First of all, this is an excellent movie. Being a fan of alternatives to the US box office cinema culture , i was blessed with discovering some awesome pieces of modern Asian cinema art, and this is definitely one of them. Most of the average movie watchers are not going to like this , I promise ( man, I sound like a movie snob ), but there is always the Hollywood remake! It is slow paced , carefully built, and unlike other horror movies , the characters are well analyzed and the director made a huge effort to tell a story , and not to make a compilation of scary scenes. And that even made me think that it is not really a horror movie , more of a human , social drama in which the director uses the supernatural element to put the spotlight on the main theme of the movie ( at least in my opinion ) - the love of a parent for his child. I mean , come on , it is so simple , the end of the movie ( even though soooooo masterfully crafted to make you think ) says it all - the final line that is. I usually do not this but now i am forced - SPOILERS :first , another apology for writing this , movies were invented for people to see them and not to read about them - so ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO SAW THE FILM AND Didn't UNDERSTAND IT WELL; second, the film is supposed to make you think and make your own conclusions , so be free to disagree with me; and now my view - she left with the ghost girl for only one reason - to protect her own child. People , I am tired of comments like she was obsessed with the ghost girl and loved her more then her own, you now that explanation sucks! She was INTERESTED about what happened to the girl that drowned because she was in this situation in her life where her own daughter was everything she had - her worries about her own child created a model in her mind of a little girl that needs to be taken care of, and guess who fits in that model! So , knowing that the ghost girl wouldn't leave them alone , she sacrificed herself for her daughter , so she can go on with her life free of these scary things that were happening to them. She made the right decision , didn't she ? Anyway , go see the film. I don't know about the remake, but i know about this one - watch it with open mind and think about it - you will be surprised. And at the end ,only to congratulate Mr. Nakata for the thing he has accomplished - he used a ghost story to paint a strong emotional picture ( or a I like to say - he used the dark water to paint the waterfall of life ) and created a go-and -see movie.
Review of Dark Water
