Rhapsodies

My selection for the fifth week of my Halloween marathon was Japanese horror movies 

I started with one of my current favorite directors, Takashi Miike with one of his break out pieces Audition. 

Audition tells the story of Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) a widowed filmmaker. After 10 years he decides to start dating again and look for a new wife.  But the way he goes about it, however, is questionable, at best. 

What he does to set up a series of auditions for an imaginary film project where Women are trying out for a character who fits the qualities of Aoyama‘s dream wife. He eventually finds what he thinks he’s looking for in Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina) and decides to follow up calling her. But soon he discovers that thing this with this seemingly shy perfect woman are not what they seem. 

I had really mixed feelings with this film. On one level no I did not like it. I am not its target audience and I didn’t like the whole idea of deliberate entrapment. Because of this, I felt uncomfortable with it even before the scary bits started. However, it’s still up to Miike’s usual levels of craftsmanship and holds up fairly well, provided you are an intended viewer. I also like Eihi Shiina performance as she goes back and forth from vulnerable to terrifying as Asami. 

From there I moved on to a much more popular film that was the foundation of an entire franchise, Ring (or Ringu so differentiate it with the American remake.)

Ringu tells the story of Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) an intrepid reporter and single mother who is investigating an urban legend going around about a cursed video. The story goes that after you watch it you get a phone call (the eponymous “ring”) that tells you will die in six days. As she continues her investigation she comes across the video and watches it. Now she has a week to get to the bottom of the curse to save her own life. 

This was a good film that balances between a horror and a thriller. It does a wonderful job of building up the tension through the film.