Dark Water

Dark Water

It's amazing how watching one foreign film has opened by eyes to some amazing films over the last couple of months. The film to blame for this is the American version of Ringu, The Ring. Having loved this film so much I went out and bought my first foreign film on DVD. The Ringu trilogy are all great films, and Dark Water is almost an extension of these films. Hideo Nakata the director of the first two Ringu's has created another masterpiece of tension with an underlying film which brings about a sadness that very few films manage to achieve. Dark Water is also based on a book by Kôji Suzuki who wrote the Ring, which explains the similarities in tone and themes.

The storyline is simple, a mother involved in divorce proceedings moves into an old apartment block with her 6 year old daughter. The weather at the time is awful and water starts to leak through the ceiling of the flat. As the mother tries to rebuild her life and get a job, she unknowlingly neglects her daughter in the very same way that she was a child. As the water coming through the ceiling gets worse and worse, a small child is seen prowling within the apartment building. The tension is bulit through simple techniques of slow building scenes, very little sound and dialogue and most of the time you create the creepiness within your own head. Some aspects of the film really do mirror Ringu, with the back story to the small child very similar to Sadako (the girl in the well). But beneath it all, the maternal aspects of life and a feeling of safety through motherhood shines through for a feel good ending.

It'll be amazing to see what the American version of this film will be like starring Jennifer Connolly and Tim Roth, as you certainly require a certain amount of patience to watch this version due to the lack of action. I'm certain that it will be acceralated in terms of story and shock horrors, but will probably remove the 'having to use your brain' aspects of the film which will be a great shame.