[Japanese Movie] One Missed Call...

[shai^cello]

Anybody had any idea when this new Japanese horror movie will be coming out on DVD? I saw the preview in 'Cinema Today' and it seems quite scary, especially the part where the ghost walks on ceiling with her hair coming down....creepy... :crazy:
And that Thai horror movie 'The Sisters'...was it good?
I dun wanna watch any korean horror anymore... Fed Up... too slow and not scary at all... :-x

[scarletwillow]

The movie poster looks really familiar for some reason; I can't think of why O_o
What DVD are you looking for?
The Japanese DVD has been released already.
http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1003504161/pname-Chakushin-Ari/code-j/version-all/section-videos/did-160/ -Limited Edition
http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1003320240/code-j/section-videos/ -Normal Edition

Both are Japanese editions, no subs.

[shai^cello]

uuu...no sub? gee...
I kinda into Japs horror cuz Malaysian horror movies are so boring...
I guess I've to wait...
have u watch it?
I wonder if it is as good as JuOn.

[MichelleW]

ooo a japanese horror movie! american horror movies are so predictable and not scary at all. I'm going to look into this one!

[Elisya]

The story-line for this jap horror seems so familiar...like I read it somewhere...Hmm...I love jap horror movies, it just keep you on the edge.

Oh, I watched the Thai movie already- Sisters. It's a great movie coz the suspense and the thriller was there. Hmm...but after I watched the movie, the ghost face was in my mind. :oops:

[scarletwillow]

I've yet to see it... I might watch it though, since it got some decent reviews (6.4 at Imdb I think).
7.5 is the average, by the way, for a good movie.
8.5 is the average for classics there.

[shai^cello]

elisya : yeah, it has the element of Thai's 'The Sister' and Korean 'The Phone'...but I bet it is better than The Phone. It's about getting msgs from the phone before u die....unlike 'The Ring', this one, the msg may be in a form of picture msg, a voice msg, etc...u know, cuz, i saw the preview, that this girl got a voice msg dated two weeks later that have a girl voice saying 'Ah, it's raining' and then a loud bloody scream...two weeks later while she's talking with her friend on the phone who was walking on a bridge or sth, then it started to rain. So the friend goes 'Ah, it's raining' and then realized what it means and what will happen to her next... kinda scary cuz u just realized u will die after saying that words...

[scarletwillow]

..Wow, that does sound scary O______O

Just reading that gave me chills... and I'm about to go to sleep!
*no nightmares please!!!*

[Red girl]

Maybe some of u has oledi watch this film....it is Wishing Stairs. :)
a film from Korean... :D

Some synopsis-)Wishing Stairs takes place at a Korean school for girls. It
is said that the stairs leading up to the school beholds the
power of granting a wish if a 29th step appears when you walk
up the stairs. It doesn't take long before a bullied,
overweight student tries it. But as it is said, you should be
careful what you wish for, for your wish might come true. :crazy:

http://www.m2smedia.com/images/movie/korea/03/WishingStairs-2003-01-t.jpg

It quite scary when her fren dead........ :cry:

[yukiko]

shai^cello : do u like watching horror movies?? me too. :p

[manda_hoon]

I heard the ending of e horror flick was not understandable. My fren say she didn't really understand y the ghost possessed e phone. I have watched wishing stairs.. i think some part was quite touching. It is not as scary as jap movie i think.

[KendoTiger]

Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) By Miike

You can find a copy of the movie at www.silentregrets.com. Please thank the kind people for uploading and subbing it, and the person who mentioned the site under the Goong thread (first post I believe).


Okay, I just finished watching Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) by Miike a few hours ago. I got pissed because I usually understand his (Miike's) work, so I had to puzzle out the movie during my finance classes. Considering how cute Airu is (my teacher), I must have been really confused to spend time on this movie ._." Anyways, after a few full pages of notes, I still have four things yet to figure out (the internet posts I've seen so far are worthless). Here it is - feel free to post this elsewhere, as long as you mention I wrote it ^^:

*** spoilers ***
-----------------
Some of the main themes/motifs to keep in mind while reading are:
- Munchausen's By Proxy -> desire for attention
- Abuse creates abuse
- Why is Miike doing it this way?

---------------
It starts with Marie's attacking and killing Yumi's friends (apparently being able to read the future, and give them each a glimpse of their own death). The victims all have jawbreakers found in their mouths, and call the next phone after a horrible death. I left this as a "closed event" because this really just gives lead in to the main sequence (Yumi's "death").

V

Finally, you get to the point where Yumi is trapped in the hospital with Hiroshi (door is chained and "possessed"). This creates foreshadowing to the desire for Marie's body to be found.

