>Dr. David Calloway is awakened by an unusual caress of some fingertips across his soundly sleeping face. He wakes up in a sweat. Goes through the house, searches, finds the bathroom door slightly open and peers in!! He sees a pristine scene of lit candles, dim yellow lights, bath tub curtain drawn. He opens the curtain to find his wife in a pool of blood filled water!!
*02:06Am
Dr. David Calloway is awakened by an unusual caress of some fingertips across his soundly sleeping face. He has been dreaming of a party where a lot of people have gathered and theres dancing, theres fun, and he sees his wife slink away in an elevator. He wakes up and goes through the house, searches, finds the bathroom door slightly open and peers in!! He sees a pristine scene of lit candles, dim yellow lights, bath tub curtain drawn.He opens the curtain and theres a message in blood for him, "You let her die!!!"
02:06 Am
Dr. David Calloway is awakened by his dreams. His wife in the elevator, has slunk away from the party. He finds the floor at which the elevator stops. Walks up to the floor, and looks up through the atrium of the stairs... His wife is .... Scene fades out!! He wakes up in sweat, searches, finds the bathroom door slightly open and peers in!! He sees a pristine scene of lit candles, dim yellow lights, bath tub curtain drawn. He opens the curtain and theres a message in blood for him, "Look what you have done now!!!"Theres his brown furred CAT, wet and DEAD!!
*02:06 Am
*All hell breaks loose! The message is on the curtain now, "Can you see NOW!!
This is an amazing plot of a PSYCHO thriller, which keeps you rivetted to the screen with events unfolding like it would on a normal day in everyday life.
John Polson directed HIDE N SEEK, is a very intriguing story of a pre adolscent daughter, Emily (Dakota Fanning), who is reeling under the trauma of her mother being dead in a bath tub. She is under the patient, caring and sensitive custody of her father, Dr. David Calloway (Robert De Niro),
who himself is a psychologist. With the help of fellow psychologist, Katherine (Famke Janssen),who gels along surprisingly well with Emily, David and Katherine decide that the best way to deal with Emily's errant, distantly cold behaviour, is to get away from New York to a vast countryside home which translates summertime to be very vibrant and colourful and winters to be very lonely and chilly!!
David and Katherine are concerned that Emily doesnt wish to have physical friends but a friend made by the devils of her own mind called **Charlie!! That too because Charlie likes to play her favorite game, Hide N Seek!!
David meets a young mother in this new town,Elizabeth (Elizabeth Shue), and her same age daughter. He tries hard for Emily to get to amke friends and to enjoy her life better. But he realises that Emily's devils are far more notorious when one fine evening Elizabeth is dining wiht the father and daughter, where Emily very coldly indifferent, yet clued to whats happening between David and Elizabeth asks her, "Did Daddy tell you how my Mommy died? She died in the bath tub, slitting her own wrists!!"
*This statement sends a chill down your spine. The thrills continue till the last eleven minutes of this film where the camera effectively plays on your minds with very sharp steadicam movements in brilliantly done subdued lighting of the interiors of the house and the exteriors with blue white ambience during the night and dense fog to highlight the vastness of the forest and eerie quality of the mind!!
What comes next is like a calling used very effectively in the film, "Come out come out wherever you are..."A very sing song statement, telling you that there is someone lurking out there. Seek it out!!
Robert De Niro does full justice to his job at hand and fits the bill like a hand in glove!! You cannot ask for anything better and its a treat to watch him deliver a performance that will leave you gasping for more.
Dakota Fanning as Emily, is as cool as a cucumber delivering a very matured performance as a harrowed child who has a demon called Charlie playing a game with her. Her face doesnt show any emotion as she has to express her mind which is turned off the world. Her crystal blue eyes are constantly seeking. There is fear, sadness, unexpected and also some happiness that you can see time and again. Her performance priceless!!
*Famke, Elizabeth and the others add enough spice to this mind boggler to keep the audience guessing. It has a very tried and tested formula;
Expec the unexpected X Unexpected happens.
Expected the expected = Expected happens. **This particularly happens towards the ending. Well enough said.
This is a game played with a lot of gusto during our childhood days. **Polson just gives it a new meaning!!
The effort by the Cinematographer, Dariusz Wolski, spares no effort to give you the moments of chiils and thrills with his mastery on use of camera, angles, trolley shots, staircase exploitation and also the wardrobe chills. He is best known for his skills in Pirates of the Carribean, Worlds End, Dead Mans Chestand Curse of The Black Pealr!! The background score adds to the spine chilling moments and even manages to shock you!!
This is one film which could have done with a sequel. The ending could have been a mystery and left alone till such time that the actual truth doesnt finally come out. Thats my thought as a passionate film maker.Maybe I could be right or wrong.... Seek it out!!!
Wishing all my readers and the MS team, a fantastic, noiseless, pollution-less DIWALI and a very prosperous NEW YEAR!!*
