Jason Gray : 'Ring' director's spooky tales

Interview with Hideo Nakata on his new movie, Kaidan, at The Japan Times (03.08.2007) :

There have been more than 10 adaptations of Encho Sanyutei's original story, including films by masters such as Kenji Mizoguchi and Nobuo Nakagawa. What made you want to make your own version?

Taka Ichise, the producer, offered me another project, and I somehow instantly came up with this idea. The story deals with a handsome but doomed young man who gets involved with five beautiful women, so basically I wanted to work with five beautiful actresses (laughs). Of course there are many other kaidan (ghost stories), but I chose this one because it's mainly a love story with some horror elements.

It's your first period film.

Yes. I've always loved jidaigeki (period dramas). When I was in college, I would watch classic movies, mainly chambara (samurai action films). I'm also an admirer of Nobuo Nakagawa's ghost-story movies. I've wanted to direct period films since those days.

How did you manage to give the film its very classic feel without it coming across as old-fashioned?

I watched three classics — Sadao Yamanaka's "Humanity and Paper Balloons," Kenji Mizoguchi's "The Crucified Lovers" and Kenji Misumi's "Yotsuya Kaidan." Surprisingly enough, the oldest film, by Yamanaka, was the most modern, with contemporary dialogue. That was a breakthrough moment for me. "Kaidan" is for people living in Japan in 2007. But production designer Yohei Taneda did a lot of research, and we hired a dialogue coach.

The interviewer is great. I won't forget his name, Jason Gray.