Talkback: The Others

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From:	Billy D	2002-05-20 22:10:16
Subject:	The Others 9 the spoilers box comments)
Comment:	Are you sure the husband was dead? They didn't actually make love, though it was definetely implied they did, so maybe his beard stubble didnt touch nicole. That is the thing I dont know about this movie, was the Husband dead. He must have been dead or the intruders would have seen him. And did you notice he didn't have a reflection in the mirror. All the others did. Was it because he was alive or because he knew he was dead. But anyone alive has a reflection. Sure would like some more feedback on whether he was dead or alive. Great Movie.
From:	nono	2002-06-10 13:42:03
Subject:	was the husband a ghost too?
Comment:	I just don't get the part about the husband? what was his deal? why did the old maid look at him in such a weird fashion when she first saw him and later said that he probably doesn't suspect anything? was it his ghost that visited kidman's charater? someone please shed some light!
From:	mikey	2002-06-21 01:13:00
Subject:	The Girl in Veil
Comment:	I didnt get the part where the girl is sitting in the room under the veil and appears like an old woman .. what was the deal there?
From:	RODAINA	2002-07-31 04:17:17
Subject:	CAN'T GET IT
Comment:	WAS THE HUSBAND A GHOST. AND WHO WAS THE OLD WOMAN IN VEIL PRETENDING THE GIRL'S VOICE
From:	Marcy	2002-08-06 00:24:36
Subject:	Husband and Girl
Comment:	First, about the girl-at the end it is explained by the living woman 'intruder' that the old woman was possessed by the girl. We can assume from there that the old woman was trying to connect with the girl and did, that's why the living people saw her acting like the girl, and Grace saw her daughter looking like the old woman. Also, I believe the husband is dead, he says several things to conclude this. When he first sees Grace, he says 'sometimes I bleed' and he is in army gear. He later tells her that he has to 'go back to the front' and that the war is not over. The children ask their mother during dinner what happens when a soldier of war dies. I beleive he is in his own hell or whatever eternity Grace is also stuck in. I believe his eternity is war, that is why it isn't over and sometimes he bleeds. I don't think he knows he's dead, but I'm not sure. I think he thinks he's alive because he said he had been searching for his home, or maybe he knew and thought he could escape his hell? If he knew he was dead, then he knew his wife and children were dead, but obviously did not know why until Ann told him. Actually, you can see his reflection in the mirror as she turns it, but she turns it too far so that he is not in view. I am not positive about this, but I am pretty sure that both times I saw the movie I saw him briefly in the mirror.
From:	Per Magne	2002-11-16 08:23:12
Subject:	Husband - DEFINETELY a ghost.
Comment:	Right before she leaves for the trop where she meets him: 'sometimes the world of teh living gets mixed up with the world of the dead. In the MIRROR, by the bed. Does he have a reflection? (always check the mirrors!). Speaking to the kids: 'did you see any dead people, daddy?' 'yes, I have seen a lot of dead people.' no wonder, he's dead, he hangs out with his pals. And he's speaking to some more dead people right now, anyway. The uniform: Please confirm this, but I was expecting his uniform to be from World War 1. Yes, he left for the first world war, not the second. She died then, too, but ghosts tend to hang around a while. Basically, this move is FILLED with nice details suggesting exactly what is going on. It is suggesting something. Again, and again.
From:	Brian	2002-12-20 20:56:16
Subject:	THE OTHERS
Comment:	This movie had blinding parallels to the Bible as well as other religious event. It was not intended to demonstrate that religious parents are nuts, it was simply showing that there is life after death depending on how you behaved in a past life. In other words, if you are a good person (as Kidman and her children were), but you have messed up...you shall be granted a second chance. This is, to us Catholics, known as Pergatory...a way to pay off the sins in your former life with a chance of still entering the Pearly Gates. Thank you for your time everyone. E-mail me with any questions. Dugganbm@aol.com
From:	Brian	2002-12-20 21:03:50
Subject:	THE HUSBAND
Comment:	For those of you inquiring about the husband...he is not dead. He is very much alive. There is no reflection of him in the mirror because in Kidman's world, the true living people are apparently dead. The husband, after seeing Kidman and the children for the first time, lies in bed for several days extremely lathargic. He is depressed because he figured out his wife and children are dead. It is as simple as that...no more! He makes love to her somehow and some way, then leaves because he cannot stand to stay in the house where the memories remain of Kidman and the kiddies. Another theory... Previously in the movie Kidman and the children talk about the different sections of hell, pergatory, and Heaven. Another possible idea is that the husbands soul did not have the same fate as the wife and kids. Possibly he went to hell for being in a war and killing people...another idea is that he went straight to heaven for fighting for the 'goodies' as Kidman puts it earlier in the film. The war may have acted as a possible Pergatory in which he paid is sins off through suffering. Thank you.
