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Hideo Nakata's Ring: Film ReviewThe Film that Ushered in a New Era of Japanese HorrorThe adaptation of Koji Suzuki's trilogy of novels Ring, Spiral and Loop that gave us the iconic Yamamura Sadako and took the East by storm.
The plot of the japanese Ring follows the investigation of reporter Asakawa Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) into the mysterious death of her niece and how it is connected to the deaths of several other teenagers with whom she spent a weekend. Asakawa soon hears the story of a video-tape that leaves anyone who watches it with seven days to live. Following in her niece’s steps, she discovers the infamous footage, sees it for herself, and is then convinced of it’s veracity. Asakawa then enlists the aid of ex-husband Takayama Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), who also watches the tape to help her interpret it’s bizarre string of images. They are then led deeper into the history of one Yamamura Sadako in a bid to end the curse. The trouble is, however, that the closer they get to the truth about Sadako, the tighter her grip on their fate becomes. The Ring Virus Begins with a Cursed Video-tapeIt is only with a little time that you can appreciate just how good this film is. That’s because there are deeply subversive elements in the telling of the story; a certain conditioning of the viewer that subtly creeps up behind you before hitting home. What may initially strike some western viewers as odd is the seemingly natural assumption that some of us are born with psychic abilities, of which Asakawa and, in particular, Takayama are ‘blessed’. This is lacking in Suzuki’s novels and was most likely introduced by Nakata as a way to move along the story without resorting to more traditional and time-consuming methods. As it happens, it is also a very good way to trigger psychic ‘flashes’ into the past, where we see a young Sadako with her disturbed mother Shizuko (Masako) and foster father, as well as the tragic and violent beginnings of her curse on mankind. Ring never once resorts to the clichéd blood ‘n guts routine of most horror films, instead utilizing a steadily growing tension in proportion to the ticking by of seven days and the constant feeling of Sadako’s omnipresence. Ring Sequels and the American Re-makeRing was originally released in Japan with a Korean-made companion sequel, called Rasen (a.k.a Spiral). However, Rasen took a very different approach to the material and created a very different Sadako (in many ways closer to the literary creation, but not nearly so effective). When it became apparent that Nakata’s version was much preferred, a second sequel was issued and we soon had Ring 2. This was later followed by Ring 0: Birthday, a prequel by Norio Tsuruta. Despite a sparkling reception in the West, the american re-make does not match up to the rawness and beauty of the original. The first re-make by Gore Verbinski was an above-par attempt with some nice touches, while the sequel – directed, bizarrely, by Hideo Nakata himself - was nothing short of an embarrassment, up to and including the hollywood-esque one-liner that concluded the oh-so-cringworthy final scene. Yamamura Sadako – the Queen of HorrorPhysically, Sadako was portrayed brilliantly by Inuo Rie, who with some old-fashioned camera-trickery captured the jerky, broken movements of the dead girl to skin-crawling effect. From a creative standpoint, the image of Sadako is sublimely simple, profoundly effective, and (in a perverse sort of way) stunningly beautiful. We’ve all heard the adage that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there’s nothing left to take away, and that is what Sadako represents – maximum effect through minimum effort. Credit for that goes not to her original creator, writer Koji Suzuki – whose novels lack an actual manifestation but for her human ‘clones’ – but rather to director Hideo Nakata, who has achieved something very special with the source material. The reason it all works so well, of course, is due to the ingenious nature of Sadako’s vengeance, which casts her shadow over every single scene in the film, only to be so gloriously revealed - for less than a minute of screen-time – in the famous conclusion. True horror-movie fans finally have a character worth their twisted adoration, while the likes of Krueger, Vorhees and Myers are rendered mere lackeys who sold their souls to the corporate devil a long time ago. Bow before your new Queen boys, because this girl is the real deal.
The copyright of the article Hideo Nakata's Ring: Film Review in Horror Films is owned by Michael Pantazi. Permission to republish Hideo Nakata's Ring: Film Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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