No offense, but unless you read Gans' mind, I don't think he was just telling Jodelle that so that she could accept the part. If you don't mind, I'd like to know where these other sources are because all I found are interviews w/ Gans that have been posted online and of course, the DvD's Behind-the-Scenes featurette and none of those have any evidence of Gans or Jodelle confirming or denying that Dark Alessa isn't the devil.
These exact quotes are located in at least six different threads on this same board.
(Jodelle Ferland)
I also play Dark Alessa who is the bad part of Alessa.
Source:
http://www.jodelle-ferland.net/media/re ... hill02.php
(Jodelle Ferland)
Dark Alessa is sort of the bad part of Alessa, so that's why she's so scary and strange.
Source:
http://www.jodelle-ferland.net/media/tr ... rans01.php
(Christophe Gans)
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.
Source:
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=660 ... Id=1002415
(Christophe Gans)
Perhaps the common link between all the stories of the Silent Hill world is the concept that this is a place where both reality and personality can be split. I like the fact that this is where many dimensions intersect, and where you can exist on many planes. This fracturing between realities is reflected as a fracturing within a character. Characters can become multiple, like Mary and Maria in Silent Hill 2, and Alessa in SH1. Because this is such an abstract concept, this was the most challenging aspect of trying to adapt the game. The first game tells the amazing story of an adult woman who also exists as two little girls, good and bad doubles representing who she was when she was hurt.
We are forced to realize in Silent Hill that we can be our own devil, our own God. This very Asian perception is so completely different to the Anglo/Christian concept of God and the Devil as separate beings.
Source:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/sile ... ng_sil.php
(Christophe Gans)
When I was writing the script, I was wondering how I could find a little girl who would be able to act different incarnations of a same character. To play them, I needed a remarkably mature child.
Source:
http://www.silenthill-lefilm.com/
So basically, not only is he confirming that Alessa is split into three parts in these interviews (Sharon, Alessa, Dark Alessa), he's also saying that there's nothing Christian about the storyline of the film and outright defining 'the devil' as the dark side of the soul.
I read
this interview IGN had with him and it states something very interesting towards the end:
Gans says that his favorite scene involves a view into Heaven. "In the film, I have to transcribe Hell and Purgatory. The darkness is Hell and of course the foggy dimension is Purgatory. At one moment, I have to shoot something which looked like Heaven. I think it's my favorite sequence in the film…"
Unless you are seriously claiming that our world is literally Heaven, he's being metaphorical in that statement, as he is referring to our dimension as Heaven.
He gives a direct interpretation of what the dark world really is in this interview:
It's a town of people trapped in dark dreams, and she inflicts onto the town what those people did to her body. That is, to me, the meaning of the darkness. The appearance of the town is corrupted in the way that her own flesh was wounded.
Source:
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=660 ... Id=1002415
How is it literally hell if he's saying it's controlled by Alessa? Why would hell be composed of a single little girl's dark dreams? Do you realize that the concept of purgatory presented in the film is the opposite of that seen in the Bible, meaning that it's not meant to be literally Purgatory?
*sigh* Back to the Dark Alessa is/isn't the devil thing, I think I should be free to guess and interpret the ambiguity of a movie's ending.
The director has stated that it is a fact that there are no Christian beings in the film, making the film not ambiguous on that count.
I don't mean to bring religion in my interpretation, but when the movie has elements that delve into fanatical religious ideals and beliefs, it's a little hard not to. Yes, Dark Alessa is the evil of Alessa but I strongly feel that the devil manifested itself into this form ("I have many names....right now, I'm the dark part of Alessa."). I'm not trying to shove my opinion down people's throats or claim that it is the official "right" one because quite honestly, I don't think that's something that fans can do. Only the directors can confirm any of this.
As I just showed you, he has proven it. And he has also stated that the base religion of the film is one in which the concept of 'devil' is the dark side of the soul. In other words, there is no literal devil seen anywhere in the film.
I also disagree about the whole FAQs thing. I mean, who are we to say which one way is right and which one way is wrong? I mean, okay, I get if someone were to say something weird like, "Red Pyramid is the manifestation of cheese", then yeah, that'd be something to argue about. But I don't think we should have an FAQ that says that "this is the right answer because this fan says so". Who's anyone to judge? Isn't the whole point of a forum and discussion board to talk and discuss these topics openly with everyone? There are many ways to interpret things that may seem unclear or undefined ; that's what "ambiguity" means...and as far as I'm concerned, anything that's ambiguous and cryptic is anyone's ballgame
All of the things people are confused about that would warrant an FAQ (Sharon's identity, Dark Alessa's identity, the meaning of the alternate dimensions, whether the townspeople are dead or not) has been directly confirmed by the director. There is no ambiguity on any of these subjects. You yourself have proven why an FAQ is needed, as I have now had to post the exact same quotes yet again because someone didn't see them in the myriad of other threads they appear in.
One last thing, double posting is against the rules here.
