FAQ for
Silent Hill (2006)

Gucci is supposed to have aged throughout the course of the film. The same actor was used, with only subtle makeup and hair changes to indicate he was younger (darker, thicker hair and smoother looking skin), shown in flashback and only briefly, thus creating confusion among some people with regards to this issue. From these stills (courtesy of SugrNSpyce),the difference is much more apparent:

1974: http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/6541/gucciyoungks2.jpg

2004: http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/4804/guccioldai5.jpg

Beyond the pictures, there's no doubting Gucci is a real person functioning within a real Police Department. We have police statements from 1974, and interviews from 1995 that we see in the film, as well as characters that interact with and know him (the Nun, the police officers, and Cybil) all of whom would have noticed, and probably reacted, if he hadn't aged.

For the same reason they couldn't throughout the film. Christopher was unable to see Rose at Midwich Elementary, because they are on different 'dimensional levels.' The same is true at the film's end. Christopher's version of reality is what we perceive to be the "real world". Just as in that case, Rose opens doors in Christopher's world, but can't get in. Though many viewers have interpreted this scene to indicate that Rose is dead at the film's end, interviews with the director suggest that this may not be the case (see below); her character may be used in the sequel.

No, the Cult depicted is an entirely new one, as has been affirmed by director Christophe Gans.

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"There isn't just one Cult in Silent Hill. Why? Because what we wanted to do with the movie, and we probably were a bit ambitious, was to open the Silent Hill mythology, to open as many leads as possible." -Christophe Gans

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Original Text:http://blogs.allocine.fr/blogs/index.blog?blog=allocine&themeID=3307 Translation:http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-345768.html

The main difference between the film and the games is the Cult and its leadership. The cult, known as the Order, believes in a God they call "The Holy Mother" or "The Lord of Serpents and Reeds". Their opponents called this deity "Samael". In the games, it is Dahlia Gillespie burns her daughter Alessa alive, as part of a ritual to bring about the God's reincarnation on Earth. She chooses Alessa because at a young age, she exhibits extreme psychic powers. In Silent Hill 3, it is revealed that "she could kill people with her mind." The ritual goes awry, and Alessa barely clings to life with only the half of the God's soul is reborn inside her. As a result, half of Alessa's soul is reincarnated as a baby later found and adopted by Harry Mason, and named "Cheryl".

On the brink of death, Alessa is kept alive unnaturally by her mother, in hopes that her pain and suffering will attract the other half of the God's soul. She is kept alive secretly in the hospital basement due to the efforts of Dr. Kauffman, Dahlia's partner in a drug-running business that also helps to fund the Order's activities. Though she has been previously led to believe she will be released from the hospital after her convalescence, Alessa realizes the extent of Dahlia's plot 7 years later. Determined to prevent the God's Birth, she summons Cheryl, her other half, back to the town so that once fully reunified, she can manifest her powers, and kill herself. Harry, unaware of all of this, tries to find and save his daughter who has become lost in Silent Hill (or so he thinks), while Alessa tries to prevent him from discovering the truth throughout the course of the game.

In the end it is revealed that this reunion was inevitable, and moreover, was monitored by Dahlia herself, who had been using Harry to methodically seal Alessa's powers. Dahlia actually succeeds in raising the God who ironically kills Dahlia instead of rewarding her. However, having beeen born from this botched ritual, the God is weak and is killed by Harry. As Alessa lays dying, she is once again reborn as an infant, whose care she again entrusts to Harry, having proven himself a worth parent. This baby later grows up to be known as Heather, the lead protagonist of Silent Hill 3, the game that is the direct sequel to these events. http://www.translatedmemories.com/bookpgs/Pg08-09AlessasHistory.jpg

Pending another announcement, it appears there won't be one. Gans has said specifically that the film released was his Director's Cut, and there are no plans to release another DVD:

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"Just to clarify that the film you will see is the Director's Cut and has not been compromised in length or content. The only person who is disappointed that it is my cut is the guy doing the DVD."

