[:it]

Ringu: La cassetta maledetta

Photo credits: Movieweb.com

The Ring è il fortunato horror statunitense con protagonista Naomi Watson che nel 2002 infestò i cinema di tutto il mondo. Incassando più di 250 milioni di dollari al botteghino ha ridato vita ad un genere ormai stantio con nuovi spunti per procurare brividi agli spettatori più temerari. Ha avuto anche un sequel, The Ring 2, uscito nel 2005, ed è da poco arrivato sugli schermi The Ring 3 a distanza di quindici anni dalla pellicola originale.

Samara Morgan è una bambina dai lunghi capelli corvini e la pelle nivea, e dalla descrizione potrebbe sembrare una candida Biancaneve. Ma la realtà è ben diversa. Con la sua frase celebre “Tra sette giorni morirai” è un fantasma che conduce alla morte, grazie ad un cerchio senza fine, chiunque veda la sua casetta maledetta.

Samara oggigiorno è tra i “cattivi” per antonomasia del genere Horror americano (come Jason di Venerdì 13, o Freddy Krueger di Nightmare con la sua natura soprannaturale e demoniaca). E diciamolo, è anche una delle possibili maschere di Halloween.

Photo credits: flickr.com

Ma la sua nascita non è americana bensì giapponese, nata dalla penna dello scrittore Koji Suzuki autore dell’omonimo romanzo Ring ( リング Ringu). Suzuki è autore anche di Spiral, uno dei sequel di The Ring, e di Dark Water che si guadagnò un film di cui in America venne prodotto il remake. La protagonista è qui Jennifer Connelly, e anche questo è un Horror di indubbio terrore che però non ha eguagliato la fama di The Ring.

Il remake Americano di The Ring non è molto diverso dal soggetto originale(almeno per i primi film è così). La protagonista è in entrambi una giornalista che ricerca il mistero delle inspiegabili morti dovute alla visione della cassetta maledetta. Purtroppo la donna finirà per portare con sé in questa spirale la propria famiglia in una corsa disperata per salvarsi. Ma il fantasma non è più una inquietante bambina ma una giovane donna.

Sadako 貞子

Photo credits: Movieclips.com

Sadako è il fantasma di una diciannovenne con lunghi capelli corvini che le coprono completamente il volto e che uscendo dal televisore porta il malcapitato ad una violenta morte.

Questo fantasma è in realtà una creatura molto complessa, come tutti i fantasmi Giapponesi, la cui crudeltà non è dettata altro che dalla vendetta. E purtroppo, quando la missione di vendicarsi di chi gli ha fatto male nella loro vita umana si conclude, l’odio ormai ha preso il sopravvento. Ogni possibile redenzione è perduta.

Sadako Yamamura era il suo nome umano e in tutti i film abbiamo una visione della sua storia e sappiamo qualcosa del suo personaggio. Ma è nel prequel della prima saga, The Ringu 0: Birthday, che abbiamo una visione completa della sua vita terrena.

Photo credits: anythinghorror.wordpress.com

Prima di diventare il fantasma senza pace che caratterizza tutto il racconto Sadako nasce da un rapporto proibito. Di padre ignoto, si vocifera fosse un demone, sua madre era una sacerdotessa devota alle arti nere. Sin dall’infanzia viene perseguitata dalle voci secondo cui la vicinanza con lei porti sciagura e morte perché dotata di enormi ma oscuri poteri. Potrebbe avere un lieve spiraglio di luce in una vita tormentata quando ormai adolescente si trasferisce a Tokyo con il professor Ikuma. Ex amante della madre, il professore tratterà la giovane come una figlia che arrivata all’età adulta si iscrive in una compagnia teatrale. Qui, una serie di tragici avvenimenti la porterà a diventare attrice protagonista, ma con questo anche all’ascesa della parte maligna dentro di lei.

Si scoprirà infatti che in lei vivono due entità, la sua parte umana e buona, e la parte demoniaca dall’aspetto di una bambina. E saranno le vessazioni e la morte della sua parte buona, uccisa dai suoi colleghi, che faranno prevalere il lato demoniaco, e scateneranno la serie di fatali avvenimenti conseguenti.

