Hansel and Gretel First Press Limited DVD

Being a fantasy-horror that (very) loosely based or also could be tagged as a reversal version of the Brother Grimm’s famous fairy tale with the same title, “Hansel and Gretel” is a very daring and imaginative creation of Yim Pil-seong, a director that raise his name with the 2005 debut film “Antarctic Journal”. With this film, he just twisted the fairy tale to modern day Korea and used the idea of strange forest and house to explore deep into the dark side of human psyche and imagination. Basely on its creeps aura and some grisly graphic sequences, so don’t be tricked with the sweet title or the cute faces of young actors on this film, because this movie absolutely not a children suited film but was made for a mature audiences. Director Yim has stated that the original idea for “Hansel & Gretel” came from the simple premise of “What if Hansel & Gretel couldn’t find their way out of the woods?” and this is also what he had explained about the children theme in this movie, “Children these days are prone to many dangers. Although the (violence) concerning the children may have been extreme, I wanted to portray (their) pain and circumstances.'' With the help of art director Ryoo Seong-hee who also in charge for the art of “Old Boy” and “The Host”, Seong had created every scene of “Hansel and Gretel” look like they just came out of a children’s book with mystery and illusion, but if you observes it more deeper then you can find an uncomfortable and horrifying ambiance that lied beneath its brightness and colorful appearance. This atmospheric and at times surreal fantasy horror is finally will available on DVD on September 3rd.The fairy tale began when a young man named Eun-soo (Chun Jeong-myoung – “Les Formidables”) get lost in the middle of nowhere after he has a car accident while arguing over the phone with his girlfriend. A mysterious girl found him and then led Eun-soo to her home, deep in the heart of a forest. She lives in a very beautiful house with her parents and two siblings, their rooms are filled with a myriad of colorful toys and lot of delicious cookies, somewhat of a children’s paradise, the house was seems like a very cozy place to live. But that’s one thing to imagine and another to actually live through, a strange crying sound that appears to come from the attic, the phone that doesn’t work and whenever Eun-soo tries to leave, the forest always brings him back to the “Happy Children’s Home.” He soon realizes there’s something wasn’t right with the cozy sanctuary and to make matters worse, the parents disappear one day and the kids give an unbelievable answer on their whereabouts. With all the strange facts, Eun-soo notice a mysterious secret exists with these children, the eldest, Man-seok (Eun Won-jae – “Happy Time”) who has a perilous temper out of shape for a child, his younger sister Yeong-hi (Sim Eun-kyung - “Hwang Jin Yi”) who has a bad habit of sleepwalk and the little one Jeong-sun (Jin Ji-hee) who repeatedly tortures her dolls. The Eun-soo’s fears increase as a few days later, an odd couple arrives at the children’s home and he becomes torn, having to guard the children from these unreliable strangers while watching out for his own life. When Eun-soo finally discovers a way to escape from his trapped which is written on a fairy tale book, but the book tells a story of none other than himself.

DVD Info:
Product Title: Hansel and Gretel (First Press Limited Edition DVD)
Region Code: 3 - South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Language: Korean
Subtitles: Korean, English
Publisher: CJ Entertainment
Number of Discs: 2
Release Date: 2008-09-03 (Save your copy)

This edition comes with the following special features:
• Making Of Hansel and Gretel
• Making Of Art and Setting
• Deleted Scenes with Commentaries
• Interview with Musical Director Lee Byung Woo
• Computer Graphics
• Short Film Mobile starring Park Hye Il
• Sneak Preview and Theatrical Trailer(Source: YesAsia)