Asian Film Infusion
By Marie Iida, Special Contributor

Asian themes have always had an indispensable influence on Western cinema. Bruce Lee delivered the phrase “Boards don’t hit back” with a withering stare, kung-fu dynamics soared high as bamboos in “ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and the straight-A kids of “Better Luck Tomorrow” just recently made a few figurative kicks against the ever-tenacious stereotypes cast on Asian Americans. Recently, the merging of the East and the West has taken a different turn. This is a much awaited development for foreign film and cult movie aficionados. Those underrated and oh-so- hard- to- find-in-Blockbuster films from Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and others are the source that major Hollywood producers are now eyeing for remake rights. Most recently, the breakthrough import came in a form of an eerie, long haired girl in need of some desperate tan. That’s right. Our favorite friendly ghost- “Samara” from the jump out of your seat scary box office hit, “The Ring.”

These films that Hollywood is using as templates for scripts are strictly created with the individual colors of different Asian countries. Most of these films were initially made with a small budget, only to smash records in its native country and spew its influence into the nearby Asian countries. It was only a matter of time until they landed in the hands of Miramax and Paramount Pictures. Most noticeably the films purchased by Hollywood have been horror films, perhaps because screaming in the dark and clinging to your date is a universally shared fun activity. Also, these horror films such as “The Ring” have proven to provide an alternative twist to the mainstream horror genre that dominates Hollywood. Weren’t we all a tad bored with seeing psychopathic meanies with a chainsaw running after screaming high school girls? But the process of remaking a film is a complex one. These original films from the East are imbued with cultural symbols and ideas that formulate the films’ essence. Yet in the process of remaking, these films are often bombarded with the glitz and glamour of popular actors and state of the art technologies. The resulting remake therefore can disappoint the fans of the original, and they also reveal the limitation in the kinds of film deemed acceptable in Hollywood.

Take “The Ring” for example. The original “Ringu” was based on an acclaimed Japanese novel by Koji Suzuki, and adapted into a film directed by Hideo Nakata in 1998. As a gothic horror mystery movie “Ringu” became a major box office hit in Japan and Southeast Asia, and spawned the genre J-horror. The original “Ringu” was viewed by DreamWorks executives, and it sent enough chills down their backs to have remake rights immediately negotiated. In 2002, the film originally made for just 1.2 million dollars was remade and released as a spanking new Hollywood film by DreamWorks pictures in 2002. Although the remake appealed to the general public, bringing in a startling 135 million dollars in the US, the roots of the film did not receive the credits they rightfully deserve in front of the general public.

Nevertheless, from what I can conclude from his interviews and the remake itself, Gore Verbinsky, the director of “The Ring” does acknowledge the essence that made “Ringu” such a cultural phenomenon in Japan. Verbinsky noted that the original has served as a strong jumping off point for the remake not just in terms of concept, but tonally. “The Ring” succeeded in keeping the plot parallel to the original. Remakers simply moved the urban mythical horror story from Tokyo, Japan into the state of Washington. Those of you brave souls who didn’t watch “The Ring” between your fingers may have noticed the film’s characteristic somber colors. The dark tone and mood of the remake were carefully crafted emulation of the original’s mystique. Also, the infamous images from the video tape in “The Ring” consist of materials that are the designer’s subtle homage to the original “Ringu.” They include the ominously red Japanese maple tree, the American version of a sliding door, and the Japanese wall hangings.

