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03-05-2004, 02:49 PM
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|  Direct link to the video The video Reuter article: Gellar stars in Japanese Remake It seems the director of the Hollywood remake of the Japanese horror film 'The Grudge' may actually have a grudge against his starring actors Sarah Michelle Gellar (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Scooby Doo fame) and Jason Behr (of "Roswell" fame). "I hate him," Takashi Shimizu tells Gellar of co-actor Behr. "Just between you and me, I hate Sarah Michelle Gellar," he adds to the Reuters camera invited to film a day in the making of 'The Grudge' in a suburb of Tokyo. Fortunately for Gellar -- and Behr -- who pretends to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown as she says -- "Lesser actresses would cry right now but being the secure actor that I am, I am confident that he is joking," -- Shimizu is actually joking. Renown for his wicked sense of humour that is often the source of inspiration for his horror movies, Shimizu has become the first Japanese director to be chosen to direct one of the recent Hollywood remakes of a Japanese horror film. The fact that the film is also his own helps but recent remakes of Japanese films, especially horror films, have generally only borrowed the plot and style but rarely the talents behind them. Yet this time, Hollywood producer Sam Raimi, ('Spiderman', 'The Ring') felt strongly that these talents should not go to waste and is remaking the film in Japan, with Japanese director Shimizu but with a -- mainly -- American cast. A cast that is firmly behind the choice of directors. "I think Shimizu is very inventive and very unpredictable as a story teller," said Jason Behr who plays lead actor Sarah Michelle Gellar's boyfriend in the film. "As a director he knows exact what he wants. He'll take you to the plot point by point as far as what he wants, He added. "As a person, he has a wicked sense of humour," Behr said. "One that often doesn't need translation. I think that he is respected by everybody around here and everyone has a lot of fun. He is very playful and but everyone really respects him," he said. The Grudge, based on the first of a series of horror films directed by Shimizu, is about a curse or a 'Juon' (pronounced 'Jyoo-on') of one who dies in the grip of a powerful rage which gathers and affects the places in which that person lived. Those who encounter this murderous supernatural curse die and a new curse is born --passed like a virus, from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror. While it offers the audience many hair-raising moments, everyone agrees that its a genre to itself. "I think horror is a very general word that doesn't really describes this sort of film making," Sarah Michelle Gellar said. "In America the assumption when we say horror is gory and gratuitous which is different." "I think Japanese horror lends itself more the American thriller," she said. "Which is the idea that it doesn't need to be in your face -- its more what's left unsaid or what's almost said." Of the other actors to join the film -- like KaDee Strickland ("Something's Gotta Give"), Clea DuVall ("21 Grams"), and William Mapother ("Minority Report") -- Bill Pullman ("Independence Day") was the most struck by the narrative of the story even if he is naturally averse to this kind of movie. "I have kind of a low tolerance for fear so I tend to either watch them with the sound turned off or half way out of the room," he told Reuters. "But when I watched Juon, the first one I think, that was impressive," he added. "I has a real ascetic to it. I was interesting in the story-telling structure, was unusual. There were a lot a things happening in a way that were minimalist but very effective. So it wasn't.., the suspense and the compelling nature of the story wasn't coming from a lot of scary music or special effects or gory awful things but more the potential of how things could go bad," he said. For director Shimizu who has an immense following in Japan after the run-away success of the Juon, Juon-2 and the first video versions, keeping Western fans and Japanese fans happy at the same time seems like a daunting task. "When Japanese hear that its a Hollywood film they will expect something of a grand nature, they will expect a spectacular movie with plenty of special effects -- a visual feast," he said when he has a moment free between shots. "But I am apprehensive. Especially as most of my Japanese fans will have seen the original version and as its strictly a 'remade' version and so the grand plot is basically the same. As not to disappoint the Japanese audience I have had to incorporate as many twists and elements that were not in the original version," he added. While filming takes place at various locations in Tokyo and at Toho Studios, the shoot will continue through mid March and some of the original Japanese actors from "Ju-On" will reprise their roles. Takako Fuji as 'Kayoko' and Yuya Ozeki as 'Toshio' return for this Hollywood version of the cult classic hit. Columbia Pictures is handling North American distribution for the movie and plans to release "The Grudge" in Fall 2004. Japanese fans will have to wait another couple of months after that to see the remake. |
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03-19-2004, 02:52 AM
| #9 (permalink) | |
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|  I like this movie already and Sarah makes the movie Cool and Great!what Takashi Shimizu,it better be a joke for his sake hahahaha.I know he doesn't talk for all the Sarah fans of Japan. Quote:
WE LOVE YOU SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR | |
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