One consistent element throughout, however, has been the ease of her working experience with Shimizu. “Takashi always has a very clear idea of exactly what shot he wants in his head as well as a real sense of the character of Kayako and her movements. Just by following his direction, the character of Kayako deepened and became more meaningful to me as a performer.”
Shimizu is philosophical about the development of his relationship with Fuji, who is taking on the role of the female ghost for the fifth time, “Both of us get older each time we do this movie, so it does feel a bit strange,” he says. “But if I had to hire someone new for the role, I would have to teach her everything from scratch. Takako already has a strong sense of the role and she believes in me, which makes our working relationship as facile as it is fruitful.”
Fuji’s suitability for the role transcends her acting ability, Shimizu adds. “We originally met by chance. Later, when I glanced at her resume, I realized we were both born on the same day of the same year. At that point, I felt that fate had intervened and it was more than a coincidence that she was reading for this role.”
At age seven, the young Yuya Ozeki is also repeating the role he originally played in JU-ON. Fuji observes, “Yuya-kun has become much stronger and more attractive over the years. In the beginning, he hardly ever spoke to anyone except his mother. He was very quiet. The role of Toshio is such a sad part that as a mother I feel very sorry for him. I’m impressed that Takashi has been able to create such feelings of trust and love between us. Yuya plays a cute ghost who follows his mother around.”
Regarding the uniqueness of the film’s specters, Shimizu confides that, “Kayako sometimes utters a kind of ‘ahhhh’ sound. It was actually my voice in the original version. When I was a child I loved trying out my voice and I did it so often that I was scolded by my parents for making strange sounds. Even then, I felt I could use these sounds somewhere in my life. So when I found a good use for it in the original JU-ON series, this whole exercise made me realize that you never know when you might be doing something that seems odd at the time but might, one day, prove useful.”
Actor Ted Raimi, best known from the popular TV series “Xena: Warrior Princess,” speaks of The Grudge as a psychological horror movie. “It’s the kind of film that affects you on a subconscious level. It deals with inner fears we have such as the transmogrifications of our bodies when we die. It also brings up the rather disturbing question that if you died and were not at peace or came to an untimely end, what would happen to you?”
Adds Gellar, “Everyone loves to go to a movie and be scared. And the scariest things are the ones that could actually happen, like something of the things in The Grudge. Those are the moments that frighten you to the core and resonate long after you’ve left the theater.”
KaDee Strickland says such complex emotional reactions were inevitable given Shimizu’s stylistic use of what seemed to be very simple images. “He’ll take something as sweet and lovely as a cat or a child and really make you question whether or not you want to be in the same space with them,” says Strickland. “He has an uncanny ability to take something traditional and make it very non-traditional. It’s one of his great gifts as a filmmaker.”
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