Dark Water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Dark Water - Essay Example In Japanese horror it relies more on folklore and psychological themes that make the plot very different from western movies. The popularity of these horror movies even got up to the point where the American movie industry does remakes of them. The movie that was credited at starting the wave of popularity of this genre is The Ring, also directed by Nakata. The difference in Japanese horror is the unique way that folklore and technology is integrated into the movie. Moving in and getting acquainted with the neighbors The movie Dark Water is about a mother and daughter who move to a run down apartment complex who starts having paranormal encounters upon. The mother had just gotten divorced and was going through a difficult moment in her life. The movie itself, like others in its genre is full of references to Japanese folklore. One such reference is the spirit of the dead child that comes back and haunts the living. In Japanese folklore it is very popular for a spirit of a child who d ies to come back and haunt the living in order to exact revenge in very violent ways. The child is Mitsuko, who dies the previous year from drowning due to the neglect of her mother who was not able to fetch her from school, she goes home alone and plunges into the water tank of their apartment and dies. This theme figures heavily Japanese folklore. ... In the end she dies protecting her daughter from Mitsuko. This is related to the vengeful fetus stories that also figures in Japanese folklore. Here the spirit of an aborted fetus comes back to haunt the mother. The only way to stop this is through a ritual or proper burial. Another way to appease these spirits is through self sacrifice of the mother which happened to Yoshimi. Another theme that has been incorporated here from Japanese folklore is that of the â€Å"monster mother† or the mother who treats her child badly. There are many reasons for this and one reason that comes up is usually the absence of a father, such as the case of Yoshimi and her daughter whom she neglects and treats badly in the movie. One of the reasons for her neglecting her child is quest to look for a job to provide for both of them. Another is the mental anguish the divorce proceedings are causing her. These two combine for a very volatile personality and make for a mother that is both loving and m enacing at the same time. Yoshimi tries her best to nurture her daughter but the pressures of her current situation bear down on her and make her very unstable. As opposed to the father who is very stoic in his appearances in the movie. Yet another theme that comes from Japanese folklore is the Kappa which is a mischievous spirit in Japanese folklore who inhabits water. It is a humanoid that is the size of a child that lures people into bodies of water. The Kappa is usually blamed for drowning in rivers and also raping women who frequent rivers or bodies of water. The child in the movie is not a Kappa per se but her appearance in one of the scenes is inspired by the Kappa whose color ranges from green to yellow. The fact that she is