From:	Elizabethian	2002-12-23 22:35:25
Subject:	Husband
Comment:	Well, you can see the husband's reflection in the mirror; we rewound the video to make sure. But, you can also see Nicole's reflection, too, and we know she's dead. I think that's a blooper.
From:	lillian r	2002-12-28 17:55:01
Subject:	the others
Comment:	I had some problems understanding the ending. If the mother and her children were dead why didn't they know it? The servants knew it. And who were the people sitting around the table writing?
From:	Jay	2003-03-01 18:43:27
Subject:	Husband is dead
Comment:	All this argument about whether or nor the husband is dead is ridiculous. Of course he's dead. If you actually paid attention to the ending when Nicole Kidman's character is huddled on the floor with her children, the little boy asks 'Is daddy dead'? and the mother says 'Yes'. Pay attention!!!
From:	Carla	2003-05-31 06:15:18
Subject:	did you know?
Comment:	Dear 'The Others' viewers, every one that i've spoken did not pick up on a clue given to the audience that Grace's husband was dead or a diff. being. The clue was given when Grace walked into the bedroom, started to undress and her husband was sitting on the edge of the bed however if you look closely, his reflection in the closet mirror was not present. Have a close look this was the scene just before they mad love one last time before he had to go. Bye
From:	michelle	2003-06-14 15:23:12
Subject:	husband and girl
Comment:	the girl was definitely making a connection with the old woman psychic and that's why she looked like that in the dress. the people around the table were the husband and wife who wanted to move in along with the psyhic and her 'team'. and the husband was most definitely DEAD! i was so confused until i read all of these comments and went back and looked at the movie. the husband IS in the reflection in the mirror when she is undressing he's just on the other side of the bed and at the end the little boy says 'did daddy die in the war?' and grace says YES. i sort of agree with the previous comment on pergatory. grace and her children died in the house and that is their eternal place and the husband died at war...hence he will eternally be there. he just wanted to say good bye to his wife and children. WOW so many questions finally answered! phew! now i have to watch it at least one more time to put all the pieces together. one last thing....i don't understand the mute girl? they say once she realized they were dead she just stopped talking...what's the point of that?
From:	Ron	2003-08-14 14:30:52
Subject:	Few things I don't understand
Comment:	1. What's with the strange light allergy? It does not seem to have been real at any point (even before their death). 2. It seems that a single picture of all 3 servants dead is unlikely, or maybe someone waited a long time to get them all together at the same shot.
From:	sam	2004-06-10 03:01:13
Subject:	light/photosensitive
Comment:	I never got the deal about the kids being photosensitive. I imagine it is symbolic but i never got it. Help.
From:	sam	2004-06-10 03:09:50
Subject:	dead hub
Comment:	sure the husband was dead. honestly, i don't think the mirror thing has much to do with proving/disproving that. i don't understand how someone could say he was alive yet they slept together. As far as why they didn't know they were dead? I guess it is part of their hell?-they never went to heaven, blah,blah,blah. And why didn't the kids go to heaven? they didn't kill anyone. Is this a purgatory thing? I am not catholic. i did enjoy the movie immensely, but have to wonder if it contained a lot of errors that i have tried to analyze. The mirrors come to mind...i haven't seen it in a long time, forgive me if my memory is not the best.
From:	The Others	2004-06-15 06:04:37
Subject:	Reflection in mirror is a myth
Comment:	This film is a spectacular film! As for reflections in the mirrors. I think it is a myth. Some that have seen ghosts have seen them in a mirror and argue that they absolutely can be seen as reflections in mirrors. I spoke to a woman yesterday, who is now a professional and prominent member of our society, who admits to seeing only one ghost in her life. She said as a young girl that she seen the ghost in her mirror and quickly ran out of the room and down the stairs as she was frightened. She did not look back. Upon arriving downstairs with her loved ones several conversation took place asking her what the ghost looked like and, after she described him, the family members said that was your grandpa. The so called grandpa never returned either in a mirror or in any other form Now this is my opinon. I think he understood that while he loved her so much and made an attempt to embrace her that he instead decided that his showing up scared the young child so much that he never appeared again. He remained in the house and continued to love her, but chose not to appear to her again. Now back to this movie. I give it 5 stars.
