Essay 2-02b: Ghost

There is the comparison of two films. It is Ghost’s original which is released in America in 1990, has been a great work of very famous love romance movies to be known by many people around the world and the remake which is released in Japan and Korea in 2010. The original which Wayne Swayze and Demi Moore played the leads role might be known by a lot of people, but there is Japanese remake too and it named Ghost / Mouichido Dakishimetai(want to hug again) which Nanako Matsushima and Song Seung-heon played the leads. This time, some student watch it  and try to find out the various feature like similarity, difference and so on from the each two film in this opportunity when I was given this theme. At first, there is introduction of each story shortly below .

Original US version

Image sorce: KINYOU ROAD SHOW

In Newyork, there a couple. When the woman say “I love you” to the man and he always reply “toddi.” At such time, the man who is played famous amrican actor suddenly died with involved in a crime, and his partner who is a famous american actress loses him and bowed down by the grief, and also is caught up in the crime. He worry about such partner and become a ghost and try to protect her from the crime which is caused by his friend who actually is seduced by money and very bad man for them with a woman psychic who is played by Whoopi Goldbergo. He learn the power how ghosts move something from a ghost in a subway to protect his dearest and they resolve the event which his partner is endangered. She realize the existence to have been him beside her and the two make sure their love each other, and then he end up go to the sky.

Japanese remake　

Image sorce: CINEMA TODAY

Main character is woman. She is the president of the big company to manage money. This character is played by Japanese woman. On the other hand, the man who is ceramicist is played by Korean man. Their nationalities are different. In Japanese remake, the woman is died and become the ghost. It was not accident. She was killed deliberately by someone.After the woman become the ghost, she met the ghost who is a cute little girl in the hospital. She has the power to move things, so the woman asks her to teach the way of moving things. Before the woman died, the man went to the hospital to meet children. The children were very happy because the man played together. However, he is sad now. He is in home all day long, so children are also sad. The ghost girl said “If the you say the man to come to the hospital again, I teach you this way. The woman promise that and learn the way of moving things.

After she got the power, she tell the man who killed the woman, and why they did. But, he doesn’t believe that she became the ghost. She drew the picture which was known by only them. He cried to watch that picture and believed that. He try to resolve the incident. She helped the man the power. After the matter was solved, she say farewell to him, and fade away.

Difference of gender

As watching the above two story, they are almost same, however there is a big difference in the two. It is that the person becoming a ghost in the story reverses. In the original, man partner become a ghost, but in the remake, woman is a ghost so although the story is almost same, but point of view on watching the films change. Even if the viewpoint change, the story is each awesome one and we can think it would be worthy to be love fantasy story to live on hearts of many people.

Difference of character

In original US version, the man was taught by the man in the subway. He looks stern at first. He is also ghost and he eject the man from subway. He said that here was his territory. However, in Japanese remake, the woman was taught by the little girl ghost in the hospital.  She is very cute and kind. She waited her mother for a long time.  Japanese remake’s main character is the woman, so it may be changed. Its impressions are very different. Japanese remake is more friendly than original US version in that scene.

Difference of memorable thing

The main character couldn’t believe the man or woman become the ghost at first. However, the main character watched memorable thing which was known by just the two of us, he or she believe. In original US version, the thing is coin. It was given for talisman. In Japanese remake, the picture which was drawn by the woman. The woman isn’t good at drawing, but the picture is precious for the man. Both things are important for these story and people must be moved by this scene.

Difference of nationality

There is the most interesting difference from comparing them. It is the actor and actress. American actor and actress played in the original, but the remake is Japan actress and Korean actor who is known by Japanese people who like Korea. It is a work with two different countries and shows an international love as new setting in this film. It is just more up-to-date and feels the progress of internationalization from the 1990 American film to the 2007 Japanese film. As thinking like this, the change is very thoughtful.

Comedy

Some comedy and fantasy touch sense include both films. A psychic role in the original and the Japanese remake physic role who Whoopi Goldbergut and Kikikirin played gives comedy sense in the film and makes audiences more delightful not only touching story. People who watch them can see similar from in the two films. It is very interesting point.

Difference of songs

There is also the comparison of the music in the two films. Unchained Melody by Righteous Brothers playing in the original is covered by Ken Hirai who is a singer song writer in Japan. People who watched them might have heard the song at least once. His voice fits the song very much into the film and his cover is a nice back sound. In the original, the song is theme song in the film, but in Japanese one, it is played as back sound and the theme song AISHITEL(I love you) is sung by him too. Both of music in the films make the films better mood and we can feel more the love of couple from the story.

If anything people saw a lot of similarity between the original and the Japanese remake than the difference. When some remake is made, there is case that the content is change in many ways sometimes, but this story is not. People may think this remake is reproduced faithfully. Both of two films certainly shows true love which moves our heart by fantasy love story which people feel sad, but also happy. In addition, One more featuring point is showing the existence of the heaven and the hell that guilty people fall in the pits of hell and good people go to heaven. It is also shown in the remake.

Through there is comparison which the original Ghost with the japanese remake and watched them carefully, various features were found. If it is a usual film appreciation, people would be careless about such interesting points like things some students wrote in this essay. Comparing two objects is very useful way to add and wide our viewpoint. Looking only one thing might lead our sense of value very narrow. Sometimes there is times when it needs, but only that is not good for people and they need it so please think little about all of things, compare matters deeply and search something from it. After it, people might get something for their life.

Rubin, Bruce Joel (Producer), & Zucker, Jerry (Director). (1990).Ghost[Motionpicture].America: Paramount Picture.

Sato, Shimako. & Nakazono, Miho (Producers), & Otani. Taro (Director). (2010). Ghost / Mouichido Dakishimetai [Motion picture]. US: Paramount Pictures & Shochiku.

Wikipedia, 1990, Ghost, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_(1990_film)
Wikipedia, 2010, Ghost MOUICHIDO DAKISHIMETAI, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost:_Mouichido_Dakishimetai

Theme songs

1990 Ghost (original)

2010 Ghost Mouichidodakishimetai (remake)

Youtube, 2009, Ghost, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoEwR9_Sy_M
Youtube, 2011, Ghost MOUICHIDO DAKISHIMETAI,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEgOPlmfgGc&feature=youtu.be

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