Rinne (Re-incarnation)
Rinne, the 2005 offering by Ju-on director Takashi Shimuzu, is one of those films where it's really hard to tell whether it's good or bad.
On one hand, there's a great russian-doll-like storyline, amazingly atmospheric shots and the creepiest doll in the whole fucking world of movies. On the other hand, the pacing is sluggish, the narratives confusing and there are just too many great moments left unexploited. The plot revolves around one of the actresses in a film being made about a murder that happened in a hotel a long time ago who feels like she's a re-incarnation of one of the victims in the actual event. Simple, silly but after the plot twist (of course) it actually works amazingly well and brings up questions of, how do I put this, taking responsibility for one's past life? Haha. The first three-quarters of the film are pretty ridiculous though falling short of Kansen-standard ridiculous but the sheer beauty of a twist pulled off right kind of absolves the stupidity. It's really like a paradigm shift instead of a stupid 'gotcha'.
One also gets the feeling that Shimuzu is way too ambitious for his boots. The film tries to tackle all sorts of psuedo-philosophical issues with little success (but with more success than Kansen) because of the lack of breadth in his direction. It gives the whole thing a kind of tacky, amateurish feel where it could have been a strong, solid horror film if he had only tried to do a little less.
But still, in the last quarter everything becomes ten times more entertaining. I would actually recommend the film if only for those last twenty minutes or so. But the crappy thing is, you have to sit through the first hour or so because if not everything just doesn't make sense. I leave it up to you to decide whether it's worth your time.
On one hand, there's a great russian-doll-like storyline, amazingly atmospheric shots and the creepiest doll in the whole fucking world of movies. On the other hand, the pacing is sluggish, the narratives confusing and there are just too many great moments left unexploited. The plot revolves around one of the actresses in a film being made about a murder that happened in a hotel a long time ago who feels like she's a re-incarnation of one of the victims in the actual event. Simple, silly but after the plot twist (of course) it actually works amazingly well and brings up questions of, how do I put this, taking responsibility for one's past life? Haha. The first three-quarters of the film are pretty ridiculous though falling short of Kansen-standard ridiculous but the sheer beauty of a twist pulled off right kind of absolves the stupidity. It's really like a paradigm shift instead of a stupid 'gotcha'.
One also gets the feeling that Shimuzu is way too ambitious for his boots. The film tries to tackle all sorts of psuedo-philosophical issues with little success (but with more success than Kansen) because of the lack of breadth in his direction. It gives the whole thing a kind of tacky, amateurish feel where it could have been a strong, solid horror film if he had only tried to do a little less.
But still, in the last quarter everything becomes ten times more entertaining. I would actually recommend the film if only for those last twenty minutes or so. But the crappy thing is, you have to sit through the first hour or so because if not everything just doesn't make sense. I leave it up to you to decide whether it's worth your time.
posted by palehorsesailor at
3:01 AM
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