'The Ring'

"All I ever wanted was you..."

Remakes never bother me. The majority of the time, though, they are unnecessary and derivative, and some completely butcher the story ('The Haunting' 1999) of the superior original. And its true, remakes have a bad reputation, especially when remaking a good movie. 'The Ring' isn't just a bland, derivative, shallow horror remake, though, whose main purpose is to milk the scares out of a much revered modern masterpiece of Japanese horror. It expands on the story with impressive emotional resonance and suprisingly moving themes and symbolism. The film's beautiful and dark cinematography is not just for creepiness, but its moody and somber atmosphere supports the themes of grief and tragedy that provide much of the film's emotional underpinnings.

"Tell me this, miss. What is it you think you know? Then leave it alone."

'Ring' definitely addresses child abuse. Rachel's growing sympathy for Samara stems from her horror of Anna and Richard's treatment of her. Rachel directly connects to Samara because she has a child of her own.

Here are a few of the themes:

"He [Katie's Father] sleeps all day. He doesn't move. It [Katie's Death] is too much for him."

1. Grief. Many characters in the film have to deal with grief over the death of a loved one. Rachel loses/will lose Noah and her son. Ruth and her husband (Ruth describes how her husband stays in bed all morning because of Katie's death) lose Katie. Richard Morgan's wife commited suicide. Anna had to deal with her murder of her daughter.

"You could almost draw a line through her life. On one side, there's this happy woman who spends her time with her husband, riding horses. Everything sheltered, protected and comfortable. Her face... there's light, there's pride. And then one day something happens and she takes this hard corner, and the light goes out."

"The thing is, I don't think I'd make a good father. Maybe it's because my own was such a disappointment."

2. Parents. Rachel is an emotionally distant mother and journalist, who learns to care for her son from her growing empathy with another child, the story she is investigating. Noah, dead-beat dad, watches his son at school from a distance, too afraid to take responsibility. Noah and Rachel quibble and nag when beginning their investigation of the tape, but are forced to mature for the sake of their son when Aidan watches the video. Richard and Anna are sort of "cowards," how they kill Samara because of the burden she brought to them (though this becomes understandable when we find out Samara's true nature). Dr. Grasnik comments about her mentally retarded grandson. "When Darby there was born, we knew something wasn't right with him, but we loved him anyway." She later notes, though, that it "takes work, you know. Some people have limits."

"My son... That's why I'm here."

"He's going to leave me here... Daddy loves the horses. He wants me to go away."

3. Children. The film is a commentary on the nature of children: their need for nurture and love, their need to express their feelings, and their want for sympathy and for others to experience whatever they go through. Aidan gives Rachel a great amount of help when she finally begins to acknowledge him. Samara and Aidan are both very unloved children who want to express themselves. "Children sometimes yell, or cry, or draw pictures..." Aidan drew pictures dealing with the idea of death, knowledge of one's coming death, and grief over Katie's death. Samara channels herself through Aidan, making him draw pictures of her suffering (pictures of the well). Samara is literally reaching out to Rachel (when Samara grabs Rachel in her dream and in the well, she makes Rachel experience what she went through- sitting in the mental hospital, being killed and dumped in a well to eventually die- it comes right after Samara "reaches out" and grabs Rachel in the arm). Samara may be evil, but she is a child who wants everyone to go through what she went through.

"She wanted that child more than anything in the world. How could she have done that? She just wanted to be heard. Some children yell, or cry... or draw pictures."

4. Rachel's slow transformation. At the beginning, she is an emotionally cold, emotionally detached reporter (and mother). As the movie progresses, she begins to get emotionally caught up in the case- not only to save her own life, but that of her child. Once she meets Richard Morgan, he tells her: "What is it reporters? You take a persons tragedy and force the world to experience it. You spread it like sickness." This comes as a hard blow to Rachel, and she is left to ponder the negative influence her profession brings to others. An emotionally detached Rachel would shrug off his comment, but now that Rachel has to save her son's life, she wonders whether meddling journalists do resurface past suffering (which is exactly what the curse is meant to do) and give no thought to the ones directly effected. Then, when Morgan prepares to kill himself, she, impassioned, condemns him for killing his own child, which emotionally affects her since she has a child of her own. Once he committs suicide, she becomes hysterical and it becomes clear that she is no longer the cold, uncaring reporter she was before.

5. Parallel between Anna/Richard/Samara-Rachel/Noah/Samara. Rachel is sort of there to "right past wrongs." She sets Samara free, undoing the action of the reflecting mother figure. Metaphorically, Samara killing Noah could symbolize Samara's antipathy towards the father figure, Richard, who she felt never loved her. Noah/Richard- fathers who were neglectful toward their kids. Etcetera, as it goes on like that.

From The Ring Forum- Ringworld

Written By maryborsellino.

"To become remake-specific, now, Rachel has seven days to get Samara out of the well. One of the few things we know about Samara is that she loves her mommy and is ambivalent if not malevolent towards her father. Anna put her down the well, but the seven-day window on the tape's curse is an echo of how long Samara had the chance of being rescued."

