I just watched this film for the third time. It's a film that I think I ought to like, since I usually enjoy Japanese ghost stories, but something is wrong with it in my eyes. It doesn't seem to go anywhere. The film makers set out to scare the audience, but there is no resolution for the problems. The ghosts never find satisfaction, they just keep increasing their numbers. Maybe someone who likes this film can explain it to me.
I watched this film a number of years ago and had a similar reaction. In some ways, it reminded me of Canadian film - the lack of resolution at the end, the lack of closure. Many Canadian films have this same flow, and it seems to be that the focus is more on relating events and characters, rather than telling a traditional narrative with beginning, middle, end, proper climax, clear closure. I don't always like these films, in fact more often than not I do not like them at all - having said that, I continue to watch them, to in some way stretch my movie perception beyond its usual niche, I think. Recommendations of Canadian films with (for me) a similar lack of resolution: Atom Egoyan's Exotica or his Sweet Hereafter
ReplyDeleteYou keep on recommending films that I've never seen. I need to make a list. If I'm asked to name Canadian films the only two I could name are "The Paperboy" (one of my favorite films ever) and "Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter". Are they typical of Canadian films?
ReplyDeleteI can't say - I haven't seen either of the films you mention! Speaking of people mentioning films _I_ haven't seen...
ReplyDelete"The Paperboy" is a low budget horror film that is scary for the simple reason that it's realistic. The killer isn't supernatural or exceptionally strong. He's just a 12-year-old boy that you probably wouldn't even notice in the street. Nothing happens in this film that couldn't happen in real life. That's scary!
ReplyDelete"Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter" is a musical. In the near future Jesus returns to Earth for the Second Coming. He arrives in the middle of a vampire plot to rid the world of lesbians, so he teams up with a wrestler and a lesbian nun to hunt them down. Who said they don't make quality films in Canada?