Q&A with Hideo Nakata

Chris Tilly catches up with the king of Japanese horror to find out about his latest movie as well as what he has planned for the future.

Apr  1 2005

The tagline for 'The Ring Two' reads 'Horror comes full circle' and for director Hideo Nakata, that phrase couldn’t be more accurate. Having directed the original Japanese 'Ringu' he has now made the move to American movies with big budget sequel 'The Ring Two'. So we thought we'd catch up with this titan of terror to find out why he's returning to the story that put him on the horror map.

Why make another 'Ring' film?

The studio, Dreamworks, approached me saying: 'Would you be interested in reading and directing this movie?' I read the script and thought it was different from my 'Ringu 2', the Japanese sequel, and it was also very simple but with strong drama in it.

Did you do any work on the script?

Well, we had just ten weeks to prep the movie, but during that time I made some notes and we discussed my notes and the producer's notes, so I did have some input.

When you make a sequel are you worried about comparisons with the first film?

Well, it's inevitable for people to compare these two movies, and because it was inevitable, I was not worried – it would happen anyway.

Were you pleased with what Gore Verbinski did with the original 'Ring' remake?

Yes I was. I really liked the movie, and I liked the fact that Gore kept a similar atmosphere, with those subtle expressions of horror.

The American version 'Dark Water' is being released soon too, so why do you think Hollywood keeps remaking your films?

I don't know. I think that's a question you should ask the producers. Maybe something in my movies can be easily adapted to American movies.

How did working in America compare with working in Japan?

It was really interesting – the budget is different and the number of people is different – but the devotion of the cast and crew is pretty much the same. They just love filmmaking. There are some differences in terms of shooting though – in Hollywood you have to shoot lots of covering shots so you can change anything later, whereas in Japan I would edit on camera and shoot as lean as possible.

Are you pleased with the reaction the film has received in the States?

Yes, I am. Of course we did test screenings a couple of times so I read a few opinions about the movie, and every scary moment I intended worked. I also went to the theatres on the opening weekends and I was sitting with the audience and smiled every time the audience screamed.

There seems to be a recurring theme in your horror films – that of the threat posed by water. Why do you keep coming back to this idea?

I don't know – it was written that way by the original author of 'The Ring' books, Koji Suzuki, so I suppose he has that inside him. Water of course can be very threatening to our lives. We have natural disasters involving water – it's the source of life but it can also take a huge amount of lives, like the recent tsunami. Or typhoons and landslides. So on a subconscious level I think Japanese people share a fear of water.

What's so frightening about the image of the little girl in the white dress with long black hair covering her face?

It's a very traditional image for a Japanese or Chinese ghost to have long black hair. As for the white dress – according to a Buddhist custom we put white clothes onto dead bodies – and it's still very common at funerals. And white of course is pure. We tried to put different clothes on Samara, but every pattern was slightly distracting to me, so we decided 'the simpler the better' and white is the simplest colour. The covering of the face is to stimulate the audience's imagination of what she looks like. To tease the audience up until the end. We revealed just one of her eyes in the first movie, and that became the iconic image of the modern Japanese or Asian horror movie.

I heard that a purification ceremony took place on-set. Is that true?

One day the whole production office was flooded, and because we had lots of scary water scenes, the production manager decided to have a purification ceremony. And I'm from Japan so we did it according to Japanese tradition. But we do have little ceremonies in Japan before we shoot – that's still a very common thing to do.

What are you up to next?

My next project is in Hollywood and it's 'The Eye', a remake of the Hong Kong movie.

Why do another remake?

Well the simple answer would be I liked the script, and it's very hard to find a good script in Hollywood.

Is it right you'll be doing a remake of 'The Entity' as well?

Yes, but it's still in development stages. The writer is about to start the first draft soon.

So will you continue to work in America or can you see yourself working in Japan again soon?

Both – ideally I would like to work in both countries.

'The Ring Two' hits cinemas today (Friday, April 1) and is reviewed in Time Out London March 30-April 6, 2005. Issue No. 1806.

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