Hideo Nakata Interview - Ring 2 by Martyn Palmer Hideo Nakata is at the very forefront of the Japanese school of horror directors who have influenced Hollywood with their groundbreaking use of story telling within the genre. Arguably, Nakata has had more influence on the horror genre than any other filmmaker in recent years. In 1998 he directed Ringu after he was approached by author Suzuki Koji who asked him to bring his best selling book to the big screen. Along with screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi, Nakata produced a film that was to be hailed as a masterpiece not only in his native Japan, but also around the world. Filled with an ever-present sense of dread, Ringu told the story of a mysterious tape which claimed the lives of anyone within a week of viewing it. Nakata directed the follow-up, Ringu 2, and producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald brought the rights to the original and it's Hollywood cousin, directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Naomi Watts as journalist and single mum Rachel Keller, was simply called The Ring and was a worldwide hit in 2002. When plans for a sequel were discussed, Parkes and MacDonald initially approached Nakata to direct but he was committed to another project, True Believers, and reluctantly turned it down. Several months later, the producers discovered that True Believers had been put on hold and again approached Nakata and sent him a script for The Ring Two. “I really liked the script,” he says. “And I had some ideas for it, too, which they seemed very open too. And so I was absolutely delighted to get the chance to direct it.” Nakata, 43, was born in Okayama, Japan, and after studying journalism at the University of Tokyo - during which time he indulged his passion for cinema by watching some 300 films a year - he started at the famous Nikkatsu Studios where he worked as an assistant and then became an assistant director, eventually staying for some seven years. After making his directorial debut on Japanese television with a series called God's Hand - his first collaboration with writer Hiroshi Takahashi - he made his feature film debut with Ghost Actress in 1996. He is single and now divides his times between Los Angeles, where he has been editing The Ring Two, and Tokyo. In The Ring Two, Rachel (Watts) and her son Aiden are trying to rebuild their lives after the traumatic events of six months earlier and have moved to the small coastal town of Astoria, Oregon. But then Rachel, working as a reporter once again, discovers some disturbingly familiar and grisly clues at a local crime scene which lead her to believe that not all of the tapes were destroyed and that the evil Samara might well be back. This interview was conducted in Los Angeles in early February as Hakata neared completion of his film. He admits that at times the experience was `overwhelming' but says that he has thoroughly enjoyed working in Hollywood. Q: How is the film coming along? A: We are doing the final work, the final mix and colour correction, so we are nearly there. Q: Have you enjoyed working in America? A: Yes. The budget was very big compared to my other films so sometimes it was overwhelming especially during the shoot. But as a whole, I am enjoying it, especially the post production I have enjoyed a lot. Q: Has it felt very different to working in Japan? A: Yes and no. For example in terms of the speed and the essence of the filmmaking itself, I believe it's completely universal. And the passion I got from the crew and the cast to create a good movie was wonderful and I would expect that kind of passion wherever I worked. What was different was the number of people involved - in Japan I would work with maybe 40, 50 people on set. Here I worked with let's say, 200 people, 300 people. So there was a difference there. But I hope that the essence of filmmaking is the same and that's the important thing. Q: How did you approach the material this time? A: Well I was approached by the studio about a year ago and when I read the script I was intrigued because I found it very different from my other Japanese version of Ringu 2, it's a completely original story. I was very excited and I made some comments about script revision and they accepted it so it was quite a new and interesting experience for me. Next		Home Interviews Antoine Fuqua Interview King Arthur Interview Arv Grewal Interview Asia Argento Interview Behind the Scenes of "War of the Worlds" Bernie Goldmann Interview Clive Owen Interview Dakota Fanning Interview Dennis Hopper Interview George A Romero Interview Greg Nicotero Interview The Hulk Press Conference Ang Lee Press Conference Ioan Gruffudd Interview John Leguizamo Interview Kathleen Kennedy Interview Keira Knightley Interview Hideo Nakata Interview