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However, we can expect a Collector's Edition DVD to be released sometime between 2008 - 2009, also according to Gans:

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"The Collector's Edition DVD of Silent Hill will exist one day, but not for a long time. I left the project to prepare for my next film, Onimusha, and I won't be able to return to the Silent Hill Collector's Edition until I'm done with that film. That is to say, not before two and half to three years."

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(Sources: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/silenthill/productiondiary/archives/2006/04/on_making_the_f.php & http://www.dvdrama.com/news.php?18185&page=1)

Having the characters, especially Rose, die at the beginning of the film negates the purpose of bringing her to Silent Hill in the first place: Alessa appears to need a living host to gain access to the Church. With reference to the end of the film, it's safe to say Cybil is dead, and that Sharon has ceased to exist in a manner of speaking, but the question remains with regards to Rose.

To this question, in talking about possibly using her in a sequel, director Christophe Gans seems to be giving an affirmative 'no': "There is a very interesting phenomenon in "Silent Hill" : You don't die. It's a zone between life and the death. One does not die, but one is subjected to a metamorphosis. If one day I make a Silent Hill 2 following on this one, I will address this metamorphosis.*" Given that he qualified his statement by saying "You don't die", it is probably safe to assume that he did not intend it to be taken as traditional a transformation as death into a typical afterlife (Heaven, Hell, etc).

*Source: http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-345768.html

In the film, Dark Alessa tells us that Sharon is "all that's left of (Alessa's) goodness." Simply put, Sharon has no human father. However, many viewers mistakenly leave the film with impression that Colin, the Janitor, is her father because he is implied to have molested Alessa. If this were the case, then it follows that Sharon's birth should follow similarly natural circumstances. As is shown in the film, they do not.

Alessa is assaulted by Colin, the Janitor, in 1974 when she was 9, shortly before her burning, and the concurrent burning of Silent Hill. The events of the film that we see take place in 2004, during which Sharon is also said to be 9 years old. This means she was born in 1995. So for Sharon to be the product of the Janitor's assault on Alessa, it would mean that Alessa was able to conceive at age nine, which is statistically rare, and was somehow able to defy all of human history and remain pregnant for 21 years. Here's why that's obviously not the case:

According to US Department of Health, the average age women begin menstruation is 12, but it is possible anywhere between age 8 and 16*. So for Sharon to have been Alessa and the Janitor's biological daughter, Alessa would have to...

A) Be a statistical anomally in that she's able to conceive at 4 years below the average.

B) Have the incredible ability to maintain that pregnancy despite the physical trauma of receiving 3rd Degree Burns over what looks to be 100% of the her body - a circumstance under which women twice and triple her age would most likely miscarry.

C) Be a biological anomally in the whole Animal Kingdom, in that she gestates for over 21 years before giving birth, surpassing the current record holder, the Spiny Dogfish, who only makes it for 22-24 months.

(Source: http://www.4woman.gov/faq/menstru.htm#6)

As in the games, Alessa's father remains unidentified. In the film, the mystery surrounding her paternity is a large part of why she is singled out for persecution by the Cult. Alessa's father was not revealed during the course of this film, nor has it been commented on by anyone affiliated with the production.

While some viewers leave the film with that impression, the answer, according to director Christophe Gans, is that she is a doppelganger ("a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person") of Alessa herself:

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"If we want to explain what happened with Alessa, we are dealing with the theme of doppelgangers. For every fan that has read the synopsis of the first game's story in the strategy guide of Silent Hill 3, they all know that we are dealing with doppelgangers--and it's a very cross-cultural concept, both Japan and Europe have this myth. But in Japan, it means that every character has aspects of a God and aspects of a devil inside them. It's a very shocking concept if we attempt to transpose that into a North American, traditionally Christian perspective. The line between good and evil is much more clearly in North America, especially today. And here we are dealing with a character who has the capacity to split, and when you realize that Alessa is no longer one character, but many, it explains the story of the town. It's interesting because the town itself mirrors this fractured psychology--different dimensions, different doubles of the same person." - Christophe Gans, Director, Silent Hill

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Source: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=6605116&publicUserId=1002415

A Wikipedia Plot Synopsis can be found here, written by another author and validated as a "Good Article" by Wikipedia for its factual accuracy, that provides a very thorough explanation of Dark Alessa's character, and her place within the film. Unnecessary edits to this now archived article, including those that conflict with the verified material, are considered vandalism.

