Reputable examples of the genre ‘Japanese horror’ include Ju-On and Dark Water.
In Ju-On a curse is present as conscious if immaterial being. The curse conceived of a grudge, is brought to life by a man who brutally murders his wife in her attic. Consequently, the house remains occupied with a phantasm, Kayako, which will not tolerate anyone entering the house. She seeks her vengeance by eradicating anyone entering the house in the same way her husband did to her; dragging them into her attic and murdering them. Kayako’s son, Toshio, whose death was elusive, appears as a motif. He is the most obtrusive hint that danger is close by. He appears on his own which symbolises family breakdown and reveals a sense of discomfort and concern.
In Dark Water a mother, Yoshimi, is under a great deal of stress; she is fighting to keep custody of her daughter, Ikuko, battling a divorce case and is trying to get her life back on track by getting a new job and moving into a new apartment. After moving into the new apartment, subtle hints reveal that in fact the place is homing something supernatural.
The movies share similar conventions. In Dark Water and Ju-On the faces of the supernatural beings are hidden. By doing this, the audience do not connect with the character and the character is portrayed as mysterious and dark. The audience are less likely to feel empathy towards something they cannot see. It makes the audience feel that the character has something to hide, that in fact they are pure evil. Additionally, the usage of light is eminently effective in both of the movies. In Ju-On the lighting is divine in the sense that it entrances the audience into believing the whole home is infected with a ghostly spirit. This is achieved by the dark spells and filtered blue lights. It makes it the perfect setting for a supernatural being to be lurking around. In Dark Water the lighting also worked equally as well. The dark, shadowy scenes always alerted the audience to be aware. The use of primary colours worked well too, the yellow coat and the recurring red bag. Primary colours work well because they are dominant and important; these signs were dominant and important.
Both of the movies start with an establishing shot focusing on ‘home’. There is a sense of irony here as ‘home’ is supposed to be somewhere people feel safe and secure but not in these movies. The ‘home’ seems to create more problems. Dark Water starts with a mother and daughter rushing off home trying escape the pouring rain falling down on them. As they reach their apartment the rain seems to have followed them inside, water is leaking and they seem incapable of escaping from the water.
The establishing shot is of a mother and daughter looking up to a building. The building is presented as a tall, towering construction leaning over the helpless victims entering it. Immediately, the building has an unpleasant stigma attached to it. This building is revealed to be a future home. The building seems to dismiss the true values of a home; it’s not a warm, inviting dwelling but a dark, eerie place.
This scene is accompanied by non-harmonious, discordant and non-diagetic music. The murmur of deep sounds builds up tension in the atmosphere. The sound is unsettling and unnatural; it is subliminally pushing the connotation of supernaturalism. This effect was created to build up suspense and make the audience feel as though they know something out of the ordinary is going to happen.
Mitsuko’s presence is displayed in many forms by the movie maker Hideo Nakata throughout the movie before her appearance. The signifiers of Mitsuko are effective because the audience are left in suspense waiting for the mystery to unravel and are constantly captivated by the reoccurring motifs. One of the most lucid motifs of Mitsuko’s existence is the yellow coat. Amongst the dark, eerie atmosphere this bright coat portrays change and importance. Also, the reoccurring red bag that keeps appearing every time Yoshimi tried to get rid of it shows that Mitsuko is persistent; she won’t give up. Other signifiers which aren’t as apparent include footsteps, shadows and posters. The prime motif was the presence of water. Whenever the water is present the music accompanying the scene is discordant and non-diagetic implying that evil is present or close by. These sounds add to the tension creating an unearthly feel.
M R James wrote, “Two ingredients most valuable in the concocting of a ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere and the nicely managed crescendo.” He believed that building up to the climax slowly and effectively then revealing the mystery is a very important quality in a horror movie.
Dark Water follows this model as the build up is slow and unobtrusive at first with the motifs and when we do reach a climax it is apparent as the music changes and the whole atmosphere becomes tenser.
The build up is most successful in Dark Water in the bathroom scene. Ikuko moves towards the sink and turns the tap. She sees hair in the sink. The reaction shot captures her reaction as she drops the glass and moves back quickly. The tap continues to run. Elsewhere, Yoshimi is near the water tank. It is indented, the result of which seems incapable of creation by any mere human. A high angle shot of Yoshimi shows she is being watched. Meanwhile, back in the bathroom Ikuko is watching the bath fill with dirty water, she tries to turn the tap but it seems to be stuck. The bath overflows with dirty water and bubbles appear. A high angle shot is in place when Ikuko is grabbed by the head and forcefully pushed under water. This shows that something was watching her. A low angle shot captures her struggling.
Throughout this scene the music plays an effective role; as the build up to the crescendo occurs the music gets louder and faster showing that something extreme was taking place, placing great emphasis on the importance of this scene.
Using the reaction shot the audience managed to sense Ikuko’s fear. By using the high angle shot the audience were aware of the eerie presence which loomed through the scenes. The audiences response to this would be that they would feel tension as the build up reached the crescendo and they would feel sorry for Ikuko witnessing such a situation. Also, they will feel shocked as they probably didn’t think that Ikuko would get pulled into the water.
Hideo Nakata placed great emphasis on the tension in this movie as he probably had the same beliefs as M. R James, that building up the tension then revealing the threat was an effective way to keep the audience drawn to the movie.
Both Ju-On and Dark water end with the death of the central characters, this is not what audiences would usually expect. This is because in most movies it’s always the good character that defeats the bad character.
Yoshimi dies in Dark Water because she realises she would have to sacrifice her own life in aid of Ikuko having a chance of survival; she knew Mitsuko would not give in.
Throughout the movie it seems as though bad luck seems to follow Yoshimi; first her divorce, then her custody battle and settling into a strange apartment. Throughout the movie it seems as though she is being followed by an undying spirit, the high angle camera shots represent this. Yoshimi’s death is consistent with the language of the movie.
One of the most heartfelt scenes was the final scene in which Ikuko desperately wanted her mother but her mother, Yoshimi, was with Mitsuko. The imagery of water surrounding Ikuko displayed one of the movies main motifs, badness being present. In this case was the fact that Ikuko’s mother was hugging this freak of a girl rather then her own daughter. Although the reasoning’s behind this were sincere, the audience felt a great deal of sympathy towards the little girl.
Dark Water is showing the bad side of Japan which is often sheltered. It indicates the common problems which are often hidden. They are often hidden because Japanese society is strict and orderly. It is now becoming very modern and urban, a paradox as there are many old suspicious beliefs in place, although, Japan it self is quite modern, there is a clash. Honour and respect are key points in Japanese society. There is a worry that younger generations will dismiss these values and the older generations will look down upon this. Dark Water presents to us that although Japan seems to come across as an almost ‘perfect’ society it experiences problems like any other society such as child abuse, neglection, divorce and adultery.
In conclusion, I found this movie successful in sustaining the mystery and the build up was good too. This movie was a change to the typical movie in which the evil character is defeated and the good character lives on as a hero. This excited the viewer as they did not know what was coming next. Also, the lack of clarity is effective. Going back to the words of Tzvetan Todorov, there is an uncertainty and the audience do think twice on the happenings of this movie. Hideo Nakata achieved portraying the breakdown of Japanese culture effectivly in the form of child neglection and divorce. This would schock conventional veiwers. All in all, the movie captivates veiwers, keeps them glued to their seats and gives them a whole new insight on Japanese society with a unique twist.
SHAISTA!
