Dark Water

Dark Water is a Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata (Ringu, Ringu 2, Death Note: L Change the World & most recently Words With Gods) about a leaky apartment. Yoshimi Matsubara (Hitomi Kuroki) has been going through a divorce and her child is caught in the crossfire between her mother and father. During this time, Ikuko (Rio Kanno) and her mother move into an apartment; however, it is a little leaky. Not to mention there have been some strange things afoot.The film barely has a soundtrack which builds tension really well and when there is not much sound, the smallest things make you jump. This is why I love Japanese horror, they are usually filled with Shintoism, have very realistic makeup effects and are genuinely scary (most of the time)! American films hardly phase me anymore. Ghosts and monsters are in your face all the time! Whereas Japanese horror films--especially Dark Water, Ringu, Ju-On to name a few--tend to keep the gore, ghosts and goblins tucked away until the very end. This is what made the original Ju-On so suspenseful and creepy: the big reveal. Dark Water is along the same lines when it comes to scary-time. The atmosphere feels real and seeing character development in a horror film is great for a change. When you’re overwhelmed by monsters and gore for the better half a film, you are not focused on characters; however, if you are not focused on all the creepy aesthetics it forces the writers and directors to flesh out the characters.As far as story goes, Dark Water has a different kind of ghost story to present, which surprised me. However, part of the big reveal can be called within the first ten minutes. This is okay, but when Ringu had you wondering for the latter part of the film--unless you got to that film late and everyone had spoiled it for you--Dark Water becomes a bit of a let down. Don’t get me wrong, Dark Water is a great film and is totally worth your time, just don’t go in expecting Ju-On or Chakushin ari (One Missed Call).However, I’ve noticed a trend in most Japanese entertainment. Their stories seem to revolve around loss and failure a lot. Dark Water surprised me with it’s sentimental mother/daughter appeal, but Ringu 2 had a similar drive to its narrative. Looking back, the film really seems to be about protection--as in a mother protecting her child from harm! Just thought I’d clear that up for all the perverts of the internet. When viewed in the correct context, Dark Water is an amazing, heart wrenching and suspenseful title you won’t soon forget.

I've seen this movie a few times, and remains to be one of my favorite from the J-Horror fad of the early 2000s. Simply put it's a story of a mother trying to get custody of her daughter from her husband while they are going through a divorce. We learn little to nothing about the husband, which is done intentionally making it so we have to form our options about him based on the mother's interpretations rather then being about the form our own. Where this gets complicated is that the main antagonist "ghost" in the film balance on the fine line of being real and vengeful like any normal ghost movie, or psychosomatic and entirely delusional.And this is at the core, what i love about this film, and each time i watch it i like to judge weather the mother is actually seeing the ghost or not, and i find i can easily go either way depending on my own experience of the film during that viewing.Just to note, this film is creepy, slow and much more in tune with the old classic 50s black and white horror films rather then the new gore feast that litter the pop culture of horror movies.As for this Blu Ray transfer, the image quality isn't amazing, yes better then the Bootleg I picked up in Asia, but is grainy and makes it feel like it was shot with incredibly slow film at all times. which might be true, but that said the extras are awesome. Interviews galore, and ever aa excerpt from one of my favorite j-horror film historians for the booklet.

