After a mild result in the audiences with Ringu 2 and the original part two Rasen, Hideo Nakata didn't continue his work as the director of the Ringu saga. However, changing the director proved to be the right choice in order to give the saga a new fresh air fans would thank. Norio Tsurata a relatively unknown film maker was the go to director for releasing the next movie in the apparently finished Ringu saga. Tsurata took some elements from the previous films as well as some portions from the original novel written by Koji Suzuki (the Japanese Stephen King) He also added some elements from a short story written by Suzuki as well. Tsurata knew what fans have been looking forward to: an origin story of Sadako Yamamura, and so he made a movie fans would love for sure.
Released in the year 2000 the movie takes us back 30 years before the first film from the saga. Tsurata is determined to accomplish a big goal: to let us enter into the world of a teenage Sadako, victim of herself & her strange family. Opposed to what we know of Sadako Yamamura from the previous movies, in Ringu 0: Bâsudei We are to enter unknown territories in the life of the ultimate killing girl from J-Horror. Sadako used to be a very shy girl whith an almost ethereal personality. The plot of the movie wants ust to know that sometimes, evil can be manipulated up to the point of building killing machines that lack all sort of emotions. So, basically Norio Tsurata and his wonderful cast have one goal in mind, a goal that would seem impossible: to turn viewers Sadako's point of view upside down. The first two entries in the saga taught us to fear the unstoppable Sadako, a girl in the looks but a monster in the inside. Part III wants us to learn the human side this girl used to have. Soon we learn that Sadako Yamamura was born with psychic powers just like her mother. The problem was that Sadako couldn't control them and as soon as her state of mind was altered people would die in the most horrible ways you can think of. Unfortunately Sadako's mother also had those abilities and yeah, she went nuts and killed herself by jumping into an exploding volcano (this is discovered in part 1)So young Sadako is trying hard to avoid such a horrible future.
Sadako Yamamura's sweet side.
Drama served her well.
"Sadako I'm the only one who believes you. Let me have you doggy style"
Sadako's popular dark side.
If comparisons were any good, I would say that Ringu 0 is the Asian equivalent story/movie of the American Carrie flick. Sadako suffers from being shy and different just like Carrie White did in her movie. Essentialy we are told a compassion story in 90 minutes because Sadako can't control her abilities, they just take over herself and turn her into pure evil. Sadako is constantly haunted by
frightening visions of ghosts and bloody omens of the future. She has found some happiness
in a small drama troupe, despite the fact that few of her fellow actors
like her - Sadako is too quiet, a little creepy, and always seems to
have something or someone standing behind her back - something that no one can quite
see. The cast of an upcoming play all begin to have similar dreams in
which an old house, a forest by the sea and a crumbling well all make
an appearance. When the star of the play dies unexpectedly, and Sadako
is given her role, suspicion mounts. Odd occurrences plague the set, a
news reporter with a secret agenda begins to investigate poor Sadako Yamamura and
Sadako herself falls in love with a handsome sound engineer named
Toyama, the only one who believes that Sadako is innocent from all the mess around her. But if she
is, then what is causing the poltergeist-like activity in the theater? What
is the source of the strange, eerie sound that everyone can hear? And
whose voice said "You will die" on a recording made at the time of a
young woman's death?
Sadako's real dad.
Sadako's wacko mum.
The well.
Sadako's only friend.
Grand Finale.
This is a strong entry in the Ringu series, more of a psychological
drama than anything else. Sadako, is a girl with no
self-esteem, wandering through the film in pale dumpy clothes with her long black hair covering her face. She is truly a good, sweet girl who is simply pushed too far. There are some creepy moments scattered through the film
featuring grainy dream sequences, stricken corpses and a very creepy
shot of Sadako's insane mother during a flashback. There's also a great
climax featuring Sadako as we all remember her - hair in her face and
clad in a long white dress - literally jumping into view and then
creeping up on her two victims in a scene that was clearly shot
backwards and then run forwards, giving her movements a hideous
jerkiness. Yukie Nakama is very good as Sadako, giving us a tragic
heroine who is good and pure and possesses the power to heal the sick.
Your sympathy will lie with Sadako, even as her dark past is revealed.
The good Sadako suffers unbearably and you will suffer with her, right
up to the chilling, but inevitable, ending.
Overall, the origin story of Sadako Yamamura is nothing too far from our reality: an abused girl since her earliest upbringings, abused in the worst way: by her family. After we're done watching it, we leave the movie thinking "nobody told her she could make it someday" This part III fits quite good as the climax for the trilogy, although we're never told every single fact about Sadako's life and the people and facts around her. For instance we meet her twin sister, but that's it, no further explanations. Some other references to her mum and dad seem a bit incomplete and are only understood clearly by those who watched the previous films. I guess they didn't wanted to tell the whole story, so that we could fantasize and hope for a part IV in the near future.
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