Honogurai mizu no soko kara (2002)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Hideo Nakata

Writers:

Kôji Suzuki (novel) and
Yoshihiro Nakamura (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

19 January 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

From The Creators of Japan's Acclaimed RINGU, Inspiration for the hit phenomenon THE RING

Plot:

A mother and her 6 year old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water.

Plot Keywords:

Water | Apartment | Ghost | Custody Battle | Divorce

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Hitomi Kuroki	...	Yoshimi Matsubara
Rio Kanno	...	Ikuko Matsubara (6 years old)
Mirei Oguchi	...	Mitsuko Kawai
Asami Mizukawa	...	Ikuko Hamada (16 years old)
Fumiyo Kohinata	...	Kunio Hamada
Yu Tokui	...	Ohta (real-estate agent)
Isao Yatsu	...	Kamiya (apartment manager)
Shigemitsu Ogi	...	Kishida (Yoshimi's lawyer)
Maiko Asano	...	Young Yoshimi's Teacher
Yukiko Ikari	...	Young Yoshimi
Shinji Nomura	...	Mediator
Kiriko Shimizu	...	Mediator
Teruko Hanahara	...	Old Lady (twin, elder)
Youko Yasuda	...	Old Lady (twin, younger)
Kono Tarou Suwa	...	Old Lady (twin, younger)
Shichirou Gou	...	Nishioka
Sachiko Hara	...	Kayo
Tôru Shinagawa	...	Principal (as Tohur Shinagawa)
Shelley Calene-Black	...	Yoshimi Matsubara (voice: English version)
Gabi Chennisi	...	Ikuko Matsubara (voice: English version)
Jay Hickman	...	Kishida (voice: English version)
Mark Laskowski	...	Ohta (voice: English version) (as Mark X. Laskowski)
Chris Ayres	...	Principal (voice: English version) (as Christopher Ayres)
Andy McAvin	...	Kunio (voice: English version)
Jessica Boone	...	Teen Ikuko (voice: English version)
Ted Pfister	...	Kamiya (voice: English version)
John Swasey	...	Mediator (voice: English version)
Heather LeMaster	...	Mediator (voice: English version)
Vic Mignogna	...	Kono (voice: English version)
Vicki Barosh	...	Auntie Kayo / Old Woman A (voice: English version)
Christine M. Auten	...	Teacher Past / Ai's Mother / Recorded Message (voice: English version) (as Christine Auten)
Mariela Ortiz	...	Teacher B (voice: English version)
Amanda Nanawa	...	Teacher C / Mother (voice: English version)
Kaytha Coker	...	Tshushima (voice: English version)
Quentin Haag	...	Nishioka (voice: English version)
Luci Christian	...	Teen Girl A / Answering Machine / Lady Directions (voice: English version)
April Brem	...	Teen Girl B / Office Worker (voice: English version)
Mia	...	Ai / The Ghost of Mitsuko / Hiding Girl A / Young Yoshimi (voice: English version)
Lidia Porto	...	Secretary / Old Woman B / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Cynthia Martinez	...	Hiding Girl B / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Hilary Haag	...	Mao-chan / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
K.C. Jones	...	Father / Mover A (voice: English version)
Rebecca Ayres	...	Little Boy / Kobayashi / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Emma Crabb	...	Assistant / Potential Buyer (voice: English version)
Jacob A. Gragard	...	Worker A / Mover C (voice: English version)
Matthew Crawford	...	Worker B / Mover B (voice: English version) (as Matt Crawford)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chihiro Ôtsuka

Directed by
Hideo Nakata

Writing credits
Kôji Suzuki		(novel)
Takashige Ichise		screenplay (uncredited)
Yoshihiro Nakamura		screenplay
Hideo Nakata		screenplay (uncredited)
Kenichi Suzuki		screenplay (as Ken'ichi Suzuki)

Produced by
Takashige Ichise	....	producer
Kyle Jones	....	producer (english language & subtitled versions)
John Ledford	....	executive producer (english language & subtitled versions)
Mark Williams	....	executive producer (english language & subtitled versions)