Photo credits: noset.com

Ikuma cercherà di uccidere anche la Sadako malvagia buttandola in un pozzo e sigillandolo, ma l’entità sopravvive alla caduta pur restando imprigionata. Qui il demone diventa sempre più forte concretizzando alla fine il suo odio nella videocassetta maledetta che in sette giorni conduce alla morte chiunque la guardi.

Ma ciò nonostante non si può non nutrire compassione per lei, essere travagliato. Nell’ultimo attimo di umana lucidità, prima che la sua parte demoniaca prenda il sopravvento, ricorda Toyama l’unico ragazzo che abbia mai amato.

I film hanno una sostanziale differenza rispetto al libro di Koji Suzuki per quanto riguarda la storia del personaggio. La giovane ha infatti una vita ben più travagliata e molto più complessa, che si conclude con un destino fatale.

Banchō Sarayashiki 番町皿屋敷

Photo credits: Wikipedia

Il personaggio creato da Koji Suzuki, come molti altri del cinema horror giapponese moderno, prende spunto da una antica leggenda.

Parliamo della storia di Okiku e i nove piatti. Molto spesso anche il teatro Kabuki ne ha preso spunto per le sue rappresentazioni e ve ne sono diverse versioni.

In tutte la protagonista è Okiku, una bella e giovane serva che lavora per la famiglia di Aoyama Tessan un samurai innamorato di lei. Innumerevoli volte la ragazza rifiuta le avance del samurai che per farla cedere alla passione le fa credere di aver perso un piatto di finissima porcellana di un servizio da dieci. Okiku conta e riconta i piatti ma il decimo non salta fuori. La povera piange disperata perché sa che la pena che la attende è severa ma il samurai la rassicura dicendo che in cambio del suo amore non subirà punizioni. Okiku rifiuta è il samurai offuscato da un raptus di rabbia la spinge in un pozzo facendola morire. Okiku torna come fantasma per tormentare il suo assassino continuando senza sosta a contare fino a nove e poi iniziare a piangere. Solo un monaco esorcista riesce a liberare lo spirito durante la sua ennesima apparizione notturna. Dopo averla fatta contare fino a nove il monaco urla DIECI! cosi facendo libera Okiku ora pronta ad andare in paradiso.

Photo credits: Wikipedia

Ci sono, come già detto, diverse varianti di questa leggenda, tutte più o meno simili. In una la storia si svolge al castello Himeji e in alcune Okiku muore per un complotto di corte, in altre perché il suo amante, lo shogun, la uccide per aver rotto volontariamente il decimo piatto.

In ogni versione comunque si è mossi a compassione per questo personaggio, sicuramente oscuro ma allo stesso tempo infelice.[:en]

Ringu: The cursed tape

Photo credits: Movieweb.com

The Ring is the fortunate American horror movie with Naomi Watson in the role of the protagonist that in 2002 haunted cinemas all around the world. Earning more than $250 million dollars at the box-office it revived a suffering genre giving the bravest spectators shivers. The movie had a sequel, The Ring 2 out in 2005, and The Ring 3 recently came out, fifteen years after the original movie.

Samara Morgan is a little girl with long raven hair and snow-white skin, and from this description she might appear like a pure Snow White. But reality is quite different. With her famous words “You will die in seven days” she is a ghost that brings to death all those who watch her cursed tape thanks to an infinite ring.

Nowadays, Samara is among the ultimate ‘villains’ of the American horror genre (together with Jason from Friday the 13^th, or Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street with his supernatural and demoniac nature). And we might as well say she is one of the many possible Halloween masks.

Photo credits: flickr.com

However her birth is not American but Japanese, as she was born from the pen of the writer Koji Suzuki author of the novel of the same title Ring ( リング Ringu). Suzuki is also the author of Spiral, one of the sequels of The Ring, and Dark Water which gained a movie and an American remake. Here the protagonist is Jennifer Connelly and it’s undoubtedly a terrifying movie, yet unable to reach the fame of The Ring.

The American Remake of The Ring in not so different from the original subject (This is true at least for the first movies). In both films the protagonist is a journalist that is trying to solve the mystery behind the inexplicable deaths caused by the viewing of a cursed videotape. The woman will end up involving her family in this spiral, in a desperate run for their lives. But the ghost is not that of a disturbing child now, but that of a young woman.

