Unsought Input

Takashi Miike is one of the most prolific directions today who you probably have never heard off. He is most know for using extreme graphic violence and taboo subject matter in his films. Audition and Ichi the Killer feature some of the most extreme imagery put to film. However, Miike is not all shock and he is an accomplished film maker and story teller. He has directed around 14 productions covering a wide variety of subjects and genres. In the movie One Missed Call, Miike tackles the genre of J-Horror and applies his own unique vision to it.

The plot of the movie is that college students begin to receive strange ringtones on their phones and they find messages left from a few days in the future that feature themselves saying something and then screaming. The students then at the time of the message die do to some bizarre circumstances. The first falls off a bridge onto a train, then next down an elevator shaft. All of the characters that die have a piece of candy in their mouths afterwards.

The main characters of Yamashita and Nakamura discover that the murders are being carried out by the ghost of a woman who abused her 2 daughters to gain attention at the hospital (Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome). The one died of asthma atatck, while the other is now in foster care. The plot is a typical J-Horror predetermined death where the characters are warned of their death before it happens and try and stop it, like The Ring. Miike adds his own atmospheric visuals to this formula and creates some very frightening and disturbing moments.

Miike also manages to add some social commentary to the mix. Nakamura’s best friend receives a message and is contacted by a reality TV show who wants to do an exorcism live on air with her. She agrees believing it to be her only chance at survival. What end sup happening though is the TV executives just want ratings and have her sit around while a panel of “experts” debates the validity of her being killed. The bring out and exorcist, who we see in makeup back stage before he comes out, who does a variety of rituals that don’t help. As predetermined the ghost comes and no one can stop it. The TV executive decides to go on and keep transmitting the broadcast even when the ghost twists the girls head off. This is clearly a commentary on today’s voyeuristic TV where people tune in to watch others basically self destruct.

Eventually Yamashita and Nakamura find the hospital where the mother died in and are confronted by her ghost. Nakamura ends up putting the ghost to rest by reliving her own abusing childhood memories. Everything appears to be done and she goes back to her apartment, while Yamashita goes to the police station to view some other evidence they found. Of course being a J-Horror we know this can’t be the end because their is always some twist.

At the police station Yamashita sees a video showing that it was the daughter who died of asthma who had been abusing the other daughter in order to gain attention while her mother was always away at work. She ended up dying of asthma because her mother would not give her the medicine after she found out what she was doing. The mother was the first victim of the ghost and she used her mother’s cell phone to commit the other murders. After this Yamashita races to Nakamura’s apartment to save her from the ghost, and this is where it starts to get weird.

Do not continue reading if you don’t want to know the ending. 

When Yamashita arrives he sees Nakamura sitting on the couch quietly with nothing amiss. He goes to give her a hug and then realizes she has stabbed him with a knife. He looks in the mirror and shes that Nakamura is really possessed by the ghost of the girl. Yamashita passes out and awakens in the hospital with Nakamura/Ghost by him and she has a knife behind her back. She leaves over to kiss him and spits a candy into his mouth. Yamashita looks confused and then eventually enjoys the candy while Nakamura laughs. The end. Now here is where most people say what the hell, that makes no sense? It does make a lot of sense but it is very subtle what happened.

The girl was hurting her sister for attention, but she would always give her candy afterwards for helping her. By eating the candy Yamashita was showing that he was willing to help the girl get attention and that is why she did not kill him. The other people spit out the candy because they were unwilling to go along. Miike is exploring the theme that there is more than one type of love, besides the conventional one. He uses similar themes in his other moves in which S&M and other painful practices are used as expressions of love. The ending is not your conventional J-Horror where everybody dies, but it a welcome change of pace. Takashi Miike continues to be an unpredictable and dynamic director and is one of the few Auteurs left today who care more about the film then opening weekend box office numbers

Last 3 posts by D WallZ

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