Reincarnation

Director: Takashi Shimizu

Eastern Eye Entertainment

R4 DVD

Reincarnation is by the Director of the Grudge and he is at pains to ask the audience to look at this film in a new way and not see it as another “Grudge”. Indeed he goes as far to put his own introduction to the film ! To my mind this is an exciting new exploration of the Japanese ghost story which goes far beyond the Grudge and its related genre of ghost revenge films and explores memories and reincarnation, the nature of consciousness and perception.

The background to the tale is that a local professor has gone mad and killed some eleven people in a motel, some 35 years later a film is being made of the killings. The director wants to explore the killings from the perspective of the victims, not the killer, and hence believes he has a new angle on the story. As he begins to film one of the actresses he has chosen for a major part has a range of strange experiences and even comes to believe she is a reincarnation of one of the role she is playing. But are these memories correct and who exactly is she a reincarnation of ? This is the crux of the film.

There is a lot to like about this film. There is a reoccurring discussion regarding memories, consciousness and perception and the film explores many angles we may not at first consider. The first thought I had when confronted with the mad professor in a motel motif was “the Shining”, but as the film develops you realize it is not about a “mad professor” but about his reincarnation and the way consciousness moves from life to life. There are also hints that he went on his killing spree to explore how memory survives death, some sort of extreme medical experiment and hence we are constantly focused on the reincarnation motif which holds all the elements of the story together.

This is a strongly violent film, the death of the children will confront many, yet this violence is very much in the context of exploring the interaction between the past and the present and the way consciousness crosses time and hence is not in any way gratuitous. It is also a beautifully looking film, even for one as dark and confronting, the colours and images of the film are stark and powerful and the way in which the present cuts back into the past is superbly done. I especially like how the scene moves from the broken down motel to the original and from the model to the original motel effortlessly and in such a way that you really feel moved back in time.

I also greatly like the way in which the process of film-making is intertwined into the story as though to emphasize the way in which life itself is artificial and a construct of perception and that consciousness itself plays over like a film. The central motif of the story if about a film being made about a killing in the past and the way in which the killer intrudes into the present is via an old 8mm film he had of the killings. As the filming of the movie is being made and the old film is being shown realities collide and the truth unfolds, souls from the past are awakened in the “bodies” of the present and the consequences become evident for all to see.

The ghosts are superbly portrayed but not overemphasized, even the resurrected dead at the end of the film while “death” like in appearance do not cross into comic book zombie portrayal. The doll is especially creepy and appears throughout the film. The director walks a fine line and uses a wide range of horror techniques to maximum effect and creates a very impressive and innovative film.

The picture quality is superb and is very clear even in very dark scenes, the colours are solid throughout. The sound is moody and claustrophobic, there is a good use of the surrounds, the voices are clear and sub-titles easy to read.

Extras include the introduction by the director, documentaries such as the Making of Reincarnation and Memories of Reincarnation, Deleted Scenes, Stills Gallery and trailers.