From:	Mike	2004-06-21 04:34:14
Subject:	The Others
Comment:	I just rewatched 'The Others'. In my opinion the strange look given by Mrs. Mills to the husband showed that the they had not anticipated that Grace would find her husband in the fog. His presence might complicate their goal of making Grace understand her fate. I believe the husband was dead and in 'limbo' having died violently before his time in the war. He was just as confused as Grace when they met in the fog. Perhaps the husband was quicker to catch on about his fate because unlike Grace, who died and then awakened as a spirit in the same place, he knew he had been in France, but somehow had been transported via the 'Limbo fog' to where his house was. Big clue. And of course when the daughter told him what Grace had done, he knew for sure. Maybe he went back to the fog hoping to retrace his steps, go back to his home, see if it had actually happened and perhaps stop it. Could this be why he said he had to go back to the war? Or since he now knew his own fate, did he believe that returning to the fog would set him free? Suicide/murder are sins so he would not have gone to the same fate as Grace and therefore couldn't stay at the house. Perhaps Grace and the children were still spending time in purgatory which they obviously believed in since she had the girl recite the four stages of hell. Or maybe his eternity was to be spent wondering in the fog trying to rejoin his unit. And Grace's and the kid's eternity was to forever stay in the house (oddly enough with servants). The fog cleared because they all knew their fate and it was settled.
From:	Allyson	2004-06-22 00:05:49
Subject:	The Children's 'Condition'
Comment:	A few people have asked about the children's 'condition'. In my opinion, the light allergy's main purpose in the movie is to set a mysterious mood. Think about it. They children cannot be exposed to strong light, so therefore much of the film takes place in the dark. The darkness itself adds a mysterious mood to the already frightening plot. That is only my opinion, however. The writer of the flim and director may have included this allergy for an entirely different reason. Also, if anyone knows anything about the mute girls choice to stop talking, please post it here. That part of the film remains fogged in my mind. Thank you!
From:	andibandit	2004-12-10 22:15:11
Subject:	The father
Comment:	I think the father leaves, cause he cant face his family, after what Grace did to the children, and having abandoned them by dying in the war, and indirectly setting all these things in motion.
From:	lick	2005-03-17 12:25:35
Subject:	your web site
Comment:	Strange website but its good that you have a movie review it's really hand when your doing an english essay n it!tell us more about the dialogue thanx
From:	halit	2005-09-05 14:42:53
Subject:	the others
Comment:	'the others' movie was the nicest movie I've ever seen... but ther's something that I didn't understand the ending very well...in general,the movie was more than fantastic.. Could you please make me understand the ending...??? I'll be thankful and grateful for ever... thanks for your interest,
From:	adrien	2005-10-17 03:37:28
Subject:	question about dead photos
Comment:	in the movies the others, there were old photos taken of people after they died. Does anyone know the name of these types of photos--- I am pretty sure that they have a specific name.
From:	Vi	2005-11-02 01:50:05
Subject:	guilt
Comment:	The mother punishes her children severely for 'telling lies,' yet their entire existence is based on her Big Lie: they all pretend 'What happened' when she went mad, never happened. Although her Bible-reading is, as others have pointed out, more typically Protestant than Catholic (she'd be using the Catechism in those days), and her botched explanation of the children's limbo is a mistake no real Catholic would have made, the film does allude to a sacrament without mentioning it: confession. You cannot be absolved of a sin as long as you pretend it never happened. Her children's behavior, pretending everything is normal (whether it's Mummy's mad spells or ghostly appearances) is actually pretty typical of abused kids. The mother is less self-righteous towards the end, telling the daughter 'I'm no wiser than you' about why they have this particular afterlife. But given that she's had at least one psychotic episode *after* she dies, when she attacks the daughter in the communion veil scene, I think even dead children would be better off without her.
From:	nidhi	2006-01-18 11:29:55
Subject:	how could Anne see intruders
Comment:	If dead can't see living people and vice versa, how could Anne see that family?? is it that the old lady was a living witch and it was through her that Anne could see intruders??
From:	mike	2007-01-01 03:55:03
Subject:	The Others
Comment:	Not a fan of N Kidman but sure a fan of this movie. It fooled me and red herring with the servants. Most often I can figure out these things a mile off. For the first hour til she found her husband it seemed a little slow but it built up like a minor Hitchcock thriller. Where are the curtains? Gone to another dimension.
From:	Mandy	2008-06-30 01:00:05
Subject:	Nicole's Character
Comment:	Nicoles's character in The Others was very strange...very strange indeed. She started off seeming like a strict Catholic person who needs to have things her way (ex. no music and 'I don't like fantasies') But she ended up turning into a doting mother protecting her light sensitive children. I'm a huge fan of Nicole and I think that she did a great job of enduring these transitions. But, I don't understand the whole husband thing. Why was she singing to him? Why did she accuse him of cheating? If he had indeed died in the war then why did he cry? And, how can Nicole's character not know she is dead? If she woke up screaming and explained in the end to her children that she woke up after killing herself hearing their laughter, wouldn't she know what happened? And, did anyone notice what her expression was when she first pulled out her rifle after she heard the voices in the room? She sort of froze and was lost in her own thoughts. That to me was a major hint that she knew and remembered something, but was in denial. I didn't catch any of this at first, but I watched it on T.V. the second time late at night, recorded it, and got it. Wow...Isn't it good? Please try to answer my question, anyone...I like these chat things!!!