Additions and Substraction of Elements in a Movie Essay

Additions and Substraction of Elements in a Movie - Essay Example For example the Ring is a horror movie based on writings of a Japanese author. It made entrance into the cinema halls in the year 1998 and it is based from the novel by Koji Suzuki, the ring (Suzuki, 9). The movie is produced by Hideo Nakata and it draws its traditional tale from Bancho Sarayashiki. This Japanese movie is a horror movie that depicts a video tape that is cursed and whoever watches it, must die after a week. The film stars Hiroyuki Sanada, RikiyaOtaka, and Nanako Matsushima as members of a divorced family and they play an impressive role to make this movie seem a reality. This Japanese movie was produced in 2002 in the United States of America as The Ring and in South Korea as the Ring Virus. The 2002 sequel of the Ringu, Japanese version, features American actors and actresses who, based on the plot of Suzuki’s book and Hideo Nakata movie, produce a horror movie which focuses on the cursed video tape. The American movie is directed by Verbinski and has Naomi Wa tts and Martin Henderson as the main cast. The movie just as its Japanese series was a commercial hit in America and recorded huge sales and won numerous awards, such as the Saturn award 2002, The Teen choice and MTV award, 2003 and this propelled the producers of this movie to produce another sequel of the Ring in 2005. The South Korean version of the Ring is called the Ring Virus. The version, just like the American movie borrows heavily from the plot of the book the Ring by Suzuki. The South Korean version is extremely similar to the Japanese version except on its cast and areas of production. This paper will analyze the American Version of the Ring versus Ringu, the Japanese version, highlighting its differences and how they attract their respective audience. It will examine the elements added or removed in these two adaptations in order to widen their appeal to the targeted audience. The American version of the Ringu, i.e. The Ring though similar in narration and theme, has a d ifferent plot from the Japanese Sequel of Ringu. The America version involves Katie Embry, who is 16 years old, Becca Kotler who is 17 years old. They discuss a cursed video tape that whoever watches it, must die. Katie reveals that seven days ago, in a cabin, she watched the movie and explains the curse that befalls those who watch the movie. The two friends laugh off but suddenly, after mysterious events, she collapses and dies. Becca witnesses these events which make her run mad and there after taken to mental hospital. In the Japanese movie, two teenagers involved are called Masami and Tomoko. Tomoko narrates the same story to Masami and in the event, Masami realizes that Tomoko is meant to die, and she dies suddenly. The differences in this plot are the sense that while Katie and Becca laughed off the legend of the cursed video tape, Tomoko and Masami took it seriously. The American version of the Ring is meant for American citizens and those who share a similar culture to them .Embry and Becca laugh off the superstitions surrounding the video tape, Masami and Tomoko take it seriously and belief on the existence of curses. In the American culture, curses are just beliefs and they cannot happen and therefore this aspect of the play appeals to a wider audience of the American society (Lacefield, 28). The Japanese are rather a superstitious people, they believe in their traditions and the power of curses, and this is the reason as to why Massimo believed in the cursed video tape, and that Tomino was meant to die. This aspect of the movie’s plot is attractive to the Japanese people since it appeals to their culture. Therefore, the directors of The Ring, in removing remorse as