Ringu
by Hideo Nakata
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Actor: Hitomi Satô, Miki Nakatani, Nanako Matsushima, Yôichi Numata, Yûko TakeuchiDirector: Hideo Nakata
Producer: Makoto Ishihara
Producer: Masato Hara
Producer: Shin'ya Kawai
Producer: Takashige Ichise
Producer: Takenori Sentô
Writer: Hiroshi Takahashi
Writer: Kôji Suzuki
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-03-04
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Dreamworks Video
DVD Reviews of Ringu
DVD Review: A Japanese Horror Classic
Summary: 4 Stars
I think it's difficult to write a review for this movie without comparing and contrasting it with the US remake, but I will do my best. In my opinion, neither film is perfect. Some things worked better in Ringu, and some things worked better in The Ring. But what I loved about both films is the way that both stories are different from each other, so that you can watch both and get something out of each one.
The new trend of remaking Asian horror films seems to come from this movie. I can't understand why people get so upset about it, though. For one thing, before the remake, it was impossible to get the original in America. If you think this is such a great movie, why wouldn't you want more people to see it? Also, with all the films Hideo Nakata has made, this is by no means his best work. Most people I hear complaining about the American remake have never even seen anything else he's ever done. Most importantly, with this film in particular, a remake is a very fitting choice, because it actually fits into the context of the story. I can't elaborate on that, but when you see it, you'll understand what I mean.
The story centers around Asakawa, her son Yoichi, and her ex-husband Ryuji. Asakawa is a reporter investigating rumors surrounding a mysterious video tape that local youths have been saying will kill the viewer one week after watcing it. The inquiries take on a more personal meaning for her when her niece turns up dead under unexplained circumstances. After a bit of poking around, Asakawa finds herself in the presence of the killer videotape. So what does she do? Of course she watches it! Now that may not sound like the smart thing to do in a situation like this. At least the other unsuspecting victims watched it by mistake. But you know how those snoopy reporters are. If you found a copy of a videotape that killed people, wouldn't you at least want to know what was on it?
Unfortnunately, the payoff isn't that great. The videotape is a mishmash of weird yet boring images, and if I had turned in something like that for my experimental film project in "Film Analysis: Formalist and Feminist" class, I would not have passed. Once Asakawa has gotten over her initial curiosity, she freaks out and calls Ryuji to help her find out what she can do to break that curse.
The main problem I have with this film is the character of Ryuji. He is fascinating, and the actor playing him is very talented. However, his character has had such a great arc from the novel, to the film, to the remake, that it seems that the screenwriter didn't know what to do with him. In the novel, Asakawa is a man, and Ryuji is his detestable friend. He despises humankind, and entertains Asakawa with stories about breaking into women's houses and raping them. I think making Asakawa a female, and Ryuji her ex was a brilliant move. They've got seven days to find the origin of the video tape, which is not nearly long enough to reconcile their personal differences. However, his character had to undergo a great transformation between the novel and the film. If they had him be as reprehensible as he was in the book, a strong female like Asakawa never would have had anything to do with him. However, they had to keep some of his jerkiness in tact, because they were filming the sequel at the same time, and his evil nature played a part in it. (This is "Rasen," not "Ring 2." "Rasen" is based on the second novel, but the movie turned out so crappy that Nakata had to make his own alternate sequel, "Ring 2," which was a completely new idea.)
So Ryuji appears here as somewhat of a contradiction between two selves. And for some reason, they chose to give him psychic powers. His psychic abilities were not in the novel, and I don't think they added anything to the story. His powers allow the villian, a young woman named Sadako, to appear right in front of him when he's sitting on a park bench. He remains calm, and actually speaks to her. Then later, when they want to make him be scared, he is so scared that he can't move. The character is interesting, but disjointed. In the remake, the writer seemed to consider all of this, and made Noah, the ex, a complete flake, and somewhat of a coward. His contribution was his expertise in video equipment, not a staggering intellect.
It is difficult to say too much more about this film, as there is so much more to learn that I don't want to give away too soon. But what works here is that the story makes use of modern technology intertwined with a traditional ghost story. Televisions, VCR's, telephones, these are all modern inventions not usually associated with ghosts. We don't typically put ghosts and technology together because they are otherworldly in death, and it is assumed that they came from a more primitive time in life, before these things were invented. That's why a techno update of the ghost story works, because it scares us with things we never thought of as scary before.
If you are a fan of the recent wave of Japanese horror, or the American version of The Ring, you owe it to yourself to see this film. It should be noted that the famous scene near the end that everyone remembers from The Ring was not in the novel, but was an invention of Hideo Nakata.
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