I have gotten to the point in watching horror films that when I watched the American production "Dead Birds" I was wondering if this was another adaptation of a Japanese horror film. Apparently the Japanese approach to the genre, which has become well established on this side of the Pacific because of the success of "The Ring" (nee "Ringu") and "The Grudge" (nee "Ju-on"). However, with "Dark Water" ("Honogurai mizu no soko kara") I found myself thinking how different this 2002 effort from director Hideo Nakata (who did the "Ringu" films) from contemporary American efforts in a different way. Too many American horror films go the route of "Jeepers Creepers," where there is a pretty good set up and then the film goes down hill and the payoff is disappointing in the extreme. But with "Dark Water" I was not overly captivated by the set up, but found that the payoff really hit home.At this point let me warn you that when you start watching "Dark Water" on DVD it goes right into the dubbed English track, at which point I start having flashes back to all of the badly dubbed Japanese movies I grew up on (which inevitably leads to thoughts of Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lily?"). My strong recommendation is to stop the film and make sure you have the original Japenese language track and the English captions. Fans of the horror genre should be at the point where they can appreciate the natural language and rhythm of Japanese cast. Most of the key sequences here do not require you to do a lot of reading so it is not a great sacrifice and the nuances of the culture are totally lost in the dubbed version.Yoshimi Matsubara (Hitomi Kuroki) has divorced her husband and is in a custody battle for her six year old daughter, Ikuko (Rio Kanno). In an attempt to make a new start, mother and daughter move into an apartment, where strange things start happening. The weirdest are the huge water stains that appear on the ceiling and start dripping away and the red children's bag that start popping up every place Yoshimi goes. Then the dead child to whom the bag belongs starts showing up as well. So we have what we would now be thinking of as your basic Japanese ghost story. But there is a bit more going on here as well.You see, Yoshimi has some trouble being a working mom. She needs a job to survive, and too often Ikuko gets lost in the shuffle, which sometimes means the kids is left standing outside her kindergarten waiting for her mother when all of the other kids have left. As you would anticipate, there is an attendant irony in this as well. But the pressure is getting to Yoshimi who thinks that she is slowly going insane, which works well given all of the above. Characters in these sorts of movies often get so scared that they might go insane, complete with wild eyes and mad cackling, but you do not have them questioning their sanity as often."Dark Water" is a less complicated and more subtle horror story than "The Ringu," which is the obvious point of comparison since Nakata and his co-screenwriter Takashige Ichise did both films (the story here is from a novel by Kôji Suzuki. So it is inevitable that this film seems a lesser effort, but that does not really take away from its effectiveness. When we got to the conclusion I found that I liked what happened, and when the inevitable epilogue reinforced the fact, I liked it even more. I do not think this is a great horror film, but I think it is a solid one and I certainly liked it more than the original "Ju-on."

You just gotta watch this one, forget the review lol just trust me.

Good movie for my collection

Following his success with Koji Suzuki’s Ring series, Hideo Nakata had all the good reasons to adapt another story from that great author. And for this third collaboration, it would be a retelling of the novella Dark Water. A story about Yoshimi Matsubara, a divorced mother who works as proofreader and is struggling to keep the leadership on her daughter Ikuko.Following a tumultuous divorce and attorney fights with her ex-husband, it is up to Yoshimi to find a new home. So she settles in a run-down apartment block, inside a humid apartment where she realizes water keeps dripping from its upper levels, and where the water they drink is unfiltered. A situation that leaves indifferent the Apartment Tenant, which frustrates further Yoshimi. Though what is even more intriguing is how she keeps finding a red school bag around the building. A bag that constantly attracts the attention of Ikuko, while her mother notices more and more the presence of a little girl that keeps appearing and disappearing around the building. A little girl much similar to one who had disappeared a few years ago and who frequented Ikuko’s new kindergarten. A ghost who might endanger the life of the Matsubaras.Now on the boxset of the DVD release I purchased, the inter-title describes it as the most shocking film from the Director Hideo Nakata. A description I criticise because unlike the Ring Series which was a story of suspense and frights, Dark Water seemed more to me like a Supernatural Drama. One that tackled serious topics such as parents fights during divorce discussions between attorneys as to who should have the guardianship over their kids. Indeed, Yoshimi’s ex-husband reveals himself quite an unpleasant individual who isn’t afraid of spewing out nasty allegations and lies about his ex-wife, even resorting to a private detective to check into her past. Another topic worth mentioned is the bad management of apartment buildings, even more so when the sellers are aware of the atrocious quality, whether they are water-dripping ceilings or unfiltered water. Makes you realise how many of the problems that occurred to Yoshimi could have been averted had the apartment tenant been more professional. And like in Ring, the story dives into the topic of parents neglecting their children, which is indeed the heart of the mystery behind the ghost inside the apartment building. Whose names and circumstances I won’t reveal to not spoil the story. And certainly not the finale which I found both heartbreaking and bittersweet. One with many consequences for the Matsubaras.Now in its filming, the movie works a lot around water. Both in its lighting, which had beautiful filtered palettes, and many scenes that employ rain or water. Especially in the water-flooded apartments as you can see the water pouring from everywhere; which must have made quite exhausting scenes for the cast and crew to film. Indeed, such environment requires proper precautions to make sure the camera doesn’t get damaged and that the lighting is done properly.As for the actors, Hitomi Kuroki and Rio Kanno impressed me. Both of them worked perfectly together and seemed like a real family. And for Hitomi, I was amazed by her skills in portraying the emotional dramas her character was going through with her ex-husband. And for that, I applaud Hideo Nakata’s direction as he presented everything in a realistic manner and with such a dramatic flair.Kudos also to Kenji Kawai and Shikao Suga for doing a beautiful soundtrack in this film. Orchestral and moving, it reinforced the supernatural aspects of the story instead of treating it as a horror film.In conclusion, Dark Water is another movie that proves both the narrative talents of Hideo Nakata and Koji Suzuki’s storytelling skills. A masterpiece that everyone should take time to see.