Sadako 貞子

Photo credits: Movieclips.com

Sadako is the ghost of a nineteenth years old girls with long hair that cover her face completely and that coming out of the television brings the unfortunate person to a violent death.

This ghost is in reality a very complex creature, like all Japanese ghosts, as their cruelty is driven by nothing but revenge. Unfortunately, when the mission of seeking vengeance from those who had hurt them in their human life is accomplished, hatred has already taken over. Every possibility of redemption gone.

Sadako Yamamura was her human name and in each movie we have an insight into her story discovering something about her character. But it’s in the prequel of the first story-line, The Ringu 0:Birthday, that we have a complete vision of her human life.

Photo credits: anythinghorror.wordpress.com

Before she became the restless ghost that characterizes the whole story, Sadako was born from a forbidden intercourse. Her father unknown, he was said to be a demon, her mother was a priestess devoted to dark arts. Since her childhood she was harassed by voices saying that being close to her brought misfortune and death because of her enormous but dark powers. She could have had a little light of hope in a tormented life when she moves to Tokyo with professor Ikuma. The professor, her mother’s ex-lover, treats Sadako as his own daughter and reached adulthood she joins a theater company. Here, due to a series of tragic events she becomes leading actress, but this also led to the rise of her evil part.

In fact, we will find out that there are two entities inside her, the human part that is good, and the demoniac part with the appearance of a child. The abuses she suffers and the death of her good part by the hands of her colleagues will bring out her demoniac side, with the consequent series of tragic events.

Photo credits: noset.com

Ikuma will try to kill the evil Sadako too, trowing her in a well and sealing it, but the entity survives the fall even if it is now imprisoned. Inside the well the demon will grow stronger and stronger until its hatred takes concrete form in the cursed video tape that in seven days leads to death whoever watches it.

But in spite of all this we can’t help but pity here, miserable soul. In her last moment of human lucidity, before her demoniac side takes over, she remembers of Toyama the only man she had ever loved.

The movies have a substantial differences from Koji Suzuki’s books regarding the story of this character as the young girl has an even more tormented and complicated life, ending with her fatal death.

Banchō Sarayashiki 番町皿屋敷

Photo credits: Wikipedia

The character created by Koji Suzuki, like many other of the Japanese modern horror genre, takes a cue from an old legend.

We are speaking about the story of Okiku and the nine plates. The Kabuki theater has often used this legend for its representations and there are many versions of it.

The protagonist is always Okiku a young and beautiful servant that works for the family of a samurai, Aoyama Tessan, that is in love with her. Countless times the girl refuses the samurai’s approaches, so to induce her in temptation he makes her believe she had lost a precious porcelain plate part of a set of ten. The poor girl desperately cries because she knows that the punishment will be severe, but the samurai comforts her saying that in exchange for her love she won’t be punished. Okiku still refuses him and the samurai blinded by rage pushes the girl into a well killing her.

Okiku comes back as a ghost to torment her assassin and keeps counting to nine and then start crying. Only a monk and exorcist is able to purify her spirit during one of her appearance. After he had her count to 9 the monk screams TEN!,in this way the spirit is free and ready to go to heaven.

Photo credits: Wikipedia

As we said, there are many variations to this story, more or less similar to each other. In one of them the story takes place in the Himeji castle where Okiku dies because of a conspiracy within the court, or because the shogun, her lover, kills her because she voluntarily breaks the tenth plate.

Anyway, in every version we are brought to pity this character, surely obscure but tormented at the same time.[:ja]

Ringu: The cursed tape

Photo credits: Movieweb.com

The Ring is the fortunate American horror movie with Naomi Watson in the role of the protagonist that in 2002 haunted cinemas all around the world. Earning more than $250 million dollars at the box-office it revived a suffering genre giving the bravest spectators shivers. The movie had a sequel, The Ring 2 out in 2005, and The Ring 3 recently came out, fifteen years after the original movie.

Samara Morgan is a little girl with long raven hair and snow-white skin, and from this description she might appear like a pure Snow White. But reality is quite different. With her famous words “You will die in seven days” she is a ghost that brings to death all those who watch her cursed tape thanks to an infinite ring.

Nowadays, Samara is among the ultimate ‘villains’ of the American horror genre (together with Jason from Friday the 13^th, or Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street with his supernatural and demoniac nature). And we might as well say she is one of the many possible Halloween masks.