V

When the phone is found in Marie's hand, you come to the conclusion that it is she who called the Yumi and the other victims. But you're left with the question, why? Although it seems that she is the murderer, I believe that it was an attempt to warn the victims of her daughter Mimiko (covered later).

V

Although Hiroshi manages to silence the phone, Marie comes alive, and begins to strangle Yumi. This acts to juxtapose Yumi to Mimiko, through their "death" of asphixiation (cannot breath). This acts as one of the first direct bonds that both Yumi and Mimiko have together, yet it should be noted that I am aware of Yumi's position as a victim and Mimiko's as an abuser. The transformation between then is an important point in my explanation.

V

Marie does not stop until Yumi promises to be a "good girl" and "stay" with Marie forever; after hearing this, Marie forgives Yumi and passes away. Yumi and Hiroshi believe the matter settled.

V

Remember the scene where the hands were coming out of the closet, bringing the tape recorder into light? I believe that this was another instance of either Mimiko or Marie trying to bring the truth into light (about Mimiko's abuse).

V

When Hiroshi watches the tape, it is discovered that it is Mimiko, not Marie, who is abusing Nanako (the little sister). When Marie discovers this (on the tape), she leaves Mimiko to sufficate on the ground (ashma inhaler - the same sound from Kenji's death in the elevator). Causing the prolonged, painful death mentioned earlier in the movie (drowning). Hiroshi also finds out where the jawbreakers are coming from - Mimiko leaves them with a wish for a "fast recovery" in the hospital. The jawbreaker in itself, and Mimiko's wish for recovery, is the first thing I do not fully understand. I'll touch on it later. 1

V

Hiroshi rushes to Yumi's side, but get's there too late. Yumi stabs Hiroshi; looking in the mirror, Hiroshi sees Mimiko's reflection instead of Yumi. Mimiko's appearance has many possible meanings. First, it concludes Yumi's death and Mimiko's position as the murderer. Yet, a more interesting take is that the mirror acts to reflect Yumi's soul - showing her own abusive side. The lack of a phone call for Hiroshi means that either Yumi herself caused Hiroshi's death, or that Marie's calls were purely ment to warn the victims.

V

If Marie's wish were to help save the victims (as you now see her in a good light), then her action to strangle Yumi (hospital zombie scene) makes sense. She saw the evil within Yumi and wished to end it. When Yumi sees Marie as her mother, it implies that Yumi assumes the role of Mimiko (child to Marie), and that she carries the scars necessary to abuse others ("Abuse creates abuse...probably" lecture).

V

Remember the scene where Marie attacked Yumi, and Yumi accepted Marie as her mother. It makes sense that Marie would not stop until Yumi pledged to stay with Marie in the afterlife (after she "dies"), rather than return to the world and cause death. But a big question is, "why does Yumi see her own mother in Marie? Couldn't Miike retain Marie's image and still make the same statement?" I will touch on this later in 2.

V

Anyways, after Hiroshi dies, a scene follows in which he "saves" Mimiko, by rushing in and using an inhaler. This continues Hiroshi's role as a savior - first to centered on Yumi, then on Mimiko. His "pure" desire also lands him into her "sky" later on (covered later). It is unclear as if he wishes to save Mimiko because: it will save Yumi, it will prevent further murders, he truely cares for Mimiko.

V

Afterwards, Hiroshi awakens in a hospital bed (obviously heaven). Yumi stands beside him, still possessing the knife that killed him. This resounds with Mimiko's words "I will take you to the hospital". I will cover this in 3.

V

When Yumi kisses Hiroshi, and drops the jawbreaker into his mouth, it becomes clear that Yumi has assumed the role of Mimiko (if it were heaven, then it would be Mimiko's spirit beside Hiroshi). It is also clear that Hiroshi admits his love for Yumi, and is firm in his desire to stay close to her.

V

It all comes down to the theme (put forth by Miike through Hiroshi's sister), "Different people have different skies" - roughly translating into "people have different heavens - it is not one shared thing". For Hiroshi, his form of heaven is to act as the savior of Yumi - accepting any amount of pain to continue to care for her. For Mimiko, her desire for attention is settled through Hiroshi's desire to "save" her (with the inhaler) despite knowing what she had done to Nanako. Yumi, having assumed the role of Mimiko as the abuser, has found heaven through Hiroshi's continuing desire to be with her including being abused (supposedly). Notice that the knife in Yumi's hands is clean: this is to point out Yumi's earlier innocence (in killing Hiroshi), while it's presence confirms Yumi's transformation with the jawbreaker.
-----------------------

[edit - so I don't lose my text]
1. Jawbreaker relevance and Mimiko's wish for recovery. Well, besides the obvious use of Mimiko's attachment to jawbreakers (to move the story along), the jawbreaker in itself is probably an inside joke. It might as well be any other form of candy or swallowable item - I believe a Jawbreaker was chosen because it happens to be one of those candies that can be swallowed and cause a child to choke. Yes, Miike does have weird humor sometimes.

