Dark Water Directed by Hideo Nakata - Essay Example

?Dark Water Introduction The movie Dark Water is a 2002 movie that was directed the famed Japanese director Hideo Nakata, who had previously directedtwo other very popular movies of the same genre, The Ring 1 and The Ring 2 which featured Sadako, a troubled girl who haunts people through a videotape. This movie is part of the genre of movies called Japanese horror, which is very popular worldwide. The popularity of Japanese horror comes from the unique way horror or fear is evoked and presented in them. In western horror it is more about gore and violence. In Japanese horror it relies more on folklore and psychological themes that make the plot very different from western movies. The popularity of these horror movies even got up to the point where the American movie industry does remakes of them. The movie that was credited at starting the wave of popularity of this genre is The Ring, also directed by Nakata. The difference in Japanese horror is the unique way that folklore and technology is integrated into the movie. Moving in and getting acquainted with the neighbors The movie Dark Water is about a mother and daughter who move to a run down apartment complex who starts having paranormal encounters upon. The mother had just gotten divorced and was going through a difficult moment in her life. The movie itself, like others in its genre is full of references to Japanese folklore. One such reference is the spirit of the dead child that comes back and haunts the living. In Japanese folklore it is very popular for a spirit of a child who dies to come back and haunt the living in order to exact revenge in very violent ways. The child is Mitsuko, who dies the previous year from drowning due to the neglect of her mother who was not able to fetch her from school, she goes home alone and plunges into the water tank of their apartment and dies. This theme figures heavily Japanese folklore. Stories of ghosts of children who were wronged haunting the living are plentiful in Japanese folklore. Mitsuko haunts the apartment complex, searching for her mother and the love that she never got from her. She finds Yoshimi and appropriates her as her own missing mother. She makes attacks at the daughter of Mitsuko, which sends subliminal messages to Yoshimi which triggers her mother's instinct to protect her daughter. In the end she dies protecting her daughter from Mitsuko. This is related to the vengeful fetus stories that also figures in Japanese folklore. Here the spirit of an aborted fetus comes back to haunt the mother. The only way to stop this is through a ritual or proper burial. Another way to appease these spirits is through self sacrifice of the mother which happened to Yoshimi. Another theme that has been incorporated here from Japanese folklore is that of the “monster mother” or the mother who treats her child badly. There are many reasons for this and one reason that comes up is usually the absence of a father, such as the case of Yoshimi and her daughter whom she neglects and treats badly in the movie. One of the reasons for her neglecting her child is quest to look for a job to provide for both of them. Another is the mental anguish the divorce proceedings are causing her. These two combine for a very volatile personality and make for a mother that is both loving and menacing at the same time. Yoshimi tries her best to nurture her daughter but the pressures of her current situation bear down on her and make her very unstable. As opposed to the father who is very stoic in his appearances in the movie. Yet another theme that comes from Japanese folklore is the Kappa which is a mischievous spirit in Japanese folklore who inhabits water. It is a humanoid that is the size of a child that lures people into bodies of water. The Kappa is usually blamed for drowning in rivers and also raping women who frequent rivers or bodies of water. The child in the movie is not a Kappa per se but her appearance in one of the scenes is inspired by the Kappa whose color ranges from green to yellow. The fact that she is associated with water is also a nod to the Kappa folklore. The Red Purse The concept of the uncanny also figures heavily in this movie. The uncanny is the uncomfortable feeling of strangeness that one feels at the presence something familiar. In the movie the girls red purse is an example of something that evokes uncanny. The first time Yoshimi sees the purse is on the rooftop of their building that she thinks was left by a child, so she takes it to building manager who puts it in the lost and found and eventually in the trash bin. Then the purse keeps reappearing, first in the garbage bin and then again on the rooftop where she first finds it. At first she just feels uncomfortable because the purse keeps popping up. Her uncanny feeling is heightened when remembers the purse is owned by the dead girl. She found out that the girl was in the same school that her daughter goes to. When she was scanning the drawings on the wall she saw Mitsuko depicted with the red purse. She feels revolted and uncomfortable at the sight of the purse that keeps reappearing in many scenes, one time even appearing in her child's schoolbag which causes to have an outburst at her child. All about family In this movie the status of the family is another theme that was tackled. The movie is a social commentary stating that the family is very important and that a many unfortunate things can arise from an incomplete family of from a dysfunctional family. Such as the case of the girl, Mitsuko, who was not cared for because she came from a dysfunctional family. As well as Yoshimi who also came from a broken family, and eventually ending up in one. This is blamed for the mental instability that Yoshimi possessed, which was triggered by her divorce. It seems that in the movie one of the triggers for the unfortunate events that was occurring was that the people involved came from a broken family. This movie is also a family horror, in a way the horror comes from the slow disintegration of the family, first from the divorce and finally from the taking Yoshimi by the little girl. It shows us the horror of a family that is torn apart, it is important to note that in Asian societies the family is very important and the mere fact that it is being torn apart is a very sensitive topic to most Asians. It strikes a chord that evokes sadness. The horror also comes from the bitter fight of the divorce proceedings that greatly affects the daughter. Melodrama taken to the extreme Melodrama also figures heavily in this movie. It used to make the plot more interesting and to engage the emotions of the viewer. The movie exaggerates the plight of Yoshimi in order to appeal to the pity of the viewers. There are scenes of Yoshimi breaking down at their divorce proceedings, of her fighting for the custody of her daughter, of