Going to Manchester recently to catch up with a friend, I visited the local CEX whilst they were stuck in traffic. Looking down the rows of DVD's/Blu's filled with the typical titles, this one stood completely out. On the train back home later that night, I started looking forward to seeing chaos unleashed.
View on the film:
Controlling the chaos with rain bookending the film, (a recurring motif across his credits) directing auteur Hideo Nakata brings the stilted silent dread of Horror into this twist towards psychological Thriller/Neo-Noir, stringing the long black hair chills out with cinematographer Tokusho Kikumura, down winding tracking shots and unsettlingly long takes wide-shots held on the palpable fear of another twist bending in the kidnapping plan.
Backed by the primal rage of tribal drums from his regular composer Kenji Kawai, Nakata weaves a measured atmosphere to tightening the knots, patting the blues and yellows during the murky dealings down to dust, blemished with smacks of red when the kidnapping goes off the rails, sealed in startling close-ups aimed at when a new element to the tale is revealed.
Leaving the dining table with Saori in the opening,Hisashi Saito's adaptation of Shogo Utano's novel Sarawaretai Onna/The Woman Who Wants to Be Kidnapped pays immaculate attention to the layering of the dialogue brewing psychological anxiety over Saori's kidnapping being not what it appears, thanks to Saito bringing an importance to the dialogue in turning the screws on the image Saori,her husband, kidnapper Kuroda and model Satomi makes people believe is their true selves.
Placing paths coming together between Kuroda/ Saori's husband Komiyama and model Satomi on a high level of pure chance, Saito impressively makes this work with a thrilling dovetail deconstruction, via first playing out Saori's kidnapping straight, then folding each corner to the power-playing being twisted under the skin.
Reuniting with Nakata after Ringu, Miki Nakatani gives a utterly mesmerising dual performance as Saori/ Satomi, burning with a refined, Femme Fatale seductiveness as Saori, paired up to a seeping into knife-edge madness Satomi, who holds Komiyama and Kuroda's gaze as a almost mirage presence to their desires. Finding himself thrown into the middle of mind-games, Masato Hagiwara gives a great turn as kidnapper Kuroda,who Hagiwara has firmly attempt to do everything by the book, but becomes increasingly tied to the chaos.
View on the film:
Controlling the chaos with rain bookending the film, (a recurring motif across his credits) directing auteur Hideo Nakata brings the stilted silent dread of Horror into this twist towards psychological Thriller/Neo-Noir, stringing the long black hair chills out with cinematographer Tokusho Kikumura, down winding tracking shots and unsettlingly long takes wide-shots held on the palpable fear of another twist bending in the kidnapping plan.
Backed by the primal rage of tribal drums from his regular composer Kenji Kawai, Nakata weaves a measured atmosphere to tightening the knots, patting the blues and yellows during the murky dealings down to dust, blemished with smacks of red when the kidnapping goes off the rails, sealed in startling close-ups aimed at when a new element to the tale is revealed.
Leaving the dining table with Saori in the opening,Hisashi Saito's adaptation of Shogo Utano's novel Sarawaretai Onna/The Woman Who Wants to Be Kidnapped pays immaculate attention to the layering of the dialogue brewing psychological anxiety over Saori's kidnapping being not what it appears, thanks to Saito bringing an importance to the dialogue in turning the screws on the image Saori,her husband, kidnapper Kuroda and model Satomi makes people believe is their true selves.
Placing paths coming together between Kuroda/ Saori's husband Komiyama and model Satomi on a high level of pure chance, Saito impressively makes this work with a thrilling dovetail deconstruction, via first playing out Saori's kidnapping straight, then folding each corner to the power-playing being twisted under the skin.
Reuniting with Nakata after Ringu, Miki Nakatani gives a utterly mesmerising dual performance as Saori/ Satomi, burning with a refined, Femme Fatale seductiveness as Saori, paired up to a seeping into knife-edge madness Satomi, who holds Komiyama and Kuroda's gaze as a almost mirage presence to their desires. Finding himself thrown into the middle of mind-games, Masato Hagiwara gives a great turn as kidnapper Kuroda,who Hagiwara has firmly attempt to do everything by the book, but becomes increasingly tied to the chaos.