Fans of the game will immediately recognize the transition between the Foggy World of Silent Hill into the Otherworld as being controlled by Alessa. While in the game, Alessa created these transitions to preclude Harry Mason from stopping her from reuniting with Cheryl, Sharon's counterpart in the games, in order to foil Dahlia's plans, in the film they take on a darker meaning: they are said to be instances of Alessa trying to take her revenge on the Cult, as well as 'testing' Rose to see if she'll eventually assist her with her plight. Director Christophe Gans has commented that within the context of the film, the Foggy World represents Purgatory, and the Otherworld (or 'Darkness' as it is refered to in the film) represents Hell.

Gans also remarked that the opening scene of Rose and Sharon napping under a tree represents a version of Paradise not shown in the game. This was influenced by his strong and as yet unfulfilled desire to have children. Gans also remarked that having Rose and Sharon leave this space at the movie's beginning is representative of "Paradise being lost".

Source: http://thebitterend.50webs.com/news/christophe_gans.htm

Source: http://www.konami.com/Konami/ctl3810/cp22600/si1588431/cl1/silent_hill_experience#features

Source: http://horror.about.com/od/movierelated/a/int_sh_gans_4.htm

Speculation abounds over what happens at the end of the film. While the director has stated that this is meant to be the first in a series of films, he has also said that the sequel be "unrelated to the events of the first film", and will most likely be an adaptation of the second Silent Hill game. For this reason, it is unknown if we'll ever receive an official answer on the subject. From what's shown in the film, we can however deduce the following:

Rose assisted Alessa in getting her revenge on the Cult, but as a result, she effectively ended her daughter's life, which was more accurately a "dream of life" which Dark Alessa tells us "must end". Sharon reunifies with her other self when she sees Dark Alessa ascend the ladder in the church balcony, despite her mother's warning to not open her eyes. This is evident at the end for three reasons:

1. The looks exchanged between Dahlia and Sharon/Alessa, as she leaves the Church.

2. The fact that Sharon/Alessa starts the car with her mind when Rose can't and makes the Road magically appear. After all, Dahlia tells us early on that "Only the Dark One opens and closes the door to Silent Hill."

3. The way Sharon/Alessa looks at Rose as she enters what she believes to be her house, and also the way she glares into the camera at the end.

In the end of the film, both Alessa and Rose remain trapped in the Foggy Dimension of Silent Hill. But have both not gotten exactly what they wanted throughout the course of the film: Rose, a daughter and Alessa, a loving mother, both bound to the other for eternity?

A similar analysis can be found on Wikipedia.

Other people interpreted Gans' comments in a previous interview (which he falsely claims state that "the scenes in which Rose and Sharon are united represent paradise") as supporting that Rose and Sharon have died and gone to heaven.

It has been stated by the director that the monsters are open to a variety of interpretations:

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"I think that every interpretation is possible. The easiest and most basic explanation of course is that the monsters are victims of the vengeance of Alessa. Grotesque figures of doomed people. People in hell. Another explanation is that they are hallucinations. Monsters coming from the psyche of the protagonists. eg: The Mumblers, small child like creatures ( that we call the Greychildren in the movie,) Harry Mason meets them as does Rose as they search for their little girls. They are not only the twisted figures that inhabit Silent Hill but the reflections of the fear and anxiety of these desperate parents. The only concrete exception I have made in revealing the origins of a creature is a new monster we created called the Janitor. We see him as a human being (in the past), we see him dead (in the foggy world) and we see him as a monster (in the darkness.) This is one of the explanations of our work. I have said many times Silent Hill is a place where dimensions cross and you can exist in different manifestations. The Janitor is a great example of this concept. "

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(source:http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/silenthill/productiondiary/archives/2006/04/on_interpreting.php)

In both the film and the games, monsters inhabit both the "Foggy" and "Otherworld" Dimensions of Silent Hill. After the transformation into the Otherworld takes place, their influence simply becomes stronger. Because very few scenes featuring the monsters in the "Foggy" Dimension made the final cut of the film, this may not be clear to a viewer without prior knowledge of the games.