Mimikos's wish for recovery is much more important to the story line, although it is more open to interpretation. Basically, it shows Mimiko in a troubled, attention-seeking kind of light, not in a "pure evil" one as assumed by the horrible murders. Mimiko's gift of a jawbreaker furthers the image that she doesn't 'know' how much pain she's putting the victims through. Another view is that her comment is sarcastic, and the jawbreaker is an allusion to her inability to breath.

2. The Eyehole. Yumi's original fear of the eyehole comes from her abusive mother forcing her to look through a sliding door at the corpse of her grandmother (having hung herself, or murdered by Yumi's mother, it is unclear).
In the second eyehole, Yumi looks through her apartment door to see Mimiko outside, only to recoil as a spike plunges into the apartment (through said eyehole). Whereas Yumi originally looked through the eyehole from her mother's force, the second time is on her own accord. Mimiko's actions is an attempt to punish Yumi for overcoming her fear (and place her back in the abusive/victim role). Mimiko's repetition of Hiroshi's answering message as a lure to kill Yumi doesn't make sense, because Yumi hasn't asked "why?" yet, and as Mimiko can go anywhere, she doesn't need to lure Yumi to the eyehole. I believe that Miike uses the second eyehole incident to show that Yumi has evolved enough to overcome her fear, yet Mimiko is able to quickly drag Yumi back to the fearful person she once was. As fear is the main motivation for a victim staying with their abuser, Miike shows the inescapability of Yumi's situation.

Yumi's view of Marie as her mother. Asphixiation (it comes up again!), from choking, should be noted. Yet, what is the connection? Yumi's grandmother and Hiroshi's sister were both set as positive characters, while Mimiko and Yumi are both negative characters. Unless Miike is attempting to "balance things out", I am unsure as to the point other than to stress importance. I'll think some more about it, and come back to this point.

Anyways, I think it comes back more to forgiveness. Yumi forgives the abuse her mother put her through - much the same way as Marie wishes to be forgiven for letting Mimiko die. Both desires are fulfilled with Yumi's actions.

3. "I will take you to the hospital"- Mimiko. I believe that this is in reference to the theme "different skies". Mimiko wishes to bring Hiroshi to her (and Yumi's) version of heaven. I'll come back to this point after thinking a little more.

[/edit as of 6/26]
4. Crows present on apartment balcony; phone on top of decaying crow (surrounded by maggots). Interestingly, Nanako means "kitten" or "kitty" (I think, can anyone check?) - providing contrast to the popular image of a cat eating birds (crows). Crows are usually attracted to dead animals, and are known for eating human flesh, so their appearance in this film is not surprising. The "destroyed" phone's appearance surrounding a decaying/maggoty crow can mean one of three things. First that the crow is a physical representation of the victim's death - ie, that when the phone is destroyed, the crow is destroyed as well. Secondly: as the crow's decaying corpse is between the two portions of phone, the evil released itself into the crow's body, causing the death/decay. Or thirdly that even a crow, the a "symbol of death", could be destroyed by the evil within the phone. Either way, the crow serves as a representation of Mimiko.
-----------------

In the end, Yumi assumes the role of an abuser, while Hiroshi settles the curse of Mimiko and provides himself for Yumi. Both reach their personal version of "heaven".

Note: I have yet to see Chakushin Ari 2. I will update this mini-essay once I finish the sequal, although that might take a little time.
-----------------------

Phew, that took a lot of effort! Well, please leave any comments/questions - I'd really like input so I can see how close my essay is. Again, please do not reproduce this without telling me (email me kendotiger@gmail.com) and giving me credit. Thanks!
---------------

[JAY_LUVER]

kendotiger,
thanks for clearing things up! I was so confused in some of the parts and I'm not the type of person who can connect everything all at once. Overall, I think it was a good horror movie. During the middle of the movie, my cellphone rang while the music was playing and it freaked me out! It was quite funny. I'm going to be so paranoid now when I see one missed call on my phone. Has anyone seen the American version? I want to know if it was similar or not. I haven't seen the American version, but I'm sure it's not as great as the original. Usually, it's not all that great - but maybe someone liked it.

wait, theres a sequel to this?

[jbalibean]

Those were really interesting observations. I think was the scariest movie I have seen in a long time. My friend and I were holding each other and screaming. If you're into horror movies, then I would definitely recommend seeing it. Things are supposedly cleared up in the sequel, but I'm not sure. I don't really have the guts to sit through another one of those movies :oops: