Synopsis
Sometimes it just happens so that one runs head on to a predetermined, catastrophic conclusion although it's nobody's fault or intentions. No one would fit this destiny more aptly than an impoverished noble descendant in England. Lord Donald Brocklebank decides to sell the family home to take care of his mentally challenged son James and his wife Nancy who is seriously ill. While Donald is away for a few days to arrange the sale, James' innocent intention to prove that he is a responsible adult and is capable of looking after his ill mother brings about a chain of tragedy and destroys his family's life forever. James' fantasies and the fast camera-motion technique which frantically runs forward imply that there is no shield that can protect the family from the tragedy that awaits them. The mise en scene, which is bleak, empty yet so desperately beautiful, was designed to create a mood of sadness and regret rather than fear or scare. In that regard, the great mansion in this movie serves as another protagonist. Huge from the outside yet so small inside, the mansion seems to hide in it a more decisive being just as James' fantasy, and it embraces the living and the dead, consciousness and unconsciousness, and fantasy and illusion, all without discrimination. Apparitions of ghosts in this mansion have been reported, which used to be a hospital. (CHO Hye young)