The legend of under-sirens From time to time in different countries of the world pay attention to folklore monsters and monsters, telling about witches, trolls, leprechauns, mermaids and other evil spirits. As an example – “Witch Hunters” with Gerard Butler, good old “Leprechaun”, domestic “Mermaid”. Lake of the Dead, the expected Yaga and some others. “Island” is a film where one of the characters are sirens – mythical creatures of pleasant female appearance, but with very vile thoughts. With their singing, they put the travelers-navigators to sleep and direct them to the rocks, and then death in the depths of the sea.
The events of this British film unfold on one of the islands, where three survivors of a shipwreck of men fall. The inhabitants of the island - two men and two women give them a place to sleep, take care of travelers, but at the same time behave strangely, cautiously looking at the windows and not letting the sailors go far. It's clear they're keeping a secret, but which one? And why somewhere in the distance is constantly heard sweet-sounding, but such a strange singing?
Had the director (Matthew Butler) focused on mythology, had he promoted the plot precisely around sirens as mythical creatures, had he added the related mystery of the island and the film would have turned out to be completely different in quality. More interesting and intriguing, more meaningful and meaningful. At first, when the viewer is immersed in gloomy events, while there are more questions than answers, watching The Island is quite interesting. But when events slide into the banal “dark mystery” that the director reveals, it becomes completely uninteresting what will happen next.
This mystery is too fresh and gray (like a fog enveloping an island) to pull on the legend of sirens. In addition, there is no connection between a mythical woman with a beautiful but deadly voice and a story that later became a secret of the inhabitants of the island. Personally, it remains unclear to me why the siren was chosen as the monster for this film. Why not a ghost or a demon? Because it's set on an island, and that's why the maritime theme is closer in spirit? So with the same success, a forest leopard could become a monster, because there are many trees on the island, where this monster could live?!
Judging by what we saw here, the film is just more drawn to the story of a ghost and the obsession with him by one of the characters, which is why danger lies in wait for other characters both on land and on water. If we recall the images of sirens from ancient Greek myths, they, as it turns out, have nothing to do with the local creatures except singing. But is it possible to call a dog a wolf just because of the gray color of the coat? There must be other features of this beast.
Maybe the impression of the film would have remained more positive, did not weave the director into the plot of the banal theme, from which all the myth and folklore filled flew into the trumpet.
But look at you. I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
Enjoy your visit.
4 out of 10