Yet in spite of some of these correlations to the original, the remakers could not keep the cultural essence. When the paces of the two films are compared, one can see that the slow pace of the original “Ringu” is lost. In Japanese and other Eastern cultures, there is an artistic value placed in silence. The subtlety and the unexplained openness of “Ringu” are deliberately made in the original to add to its mystique, its intangible chill. However, in the remake, much of the silence is filled with explanation, dialogues, and sound. Perhaps this stems out of a rather Western, or simply Hollywood necessity to clarify any vague points in the film. Also, the remake consists of numerous scenes that proceeds more quickly and grandiosely when compared to those in the original (Remember the Horse gone crazy sequence in the remake?) As a result, while the remake is more of a roller coaster, grip the end of your seat type of scary, the original “Ringu” sends a chill that slowly rolls down your spine. There is another difference in the presentation of none other than Samara, the ghost of the film. Aside from the name of the vindictive apparition being different, the Japanese original tends to reveal Samara’s (Sadako in the original) face only in bits until the very end- most amusingly the close-up on her blood-shot eye. Yet in the American remake, Samara shows up as a girl (rather cute in my opinion), a pale and angry one, but still very much a girl even in the theatrical trailer. The chill effecting idea of not-knowing is a cultural technique that is not employed as adeptly in the Hollywood version.

When these lower-budget, Eastern films are remade under the big spotlight of Hollywood they inevitably lose the quality of the original culture. In my opinion, the primitive qualities of the original films devoid of stunts and computer graphics make them seem more realistic. So those who would like to feel the closer presence of Samara, I recommend renting the original version, “Ringu.” The same conflicts in the process of remaking may be shared in the upcoming films such as “The Eye,” which was originally directed by Thailand-born Pang brothers. Tom Cruise’s company, Cruise/Wagner production has been reported to have bought the rights of its remake. Aside from the horror genre is the remake of the 1996 Japanese film “Shall We Dance.” The remake is scheduled to air in June. “Shall We Dance” is an endearing, “aw, old people in love” movie about an ordinary Japanese businessman’s hilarious journey into the world of ballroom dancing in an attempt to impress a beautiful dance teacher. This “it could happen” love story that blooms in the mundane life of the businessman is filled with the commonality of every day life in Tokyo. The remake will be done by Miramax, and well, the fate of the simple love story is debatable when the teacher that shakes her “thang” is scheduled to be none other than J-Lo. The other glamorous cast includes Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, as well as cameos by Ja Rule and Mya to add the hip hop touch.

While it is inevitable for Hollywood films to acquire audience appeal by employing top selling actors in the remakes, I can’t help but wish for the original foreign films to reach a larger audience. With the limits placed on the kinds of film deemed marketable today, the American movie industry cannot be qualified as truly diverse. The Hollywood producers buy these foreign films to remake them because initially there are some aspects in them that they can identify with. So isn’t there a possibility for the original to appeal as they are? Furthermore, isn’t it a good thing for audience to stretch their minds a little and explore the different cultural perceptions and contexts that these films take place in? Not to mention that the acting ability of some of these foreign films stars are at times very noteworthy, and it is a shame that they never acquire the spotlight that the remake gets. Many of these original foreign films have the potential appeal to entertain the audience world-wide with their convincing plots. They should at the same time be appreciated for their cultural uniqueness. The film’s essence lies in the backdrop, the mannerisms, and the mood that are too precious to be stripped off and replaced with simple glitz. Despite the remakes’ directors attempting to pay homage to the original, the inevitable outcome of making Hollywood-acceptable films is homogenization. When these films are remade so that they can assimilate into the standard molds of Hollywood, their original uniqueness never get to reach the American audience.

However, the critical acclaim these Eastern films are acquiring is a fortuitous sign of the expansion that the focus of the American film industry may be going through. These Eastern films serve to represent each Asian country’s current generation, and the new ideas that are spawning there today. They serve as a medium in which what is precious, what is scary, and what is loved in the current Eastern societies can be represented in the Western world. These home-made films ultimately show that there is more intrigue in the common, urban life of Eastern cultures. Also, they prove that they are capable of being appealing to many without long swords, karate kicks and, hey, maybe even Lucy Liu or Chow Yun-Fat. The Western attempt to buy the concept of modern Eastern films is a potential for development, because it shows a genuine interest in the Eastern films’ message and craft, and not simply the marketable mystique of “Asian-ness” that had been pursued for too long. The untapped potentials of Eastern films today reveal that there are more ways beyond kung-fu to kick butt in Hollywood.