ridiculous rating

Overrated

A Disappointing Continuation

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Poor start. A girl, 15 years ago, follows a man from a pier to a bus stop. He tells her she will see her parents again once he gets paid. The girl nods. Apparently this (being kidnapped) is ordinary. A man is moving rather forcibly through the waiting crowd. Then he's beheaded. The girl looks at the head beneath the bus. Apparently that (massive mutilation of a living human being) is ordinary too. She stares at it for seconds with no affect.In the present we start in a rave. Minus points for that. Conversation in a rave. Sure, nothing but bellowing or screaming. June meets Peter, and uses Peter to get away from some other young man. They go here and there, and end up at his place. Peter looks like he needs a shower, a shampoo, and directions on using a comb. June could use a flamethrower to get all the layers of badly applied cosmetics crap off her face.The lead characters seem repellent and useless. Peter asks her why she was in such a hurry to leave every place they went to.Ah, the movie starts. Well, no it doesn't. It seemed she was about to speak some truth, but she did not.June is a useless self-centered pest. She and Peter have at each other, then she leaves in the morning after emptying his wallet.Peter's Dad shows up the next morning, claiming to be possessed by a ghost. They take him to the hospital. The children assemble and bond over bad times; they trade veiled insults. Nice. Peter's about to leave but his father needs more talking. Peter thinks he sees June as he leaves but perhaps not.Peter gets fired from his job. He goes to a beach marshmallow roast with ghost stories. He meets June again on this trip. The reputed ghost shows up in the body of a friend of June's. Peter sees some ghost lore in June, and starts to wonder. The next day she confides that she can see ghosts with her left eye, and there is always one following Peter.After that, they spend a lot of time together; Peter eventually gives her a ring he had hoped to give a previous girl friend who left him. Peter has trouble finding a new job.Peter has a dream of his father visiting him at midnight; the next morning the hospital calls to tell him that his father hung himself. His relative tells him that June was with his dad, sharing a long stare, the night before he died. Sigh.Peter tries to find out more about June, and encounters some strange experiences. Also, he digs up the newspaper story about the beheaded man, and sees a little girl there with the same distinctive birthmark as June. The description of the beheaded man ties up some threads for Peter.Peter tries to get a job with good prospects. June tries to involve him in some ghostly business. He tells her to go. He wakes to find his apartment painted in red, and he tries to get clear of all this for his job interview. At his friend Simon's place, the red paint shows up again. After he talks with Simon, he tries to connect with June, but she's hard to find.After resolving the problem that the headless man was obsessed with, he is released.Peter and June visit his dad's grave. Then Peter is drawn to a woman at another grave site, which turns out to be June's. As opposed to the Sixth Sense, the ending was a huge let down.------Scores------Cinematography: 8/10 OK, even with challenging lighting situations.Sound: 5/10 Both relentless and boring. I was ready to quit before the opening credits were over. One needs to be near the volume controls at all times to save your ears (too loud by far) or catch any words of the conversation.Acting: 7/10 OK for the story. I liked the supporting cast, but the two leads were obnoxious.Screenplay: 5/10 After 75 minutes, I wished I had never started this mess. When I was done, I had the same feeling. If June is a ghost, why did everyone see her? If Peter is the psychic, why can he only see June?

The first thing you will notice about VISIBLE SECRET is its strange sensibilities. Even the film's rhythm is slightly "off", making it very different from the current rash of Hong Kong "I See Ghost" movies of late. Although the premise is overly familiar by now (Shu Qi plays a woman who can see ghosts -- but only with her left eye!), the movie works as an effective human drama (especially the lead's relationship with his brother and father) and as a quirky comedy (the movie is oftentimes very funny). As a ghost story, it falters badly, and there's a twist at the end that, if you weren't asleep during the previous 90 minutes, you can see coming about 50 miles away.One other thing: VISIBLE SECRET has almost no scares in it. There are some attempts at mood and atmosphere, but for the most part the laughs and over-the-top hilarity overcomes the thrills and chills, which comes across as more mundane requisite than anything the filmmakers were interested in putting into their movie.7 out of 10(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of the film, and reviews of other movies in this genre)

Well, I saw this movie during the last San Sebastian Film Festival. The reaction to it was...let's say as funny as the movie unintetionally is. It happened that they showed a copy with terribly wrong spanish subtitles. They seemed to be a translation from chinese to english and then to spanish. It was all confusing, the genders were switched (girls appeared as boys and boys as girls), and my friends and I remember great lines... but because they were so absurd. All in all not a good movie, but if they ever show it on tv, and you have nothing to do, and if you want to laugh (again, not so much with the movie) then go ahead, "Visible secret" is your film.

Visible Secret's directed and produced by one of the greatest living film-makers, Ann Hui. Ann's won numerous awards - best director, best film, etc. - and if you aren't acquainted with her, well, go see Visible Secret and you'll know why she's so good.The leads are pretty good. Say what you like, Shu Qi - the sex-pot - is a good actress. I particularly liked her in the early karaoke scene.But look out for the supporting actress Hui Ying Hong, the mother of a little boy called Hsiao Hsung in the movie. She's a famous Hong Kong actress with real kung fu skills. Here, she's not called on to display her fighting prowess, but, boy, can she act. In one scene, you can literally see the veins on her temple popping out, so intense yet natural is her facial expression; it reminds me of Lawrence Fishburne's very fine facial expressions as Morpheus in The Matrix, when he was interrogated by Agent Smith.Visible Secret is an intelligent movie - you've got to concentrate on the plot or you won't understand the ending. Everything ties together at the end, and if you understand it THEN - I couldn't, and a friend had to explain to me certain aspects of the movie even after a second viewing - you'll agree the story's superb.Though principally a horror movie, Visible Secret has some of the finest comedic moments I've ever seen on the silver screen. I caught it at preview, and the audience appreciated one funny moment so much a few persons actually applauded.Visible Secret's a real scary movie. And the best thing is, it doesn't rely on sudden, loud sounds to frighten you, which the lousy horror flicks resort to.Incidentally, the poster for the movie, which shows a row of seated people in an underground train, was banned by the MTR in Hong Kong as being too scary. I don't think the poster's too scary, but I do think it's very clever. The tagline "What's that sitting next to you?" is eye-catching.Watch out for the movie's play with sounds. It's nearly as good as The Ring in its use of sound to create an eerie mood. Incidentally, I don't know of any director who uses sound as well as Ann. PAY ATTENTION TO HER USE OF SOUND.One of the hallmarks of good movie direction is proper pacing. Director Ann excels at it.The original score is excellent.Many of the scenes are hauntingly beautiful.I believe Visible Secret will go down in movie history like Gattaca - good but underrated. Don't be put off by anyone who's seen the movie and says it's lousy - they just don't get it.Go see Visible Secret. You won't be disappointed. 10/10