Photo credits: flickr.com

However her birth is not American but Japanese, as she was born from the pen of the writer Koji Suzuki author of the novel of the same title Ring ( リング Ringu). Suzuki is also the author of Spiral, one of the sequels of The Ring, and Dark Water which gained a movie and an American remake. Here the protagonist is Jennifer Connelly and it’s undoubtedly a terrifying movie, yet unable to reach the fame of The Ring.

The American Remake of The Ring in not so different from the original subject (This is true at least for the first movies). In both films the protagonist is a journalist that is trying to solve the mystery behind the inexplicable deaths caused by the viewing of a cursed videotape. The woman will end up involving her family in this spiral, in a desperate run for their lives. But the ghost is not that of a disturbing child now, but that of a young woman.

Sadako 貞子

Photo credits: Movieclips.com

Sadako is the ghost of a nineteenth years old girls with long hair that cover her face completely and that coming out of the television brings the unfortunate person to a violent death.

This ghost is in reality a very complex creature, like all Japanese ghosts, as their cruelty is driven by nothing but revenge. Unfortunately, when the mission of seeking vengeance from those who had hurt them in their human life is accomplished, hatred has already taken over. Every possibility of redemption gone.

Sadako Yamamura was her human name and in each movie we have an insight into her story discovering something about her character. But it’s in the prequel of the first story-line, The Ringu 0:Birthday, that we have a complete vision of her human life.

Photo credits: anythinghorror.wordpress.com

Before she became the restless ghost that characterizes the whole story, Sadako was born from a forbidden intercourse. Her father unknown, he was said to be a demon, her mother was a priestess devoted to dark arts. Since her childhood she was harassed by voices saying that being close to her brought misfortune and death because of her enormous but dark powers. She could have had a little light of hope in a tormented life when she moves to Tokyo with professor Ikuma. The professor, her mother’s ex-lover, treats Sadako as his own daughter and reached adulthood she joins a theater company. Here, due to a series of tragic events she becomes leading actress, but this also led to the rise of her evil part.

In fact, we will find out that there are two entities inside her, the human part that is good, and the demoniac part with the appearance of a child. The abuses she suffers and the death of her good part by the hands of her colleagues will bring out her demoniac side, with the consequent series of tragic events.

Photo credits: noset.com

Ikuma will try to kill the evil Sadako too, trowing her in a well and sealing it, but the entity survives the fall even if it is now imprisoned. Inside the well the demon will grow stronger and stronger until its hatred takes concrete form in the cursed video tape that in seven days leads to death whoever watches it.

But in spite of all this we can’t help but pity here, miserable soul. In her last moment of human lucidity, before her demoniac side takes over, she remembers of Toyama the only man she had ever loved.

The movies have a substantial differences from Koji Suzuki’s books regarding the story of this character as the young girl has an even more tormented and complicated life, ending with her fatal death.

Banchō Sarayashiki 番町皿屋敷

Photo credits: Wikipedia

The character created by Koji Suzuki, like many other of the Japanese modern horror genre, takes a cue from an old legend.

We are speaking about the story of Okiku and the nine plates. The Kabuki theater has often used this legend for its representations and there are many versions of it.

The protagonist is always Okiku a young and beautiful servant that works for the family of a samurai, Aoyama Tessan, that is in love with her. Countless times the girl refuses the samurai’s approaches, so to induce her in temptation he makes her believe she had lost a precious porcelain plate part of a set of ten. The poor girl desperately cries because she knows that the punishment will be severe, but the samurai comforts her saying that in exchange for her love she won’t be punished. Okiku still refuses him and the samurai blinded by rage pushes the girl into a well killing her.

Okiku comes back as a ghost to torment her assassin and keeps counting to nine and then start crying. Only a monk and exorcist is able to purify her spirit during one of her appearance. After he had her count to 9 the monk screams TEN!,in this way the spirit is free and ready to go to heaven.

Photo credits: Wikipedia

As we said, there are many variations to this story, more or less similar to each other. In one of them the story takes place in the Himeji castle where Okiku dies because of a conspiracy within the court, or because the shogun, her lover, kills her because she voluntarily breaks the tenth plate.

Anyway, in every version we are brought to pity this character, surely obscure but tormented at the same time.[:]