Hollywoodisation, according
to the Oxford Dictionary (online) is to ‘adapt (a story or series of events) so as to
conform to the supposed norms of a typical Hollywood film, especially in
respect of being unrealistically glamorous, exciting, or simplistic’ (Oxford
University Press, 2013). With the prestige, and success of the Hollywood film
making industry, is no wonder that films are influenced and re-made in order to
appeal to a Hollywood audience (i.e. the majority of the world’s population).
A product of extreme
hollywoodisation is the film The Ring. Most
people would know this film as a 2002 American psychological Horror film starring
the likes of Naomi Watts and Martin Henderson. What many people don’t know is actually
a remake of the 1998 Japanese production Ring(“Ringu”), an adaption of a Japanese novel of the same name, written by Suzuki Koji.
Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/The_Ring_Poster.jpg/404px-The_Ring_Poster.jpg
Both versions of the film share almost
indistinguishable plot lines, and were each co-written by Suzuki Koji himself. Both
films were highly successful, with Ringu being
referred to as ‘a landmark in horror cinema.’ (Film4, 2007)
Ringu Full Movie. Video from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUUt9kuQoZI
The Ring (American Version) trailer. Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuH5FaUpFm4
Due to the global dominance of the
American Film industry (Wasser, 1995), the American re-make of Ringu, revealed up this story line to a
more global audience, and created greater publicity for Suzuki Koji and his
works.
On one hand, this may be considered a
success for Koji, as his works became part of a global phenomenon. However, at
the same time, this hollywoodisation may have been considered as a
de-asianisation; stripping The Ring of
its Japanese origins to make way for the glamours of Hollywood. As a result, we
may consider Japanese film producers stripped of their rightful praise, and
thus, giving away the opportunity to challenge the Hollywood Film Industry’s
hegemon status.
References
Demming, M. 2012, , Ringu (RIng) [Homepage of Flixter Inc.], [Online]. Available: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ringu/ [2013, 27/09].
Lopez, J. 2013, , Curse of the Ring [Homepage of J. Lopez], [Online]. Available: http://www.curseofthering.com/books.php [2013, 27/09].
Wasser, Frederick 1995, ‘Is Hollywood America? The Trans-nationalization of the American Film Industry’ Critical Studies in Mass Communication. Vol 12. Pp423-437.
Hello Kathryn,
ReplyDeleteWell done for doing extra research to define what ‘Hollywoodisation’ means. This set up the rest of your argument nicely. You focused on psychological horror movie ‘The Ring’ which was remade for American (and English speaking audiences) in 2002. Although both were co-written by Suzuki Koji himself, you noted that it stripped the film of its Japanese origins and thus becoming another ‘American film’ although this is not strictly true. Audiences who watch the American version will probably not make the effort to see the Japanese, and this means that the original film loses its ‘authentic originality’ which is truly a shame for those who were involved in the Japanese version and made it a success to catch the eye of Hollywood producers.