RING (1998)
"She killed a man just by willing him dead."
3.5 out of ****
Starring Matsushima Nanako, Hiroyuki Sanada, Nakatani Miki; Directed by Hideo Nakata; Written by Hiroshi Takahashi, from a novel by Koji Suzuki; Cinematography by Junichiro Hayashi
Back in the 1790s, Ann Radcliffe, the most popular author of Gothic fiction during its heyday, proposed a distinction between horror and terror. "Terror and horror," she wrote, "are so far opposite, that the first expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes, and nearly annihilates them." In other words, horror offends the senses, and terror exalts them; horror is cheap thrills, terror is sublime.
On the basis of RING, a Japanese movie which could be a working model for Radcliffe's definition of terror, I'm inclined to agree. For ninety-plus minutes, it builds suspense and (of course) terror through insinuation and understatement and measured pacing. It is not graphic or violent, but it nonetheless manages to be intensely scarifying.
The premise: a mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths in Tokyo. Rumour has it that those who see the video receive a phone call moments later informing them that they have exactly a week to live. Asakawa, a journalist and single mother, investigates, finds the video, and (because we need a plot) watches it. She receives a phone call. And the screw begins to turn ...
Despite the modern trappings, RING is very much inspired by classic ghost stories, and uses the same simple storytelling methods. It gains our interest by presenting us with sympathetic, everyday characters, principally Asakawa (Matsushima Nanako) and her ex-husband (Hiroyuki Sanada), whom she enlists to help her after receiving the fateful phone call. It involves a ghost who haunts our mortal realm because she has been sinned against and cannot rest in peace. It develops thematic links between the past and present by having both strands include neglected children. It uses needless details--like a ride on a fishing boat across a tempest-tossed sea--to intensify the mood of foreboding. If Wilkie Collins or M.R. James (or their Japanese counterparts) were alive now, they might write such a tale.
While the narrative is, for the most part, quiet and unhurried, composed in the serene static Japanese style familiar from Ozu and Mizoguchi onward, it is occasionally punctuated by brief disruptive moments: flashes of images from the video or from the past, accompanied by a harsh ominous score. As is the case in the films of Takeshi Kitano, whose contemplative storylines are interrupted by short bursts of extreme violence, the contrast is potent and compelling. There are other nice touches, too, like the captions telling us which day it is, counting down the time Asakawa has left--and matter-of-factly cranking up the tension.
The video itself, shown early in the movie, proves to be perhaps the freakiest paranormal moment seen on screen since the climax of THE KINGDOM I. It is a brief montage of enigmatic, blurry video footage, with weird sounds in the background. It reveals nothing at all, but conveys a powerful sense of wrongness. Although director Hideo Nakata's methods are elsewhere straightforward--albeit effective--the composition of the video is inspired. Sections of it are shown repeatedly, but it becomes no less eerie or estranging.
The entire film could be construed as the set-up for one "money" scene, in which a much-anticipated confrontation finally takes place, although not in the expected manner. Because the film is so well crafted, this "money" scene delivers exactly what it is supposed to: chilling terror. Yes, that's a cliché, but it was literally true in my case--I had shivers going up and down my spine like a parade was passing over my grave. And in a tense moment earlier in the film, an unexpected development elicited plenty of curt breathless screams from the audience. RING was a smash hit throughout South-East Asia, and based on the reaction at its North American premiere, it's not hard to see why: it plays its audience masterfully, regardless of their language. In the grand scheme of things, it may not be a great or important movie, but it is a near-perfect example of its kind. It understands the simplest rule of terror: the longer you make them wait, the bigger and better the pay-off will be.
Subjective Camera (subjective.freeservers.com) Movie Reviews by David Dalgleish (daviddalgleish@yahoo.com)
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