"The Anna-Mother-Rachel figure succeeds in pulling the girl (Samara) out of the well and thereby saves her child (Aiden) from death... although Aiden has the burns on his wrist the following morning, there is no *conclusive* proof that the curse is still on him at this point."

"So Rachel doesn't die from the curse, because she (acting as Anna's avatar) has put right the crime of putting Samara in the well by rescuing her before the seven days were up."

"Ironically, a lot of the press about the remake commented that Rachel wasn't a good mother... presumably Aiden was not a planned pregnancy, and she leaves him in the care of others frequently. Anna, on the other hand, *did* want Samara but ended up shoving her down a big hole in the ground and killing her. Rachel is the negative image of Anna and therefore fulfills the role Samara demands somebody give her as a stand in for the failed mother (Anna)."

"Then there's Noah/Richard... the father. Noah has no real role in Aiden's life, and Richard and Samara were antagonistic at best. Noah even tells the orderly at the hospital that he *is* Richard. Although Anna/Rachel has redeemed herself, Richard has not made up for the treatment he gave Samara."

"Importantly, Richard kills himself using audio visual equipment, thereby perhaps trying to appease Samara's vengeance. But Samara has proven that death means little to her, both through her own resurrection and the fact she is now placing the onus of what Richard and Anna did on Noah and Rachel."

Scenes to Watch For:

Small Moments to Look Out For

1. Rachel looks for her black dress, only to find that Aidan, with his suit already on, has laid it out for her. Mother/son moment illustrates maturity and independence of Aidan, or even the void between him and his mother.

2. Rachel and Aidan attend the wake. Rachel consoles Aidan who places a white flower on Katie's mantel. Rachel learns of Katie's father's inability to accept her death.

3. After watching the tape and receiving the phone call, Rachel runs out of Cabin 12 into the rain, confused, bewildered, and overwhelmed.

4. Aidan makes a peanut butter sandwich for his lunch all by himself. Manages on his own, and walks himself to school.

5. Noah and Aidan meet on the sidewalk in the rain. A wordless exchange shows their distance from each other.

6. Noah and Aidan have talk in car. Aidan tells Noah he knows about him taking pictures of him at school. Noah expresses his feelings about being his father.

7. Noah gives Rachel Aidan's picture before she boards the ferry.

8. Rachel meets Richard Morgan. Morgan kicks her out, revealing the repressed tortured memories in his mind.

9. Rachel watches SM0015. Expresses sympathy for Samara (watch her expression as she watches the tape) and confronts Morgan. Rachel pleads for help to save her son. Rachel breaks down after witnessing the horrific event.

10. Rachel finds the barn and shows more sympathy for Samara's plight.

11. "... and the leaves lit up like they were on fire." A beautiful shot of the tree "lighting up" as Rachel resigns and accepts her death, but tells Noah to continue on for Aidan's sake, and save them both. Noah can't accept doing it alone, and breaks into a fit.

12. Rachel has witnessed Samara's murder and she is practically in tears. She finds Samara and cradles her body as if her own child.

13. Rachel and Noah talk after being recovered from the well. They pick up Noah from Ruth's. Aidan smiles as he sees his parents hold hands. Noah tells Rachel that he will be there for them from now on.

14. Aidan wakes up to find his mom lying there with him, not at work.

Samara's Curse

"Have you heard about this videotape that kills you when you watch it?... You start to play it, and its like somebody's nightmare. And suddenly, this woman comes on- smiling at you, right? Seeing you through the screen. And as soon as it's over, your phone rings. Someone knows you've watched it. And what they say is, "You will die in seven days..."

The cursed videotape lies central in the mystery of 'The Ring.' Study the rules of the curse and some questions will be answered.

1. THE TAPE. The video was made by Samara, who burned the images in her head onto the tape. A central theme of 'The Ring' is the commentary on children and their need to express themselves. The tape acts as Samara's way to express her anger and suffering. The tape expresses the tortured thoughts of a little girl, just like Aidan's drawings express his own sadness.

2. SEVEN DAYS. Another main theme in 'The Ring' is the way children want others to sympathize with them and connect directly with them by experiencing whatever they went through. Samara was dumped into the well alive. She suffered through seven days knowing she was going to die down there. She wants others to experience the feeling of knowing of their unavoidable death in seven days.

3. DEATH. The bodies of the curse's victims appear rotten, water-logged, and decomposed, just like if they died in a well.

Vivid Visuals

The film's vivid visual aesthetic is an integral part of the film's somber and elegiac atmosphere. From the haunting image of the setting sun casting a deep red glow on an isolated tree and a lonely cabin, a black horse plunging into the icy blue water underneath a dank blue sky, a pulsating lighthouse light illumnating the dark night, and the explosion of light on a frightening woman's face in a dark hallway. All these images are part of a striking mood piece whose excellent visual style doesn't overshadow but contributes to the substance.

Questions to Ask Yourself 1. Was Anna justified in killing Samara? How far did she have to pushed to commit such a horrific crime? Do you blame her? 2. Would you sacrifice someone else's life to save your own (or a loved one's)? What would you do if you were in Rachel's predicament? 3. Was Samara evil? A question we might not ever know the answer to until the sequel.

COMING SOON: 'Ringu vs. The Ring'; Review of 'Ring' by Koji Suzuki- and more.