色々と調べて結局UK(EU)盤を購入しました。ここ最近のARROWのBDはリージョンABが多いようで。Blu-rayドットコムなどの情報や輸入盤専門店の情報も拾いながら女必殺拳の時も観れたしなと…RAREWAVESの取扱商品は正規品なので安心して待ちました。届いたディスクBlu-rayはAB、DVDはリージョン1＆2です。DVDも問題なく観れましたし、Blu-rayは国コード設定がある訳ではないので普通にPanasonicのUHDプレーヤーで観れてます。態々6000円くらいする北米盤購入しなくても、3000円前後のEU盤で間違いなく観れますので、いい加減この黄色い枠を外して欲しいです。10年くらい前の物だとARROW社製のBlu-rayはB限定もあったようですが、現在はBと書いてあってもABだったり、ビデオ制作販売元のクセを認識するしかないですね。私は結局3000円でBlu-Ray+DVDコンボを手に入れました。近日中に同ARROW社から発売される4KUHD版も楽しみですね。Eastern Starなんかもリージョン1と書いててもフリーだったりしますし。画面が1.85：1のアメリカンビスタなので、1.78:1(16:9)に慣れてる人には間延びして見えるかもしれません。43インチでギリギリですね50以上の方はUHDを待った方が良いかも。勿論旧規格のDVDとは比較にならないくらい綺麗です。天井の水滴なんか綺麗すぎてセット感が判るくらいでした。水川あさみのオーディションの光景などもあったり、なかなか楽しめる内容でした。

Es una excelente edición que viene en DVD (región 1 y 2) y BD (región A y B), portada reversible y un booklet con un artículo acerca de la película y su significado. Infortunadamente, si no sabes inglés ni siquiera consideres comprarla porque no tiene subtítulos en español (o cualquier otro idioma que no sea inglés).

Oh no!! Skary!! I make a small spot wet upon my beige pants!!!!! Ha ha! So good. The mama lady actor very pretty. All people speak chinese and are chinese, so not understanding always the events. But pretty lady have trouble, and little girl scared. Scary water everywhere!!! LOL!! I watch alone in the dark while daytime and still very VERY good drama, and WOW shiver = scary, but only a little bit. Not too scary so make a mess in my pants. Just a small pee. Overall, black pants, and very good. I watch again certainly.

Una obra maestra del cine japonés, que llevaba mucho tiempo tratando de conseguir. Se trata de un artículo de segunda mano que presenta algún signo de uso previo, pero que no afecta en modo alguno a su visionado porque el disco está inmaculado. Recomiendo esta vendedora por so honestidad y eficiencia.