PDA

View Full Version : Kairo - some questions


Nereid
27-09-2003, 22:54
I watched the film Kairo last night, and was a little disappointed. Perhaps I let my expectations deceive me; I had read a number of online reviews (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0286751/externalreviews) that enthused about the intense and terrifying experience the reviewers had had with the film. However I found that the film left me not at all spooked, rather subdued and somewhat depressed, and puzzled. Very puzzled. I was hoping those who had also watched the film could answer some of the questions I have:

What precisely was the nature of the website the characters stumbled across? Were the people shown there ghosts, or people who had become or were about to become ghosts? Were the people ghosts waiting for a living human to construct a real-world refuge for them to inhabit?

What were The Forbidden Rooms? Were the rooms designed to house a ghost unable to find a place in the overcrowded spirit realm? Why were the rooms sealed with red tape? Were the rooms meant to confine the ghosts, preventing the living and unliving from interacting?

Who or what was the mysterious shade Ryosuke encountered in the library?

Why did Taguchi and Harue take their own lives, while Yabe, Junco and Ryosuke simply faded away to nothingness? Did the fact that the latter three characters all directly encountered spirits in one of the red-taped rooms have something to do with the curious manner of their deaths?

What was the significance/symbolism of the black stains? Why did the stain left by Junco disintigrate while the others were left intact?

Harue encountered an entity in her apartment before she died. What was it? Why did she also simultaneously appear on the ghostly website?

What was the significance/symbolism of the black refuse bag Harue placed over her head? Did it symbolise a loss or lack of identity? Was she trying to conceal herself from the world and deny the despair that was consuming her? Something else?

Saber
27-09-2003, 23:50
I have no idea.

After watching it, it mademy brain work overtime, I had no idea wtf happened. In the end I just gave up and thought, oh well, even though i did not understand it, it was good none the less.

staffyman
28-09-2003, 00:05
What 'Saber' said!!! :D

:lol:

DavidBrent
28-09-2003, 14:06
Sorry to hijack the thread, but if you wanna sell it, Nereid, then I'm willing to buy! :)

mrsteve
28-09-2003, 16:29
Originally posted by DavidBrent
Sorry to hijack the thread, but if you wanna sell it, Nereid, then I'm willing to buy! :)

DavidBrent - You can pick it up for about £4.50 delivered from www.dddhouse.com The picture on the HK edition is reasonable and anamorphic.

I absolutely loved it but haven't a clue what the answer to Nereid's questions are.... Sorry, Nereid.

Steve

Nereid
28-09-2003, 16:53
Originally posted by mrsteve
DavidBrent - You can pick it up for about £4.50 delivered from www.dddhouse.com The picture on the HK edition is reasonable and anamorphic.

David, I second mrsteve's suggestion - the dvd is very cheap to purchase new, and you have the additional peace of mind knowing you're purchasing it from DDDHouse, a professional and reputable company, and not a potential scallywag like me. ;)

I absolutely loved it but haven't a clue what the answer to Nereid's questions are.... Sorry, Nereid.

Never mind. Perhaps I'm just thinking too much, and should just let the film's bleak atmospherics wash over me. :)

mrsteve
28-09-2003, 17:23
Nereid - Just re-read the thread. Sorry, didn't mean to spoil a potential deal when I posted the dddhouse link. Apologies foir that.
Just a bit of an enthusiast for the film.

Your questions are good ones, I'm going to see if I can work some out on my next viewing!

Steve

Nereid
28-09-2003, 18:10
Originally posted by mrsteve
Nereid - Just re-read the thread. Sorry, didn't mean to spoil a potential deal when I posted the dddhouse link. Apologies foir that.
Just a bit of an enthusiast for the film.

Not at all! You were right to recommend DDDHouse - the dvd is a bargain, and I think David would be much better off purchasing it from them rather than having to endure the many small hassles of buying it from an unknown quantity like me.

Originally posted by mrsteve
Your questions are good ones, I'm going to see if I can work some out on my next viewing!

Cool. Looking forward to reading what you make of it all. :)

DavidBrent
28-09-2003, 18:12
OK will do - thanks for the tip, guys. :thumbs:

GrossePointeJack
28-09-2003, 18:20
I was wondering some of the same things - but I have a more taxing question...

What is the song that plays at the end???

Nereid
28-09-2003, 19:10
Originally posted by GrossePointeJack
What is the song that plays at the end???

Lay Down Your Arms by Cocco. Japan's entry to the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest.

dangermouse
28-09-2003, 21:33
CD Japan list the Kairo soundtrack here (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=MTCE-1001)

They also stock the excellent deluxe 2-disc Jap DVD edition of the movie which is expensive but very impressive. Just a shame that the extras aren't subtitled. Check it here (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=KWDV-12)

:thumbs:

Manuel Tur
29-09-2003, 00:12
Dangermouse - the DVD you link to is a single disc release, though it certainly is very nice as I can personally attest to. However the R2J release is exactly the same transfer as the R3 release, so no better nor worse in terms of the film itself.

Thanks for the soundtrack link - very tempting! :thumbs:

Squirrel God
13-07-2006, 15:13
I stuck this movie on expecting a a bog standard J-Horror and, while it's certainly very creepy, it's far more than just a conventional horror movie. It's a brilliantly absorbing, despair-ridden, confusing, apocalyptic vision, riddled with social commentary. If I had one complaint, it's that there is lengthy 'laying of pipe' in the middle of the film which kills the momentum quite a bit before the film ramps up again. However, I suspect this will only be a problem on initial viewing.

The final scenes ...

... with the plane coming down were beautiful to look at. I understand they cut the sound of the explosion due to 9/11 and I think that actually made the scene work even more effectively. It became very haunting.

An excellent movie worthy of multiple viewings.

http://www.btinternet.com/~squirrel.god/files/7stars.png

Alan b
13-07-2006, 18:16
Moving to World Cinema & DVD Forum