Original Music by
Kenji Kawai
Shikao Suga

Cinematography by
Junichirô Hayashi

Film Editing by
Nobuyuki Takahashi

Production Design by
Katsumi Nakazawa

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masaki Adachi	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Cesar Inserny	....	sound designer
Cesar Inserny	....	sound mixer
Masayuki Iwakura	....	sound
Kiyoshi Kakizawa	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Meichô Tomiyama	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Patrick Givens	....	editor: english language and subtitled versions
Neil O'Sullivan	....	editor: english language and subtitled versions

Other crew
Marta Bechtol	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Toru Iwakami	....	international coordinator: english language and subtitled versions
Kyle Jones	....	adr director: English version
Miyuki Kamiya	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Paul Mericle	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Sara Muir	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Maki Nagano	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions
Shoko Oono	....	senior translator: english language and subtitled versions
Carole Pavlik	....	production assistant: engish language and subtitled versions

Production Companies

• Honogurai mizu no Soko kara Seisaku Iinkai
• Oz Productions

Distributors

• Arti Film (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2003) (UK) (theatrical)
• ADV Films (2004) (USA) (DVD) (English language and subtitled versions)
• Diaphana Films
• Highlight Film (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (all media)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2003) (Finland) (VHS)
• Tartan Video (2003) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Industrial Smoke & Mirrors  English ADR recording (English version)
• Monkey Boy Pictures  post-production (English language and subtitled versions)

Also Known As:

Dark Water (UK) (USA)
From the Depths of Dark Water (International: English title) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for terror and disturbing situations.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Honogurai mizu no Soko kara Seisaku Iinkai

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When everyone is up on the roof examining the water tower, a flap of cloth or pant leg can be seen at the top of the ladder. This could be something attached to the tower, but later when she climbs it by herself and we see the whole thing, no such cloth is visible.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ghosts Are Hungry (2006) (V)

Tragic story of loneliness and abandonment

My theory of why I responded so strongly with Dark Water is that it's about people that you can relate to. It isn't about a cop who searches for the serial killer leaving cryptic puzzles, nor a lawyer who defends a crazy murderer who may not be the real killer, etc. It's about a single mother who's on the verge of losing one thing she cares for the most - her daughter.

She has to go for job interviews, she has to find a place to live with little money, and she has to see a divorce lawyer to fend off her rather nasty (yet not unreasonable) husband. Life's tough for Yoshimi, and who could not identify with her? I certainly did, and maybe it's the main reason why the movie worked on me so well.

I sympathised her character and her predicament. I cared for her choice. I kept thinking, 'God, please give this poor woman a break.', but as every good movie must, problems keep piling up on her already over-burdened shoulder, and the ghost haunting that old, damp apartment doesn't help her situation.

As many other reviewers mentioned, this is not all that scary. If you are looking for pure Asian horror to scare you s***less, this isn't it. But on some level it worked on me better than, say, Grudge, because the characters inhabit this picture felt real. Natural performances from the little girl were just amazing (except a couple of spots where her acting was just little off), but overall I totally bought her character.

When she says she needs no one but her mother, I felt a tingle of sensation in my eyes - I wanted them to be together as their love seemed so real. Hitomi Kuroki, playing the motehr, nicely underplays her role - she is polite and tries so hard to pull her life together against overwhelming odds. She is the center of this picture in every single sense.

Also consider the characters in Dark Water, they are all firmly grounded on reality. The divorce lawyer for example, when she tells him that she sees a ghost, he calmly examines the apartment and offers the most reasonable advice that any lawyer would give. Even the husband, while nasty, never oversteps the line of a villain. He after all does care for the welfare of the little girl, and concerns that she sometimes doesn't pick up the child in time.

This is a sad, tragic drama that deals with the souls of the children abandoned and lost by their parents. When that yellow flashback plays on the screen, I felt more pity than horror, so much so the last scene where Yoshimi held up that dead child, maybe it all made sense.

Ending perhaps was little weak - maybe because I cared so much about Yoshimi and her daughter, I just wanted them to be happy and together. Not like this. All great movies regardless their genre constructs human drama as its core. While this may not be a great movie, but a damned fine human drama with a streak of horror this is.