her fighting with her husband. There are also poignant scenes with her daughter that tugs at the emotions of the viewer. One her daughter telling her that she needs nothing more than her to be alright. The fact that they are living together trying to make the best of their situation is also evident in the movie and is depicted with drama. The movie also transgresses the traditional concept of melodrama by incorporating it in the horror scenes. This is seen in the part where Yoshimi gives her life to the spirit of the girl in order to save her daughter. Even in the final scene where her daughter visits her and asks her if she can stay with her is melodramatic yet there is a glimpse of Mitsuko in the back ground. Here the traditional concept of melodrama is set aside and is fused with the horror genre. This is something that does not usually appear in horror movies or drama movies for that matter Social Commentary The topic of divorce is also tackled in the movie. In the movie divorce is cast in a bad light. It is portrayed as a social ill, and is blamed for the breakdown in the life of Yoshimi. It is the reason they moved to the apartment complex which is the very reason why Yoshimi lost her life and ruined her family. The movie portrays divorced women as wrecks who cannot control their life and have many problems. The movie also depicts the women as being on the losing end of most divorce proceedings. Yoshimi plays the part of the harassed divorced mother to the hilt. She cannot focus because of the divorce and is mentally unstable because of the divorce. If she had not gotten divorced in first place then all the bad things in her life would not have happened. The ghost of Mitsuko in the movie is a spirit that is seeking the love of her mother. It seems that in the movie Yoshimi, her daughter and Mitsuko all suffered the same fate. They were all victims of dysfunctional mothers. They were all neglected by their mothers and the little girl, Mitsuko, dies because of this fact. The ghost of Mitsuko is seeking the love of a mother that she never felt in other mothers. In the film the longing for a loving mother ends with Mitsuko taking the life of Yoshimi who serves as a proxy to her mother which she cannot find. The elevator The elevator in the movies holds special significance in many ways. Architecturally it is a very important part of Japanese buildings. In Japan land is scarce so most Japanese buildings are built really high so the buildings need elevators for transport and convenience. Socially it is part and parcel of the daily lives of the Japanese, who have to ride elevators every day of their life. It is where they meet other people and mingle with their co worker of neighbors. It is like the subway in cosmopolitan cities like New York. In the elevator, people either greet each other or mind their own businesses just like in mass transport. It was used as a tool to depict a cramped space that inspires claustrophobia. The elevator is where the girl first makes her appearance. It is where she makes her presence felt to Yoshimi by holding her hand. The elevator in the movie is used in the same way the mirror is in some other horror movies. It is used as portal between worlds. The world of the living and spirit world. Here Mitsuko uses it as a way to make her presence felt in the form of water. Much like the mirror is a portal to another dimension, so is the elevator in this movie. The elevator is perfect for horror because it is a cramped space, while it is moving one is trapped inside and there is no way out. The feeling of being trapped is something that can inspire fear in many individuals. What is unique in this movie is that their elevator has a glass door that one can see through and in this movie it is used to give Yoshimi glimpses of the ghost of the girl while she rides it. The use of technology in this movie just like in other Japanese horror movies is very evident. Water and a mothers embrace In the movie there is literally water everywhere. It symbolizes many things. It symbolized sadness in the scene where it was raining and Yoshimi was waiting for her mother to fetch her from school while the rain was pouring outside. It is also used for irony because water symbolizes life in many cultures but here it is the reason the girl died. Contaminated water also figures here because it was not shown whether the girl’s body was extracted from the water tank. The title Dark Water is also an allusion the water that was contaminated by the death of the girl. It is also used as a medium by the girl to appear in the movie. And in one of the scenes, dark water was used by the girl to lure the daughter and make the switch in order to take the life of Yoshimi. In the movie the embrace of Yoshimi in the movie signifies acceptance the acceptance of her fate. It also signifies her acceptance that she is bad mother, and that is her way of gaining redemption. She embraces Mitsuko in order for her daughter to be saved and in the process redeeming her of the guilt she is feeling for not being able to take care of her daughter properly. Comparisons and cinematography The movie is an adaptation of a book by Koji Suzuki, which is an anthology of stories that have water as the theme. The movie is based on one of those stories. The story from which the movie was based is entitled Floating Water. The book and the movie are very similar. There were just a few differences to allow for the artistic freedom of the director. There is also a Manga or comic book of the same title but the story there is only loosely based on the book. Unlike the book and the movie the Manga is not too much similar to the either the movie or the book. The cinematic style of the movies is very similar to those in the genre of Japanese horror. It makes use of lighting that evokes fear and the unknown it also makes full use of cinematic sound effects to give to make the scenes even scarier. At times it makes use of partial or fleeting shots of the girl’s ghost in order to build up the tension. There are also shots where the girl is not shown in the scene but it is evoked by the scenery or the angles used by the camera. It also makes use of a lot of water to evoke the presence of the ghost. Conclusion The movie Dark Water is a very good example of Japanese horror. It makes full use of folklore and the unique perspective of the Japanese society towards life. It is also a social commentary on the ills of broken families and divorce. It gives us a glimpse of the Japanese way of life. Their competitive education that starts at a young age. Their compartmentalized society and also the way it traumatizes and victimizes their children. Over all this movie makes for a great horror movie. The director definitely pulled it off and came up with a mix of horror, melodrama and social awareness. Read More

 

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