Based on Koji Suzuki’s short story ‘Lemon Heart’, the prequel begins three decades prior to the events of Ring and Ring 2.
A 19 years old Sadako (Yukie Nakama) has recently moved to the mainland and joined a theatrical troupe. A deeply troubled childhood, however, and the beginnings of strange goings-on amongst the troupe of actors, steadily maligns all around her but for Hiroshi Toyama (Seiichi Tanabe), with whom she falls in love. Toyama is likewise taken with the painfully withdrawn Sadako, to the chagrin of costume designer Etsuko Tachihara (Kumiko Aso).
Meanwhile, a reporter by the name of Akiko Miyaji (Yoshiko Tanaka) is looking for Sadako, hell-bent on exposing the girl as the cause of some twenty deaths, including that of her husband.
In leading up to the events that saw Sadako entombed at the bottom of a well by her foster father Dr. Ikuma Heihachiro (Daisuke Ban), we learn that she has a dark secret in the shape of a second self – that is, a manifestation more akin to her true father’s nature.
A New Vision for the Ring Cycle
Director Norio Tsuruta and screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi bring a revision of Nakata’s work to the screen, which again is only very loosely based on the source material by Koji Suzuki.
This different approach works surprisingly well, managing to create a stand-alone story that feels very much like a dream sequence (the kind of dreams-of-the-past that you might have, say, if you were trapped down a well for thirty odd years). It does this by the use of one of it’s central subjects – that of the theatre troup – with the whole film having a very theatrical slant in it’s storytelling and acting. It’s quite ingenious, but is not taken to the depths of something like a certain Tom Stoppard play.
Ring 0 also foregoes the rough, dark visuals of the previous films (particularly the first) with it’s clarity and predominantly day-lit scenes, which contrast the future bleakness of a cursed world. Many scenes here are lush and beautifully shot throughout.
Two Sadako’s?
Some fans may object to the partial re-treatment of Sadako’s past, though they are mostly minor changes - except, of course, for the fact that there are two Sadako’s in this prequel. This, in effect, was a dichotomization of the two sides to Sadako’s parentage - that of the mortal, though psychic and later insane, Shizuko and her unknown ocean-god/demon father.
It is clearly a device to show that Sadako did indeed once have a very human side, which at one time did not physically co-exist with her inhuman, demi-god aspect (also providing the very moving touch that the human Sadako could, in fact, utilize her own abilities benevolently, but for the persecution that would ultimately damn her and her victims).
While this development leaves a vast array of new questions in the viewer’s thoughts, it is handled well enough and is reminiscent of medieval beliefs that people are sometimes accompanied by a dark spirit (often a ‘Black Dog’ or the Devil himself in European history).
The Face of Sadako - Yukie Nakama
As a stand-alone film, Ring 0 is better structured than Ring 2 and manages to convey a very different Sadako with terrific sympathy and care. This is due in large part to Yukie Nakama, who plays Sadako with so much tenderness and shyness that it is impossible not to love her.
Meanwhile, Inuo Rie also reprises her role as the faceless form of Sadako to majestic effect.
Without a doubt, the final scene of Ring 0, in which we see and hear a screaming Sadako being entombed, is one of the most powerful endings you will ever see. It is both heart-breaking and terrifying (feeding brilliantly as it does off of what we know will eventually come back out) and will stay with you for a long while.
Happy Birthday Sadako.
- Producer: Shinji Ogawa, Masao Nagai, Takashige Ichise
- Director: Norio Tsuruta
- Screenplay: Hiroshi Takahashi
- Starring: Yukie Nakama, Seiichi Tanabe, Yoshiko Tanaka, Daisuke Ban, Kumiko Aso
- Distributor: Toho Company Ltd
- Released: January 2000 (Japan)
- Running Time: 99 mins
