Review of Dark Water (2002) by Luke B — 12 Jul 2009
I guess I've put off watching this for so long because of all the pointless remakes that are churned out. I only watch them if I am in a hateful mood, something to direct my anger at. It's a stress reliever.
Dark Water is very different though. Although it follows the same path Salles has done an extraordinary thing in his translation. He has removed all the horror and simply gone with a drama. This is Kramer vs.
Kramer with a ghost girl as a subplot. He merges the strands well, having the haunting gradually destroy Connelly's chances of custody of her daughter. It makes for excellent viewing even if it will let down those expecting a horror.
Nakata went for a bit of emotion and a lot of horror. Salles has beefed up a lot of supporting roles and managed to explore them in the most simple of ways. He certainly understands the idea of telling a story through pictures.
Roth is brilliant and is handed such little nuggets as working from his car and lying about being married before sitting down in an empty cinema. If there was a version with the emotion of this and the horror of the original, it would be a perfect film.
Both current versions are excellent films that show how a different interpretation doesn't need to result in a carbon copy remake.
This review of Dark Water (2002) was written by Luke B on 12 Jul 2009.
Dark Water has generally received mixed reviews.
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