While the supernatural and religious elements of Silent Hill are fictional, the story of a town ravaged by the fires of its own mining industry is true. Centralia, Pennsylvania was a coal mining community of some 1,000 people. In 1962, a trash fire set in an abandoned mine site ignited a dormant vein of coal. Fumes from the underground blaze, cracks and sinkholes formed in the unstable earth, and other problems eventually led to the evacuation of the town. Although millions of dollars were spent trying to extinguish the blaze, it still burns beneath the town, making it nearly uninhabitable. Despite this fact, some residents, including the town's longtime mayor, remain firmly grounded in Centralia.

One of Silent Hill's screenwriters, Roger Avary, encountered the story of the town while working on revising the screenplay and incorporated elements of its history into the film. (Source: http://silenthill.ugo.com/features/realsilenthill/default.asp)

Director Christophe Gans, an avid fan of the game series, was interested in remaining faithful to both the tone and mythology of the games, but has acknowledged the difficulty of this task:

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One guarantee that fans can have, is that it's much easier to adapt Doom, even if it is a disaster, as we've seen a month before, then adapt Silent Hill. If you want to adapt Silent Hill, and you're not ready to face all of the complexity of the story, it's just too much. For a lazy director, like the one who directed Doom, simply Silent Hill would be too big of a piece to swallow. I dreamed of adapting this game when I first started playing Silent Hill six years ago. I prepared myself for six years to do this job, knowing that every fan in the world would wait for me with an axe. I will be sniped when I go to buy my games at my favorite store if I do a bad job. And I understand that, I'm a fan of the game myself...I admire the work of Akira and his friends, and I feel very much like someone who joined the group and tried to transport that amazing piece of art into a different medium."

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The film itself is largely based on the plot of the first Silent Hill game, with several important differences. The gender of the main character has been switched. The cult in the film has different motivations than that in the game series (see above). The resolution of the storyline is also significantly different. Elements of Silent Hill 2, such as some of the monsters, have also been included in the film. Gans, who saw this film as the first installment of a series, is interested in returning to the franchise with an adaptation of Silent Hill 2, his favorite of the four current games. interview source: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=6605116&publicUserId=1002415

From Akira Yamaoka, Musical Composer and Executive Producer of both the film and Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4 console titles:

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"After seeing the film, I think that Christophe has really expressed the elements of Silent Hill, and he's really kept the themes alive in this new medium. Silent Hill is not just a horror game, there is human drama rooted very deeply in the story, and I feel that he expressed that very well with the visuals, sounds, and atmosphere in the film. By watching the film, I feel that you'll get a clearer and deeper understanding of the world of Silent Hill, more so than simply playing the games....I'll probably be very influenced by Christophe's film. I don't like to call my work "videogames," I prefer to call it "interactive entertainment." And Silent Hill is one of the titles that I've worked upon where I tried to take that approach, and after seeing this work on the film, I've witnessed many ideas that I can use in my future works."

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(Source: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=6605116&publicUserId=1002415) Two of the creators of the original Silent Hill title (Makoto Yano and Keiichiro Toyama), both no longer affiliated with the series, are not known to have commented publicly on the film.

Yes! As of December 2006, Gans announced officially that a sequel is in the early planning stages. He was quoted as saying that "having spent a lot of energy organizing a complex mythology that is not known general public" including "the passage of one dimension to the other, Alessa's History, and the theme of the doubles"; he would love to return to the series.

However, Gans did go on to qualify his statement, saying he might not be able to direct the sequel personally, because of his involvement with the adaptation of another Konami Video Game, Onimusha. Sony Pictures has told Samuel Hadida that "it is important that film have the same visual 'feel' as the first movie", and that the film's original audiences not feel cheated." To this end, Gans has promised to remain involved with the sequel's production however possible, and also recommended that a European, or preferably fellow French Director, be hired to take up his mantle.

A Soundtrack Listing that specifically notes when each song played in the film can be found at right here on the IMDb.

A more complete soundtrack listing can be found on Wikipedia.