divided into two camps about this film, but there is a duality of assessments in the reviews themselves. For example, the guru of American film criticism Roger Ebert rated the film with only 2.5 stars out of four, but he filled his review with rather flattering characteristics: "This is a haunted house movie, dark and atmospheric, but it's quiet and brooding. It has ... common with ... "The Sixth Sense". It's not a freak show but a waiting game, in which an atmosphere of dread slowly envelops the characters--too slowly...The director, Alejandro Amenabar, has the patience to create a languorous, dreamy atmosphere, and Nicole Kidman succeeds in convincing us that she is a normal person in a disturbing situation and not just a standard-issue horror movie hysteric. But in drawing out his effects, Amenabar is a little too confident that style can substitute for substance."
By the way, for Nicole Kidman, shooting in this film was a real psychological test. Firstly, despite the fact that her then-husband Tom Cruise was the executive producer of the film, their marriage was bursting at the seams at that time. And the actress tried to leave the project several times. Exactly a week after the premiere of the film, the official divorce of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise took place. Secondly, for Nicole Kidman, the transition from her previous picture to the role of Grace in the dark, almost depressive, Amenabar's film turned out to be very difficult. After all, Kidman's previous picture was a bright, splashing burlesque film "Moulin Rouge!" and the fact that in such conditions Kidman was able to perform her role in such a way that she received 6 film awards (including the American Golden Globe) and 10 nominations for it, testifies to her outstanding acting talent.
But back to the critics. Another well-known American critic James Berardinelli also rated the film 2.5 stars out of 4 possible and spoke about the film as follows: "It's atmospheric, stylish, and spooky. The plot is well thought-out and its secrets and mysteries are unveiled slowly. Unfortunately, it is also cold, distancing, and moves at a glacial pace."
And Mark Savlov gave the film a rating of 4 on a 5-point system and wrote in his review: "I'm tempted to call The Others the best haunted house film since Robert Wise's 1963 masterstroke The Haunting. In its wonderful and subtle use of atmospherics and top-notch performances, and a canny script that neither manhandles the audience into predestined and all-too-predictable shocks nor falls prey to juvenile shocker theatrics, it's that most rare of spookshows: a literate and mature ghost story that works on multiple levels simultaneously. And it's genuinely eerie as well."
As for the assessment of the film by ordinary moviegoers, the following figures directly or indirectly characterize this assessment. With a budget of $ 17 million, the film grossed $ 210 million at the box office. That is, it paid off more than 12 times. 63% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users gave the film ratings from 8 to 10.
With that said, the rating of Alejandro Amenábar's film "The Others" according to FilmGourmand was 7,960, which allowed him to take 772nd place in the Golden Thousand.
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