Gôsuto

The first question to pop into mind is, is there a necessity to remake Jerry Zucker's Ghost, which starred Demi Moore and the late Patrick Swayze, setting the box office ablaze to the tune of half a billion dollars worldwide, propelling clay pottery into the stratosphere of sensuousness boosted by Unchained Melody. It's the image that comes to mind when one remembers this film, and it's a tremendous hard act to beat for any remake. One may think that the Japanese may fuse their own romantic sensibilities into this one, but the end result is sucking all romanticism out of it, and becoming the parody that Zucker is also famed for.

Narratively it's almost the same as the Hollywood version, with young CEO Nanami (Nanako Matsushima) falling in love with Korean potter Jun-Ho (Song Seung-Heon) and having their romance cut short when one of them has to depart from this world because of a crime committed that was disguised like a petty theft, only for the story to unravel itself and provide that more than meets the eye touch, with the plot thickened to include a threat to the life of the still living partner. And to bridge between the lovers, they communicate via hack medium Unten (Kirin Kiri) who provides comic relief as the proxy between the two worlds since she's the only party who can hear the undead. And she's the best part of the movie.

So what went wrong? Well, everything unfortunately. There's a distinct lack of chemistry between the two leads, and their romance was very forced, like fitting square pegs to round holes. The direction by Taro Otani also came up short, and the alarm bells rang out when he allowed Nanami to give Jun-Ho a slap thinking that he had seduced her into a one night stand, but that slap was a meek, laughable brush of the cheek, with Jun-Ho reacting like a good one had been smacked right across his face. Making things worse, having a whiny male also made it unbearable, with Jun-Ho lamenting why Nanami refuses to say those three words that he spouts so freely. To think it's usually the other way round.

One of the highlights of the Hollywood film is, for its time, the painstaking level of detail gone into making Swayze's character ghostly, and that means removing every frame of shadow and reflection because well, spirits don't have them. Here, you can detect attempts to do something similar, but not as meticulous, which is a pity, though the effects of passing through humans and walls were still nicely done. Like a typical Japanese film, there must be Kawaii moments and this come courtesy of a ghostly, friendly child almost like Casper in manner, to milk some expired emotions in the last act when you know the two main leads cannot deliver at the emotional level.

To make matters worse, the romance here was cold and void of feelings. The bed scene made Mediacorp attempts look like vulgar hardcore porn, and Unchained Melody was covered by a really weak rendition, coming on at such a wrong time that demonstrated impotency at delivering when it mattered. This remake is ghastly cold, and tried too hard to evoke a sense of sincere warmth that usually comes automatically with the territory of the genre. If you want to watch Ghost, then watch the original Hollywood version as this remake pales in comparison, offering nothing new nor matching up to the bar already set.

Well, I am still partial to the original BUT this isn't a bad remake. The roles are changed up and while the story is similar in a lot of ways, it is still it's own film. I wouldn't mind recommending it to friends but as I said I will always be partial to the original. I don't think that anyone could have acted better than Patrick Swazye. Just my opinion.

It is said that there is no more room for originality in our postmodern world as everything the human race can conceive has been said, done and documented. Even if some might disagree, the constant regurgitation of remakes done onto our movie screens probably says otherwise. And surprisingly (or maybe not), the latest movie remake to hit our shores is one re-produced, not by Hollywood, but by the people most likely to come up with crazy stuff that no one else in the other corners of the world has probably thought of - the Japanese.

Although there are several tweaks as compared to the Moore and Swayze original, like the role reversal of its couple – the female partner dies in this one and the male is the ceramist, 'Ghost' essentially takes on the same romantic fantasy plot. For those, like me, who were too young to experience the cultural impact of this early nineties movie, watching the remake would probably not help us get any closer to that. If you are wondering just what form of cultural impact took place based on a movie about a girl and her lover from another dimension, do know that it did bag, amongst other accolades, an Oscar Best Picture nomination in 1991. It seems that nothing much has changed and there is still something about the love between a person and a supernatural being that sets people off. Well, at least the ghost lover in this movie does not sparkle; she just glows with heavenly light.

To be fair, some effort has been made in updating the movie according to the tastes of today's audiences. Featuring dreamy retro-tinged scenes of Tokyo's suburbs and a handsome and sensitive Korean character as the male lead, it is obvious that the producers are aiming for a piece of the current East Asian zeitgeist. Looking and feeling very much like a heartwarming Korean drama, fans of the genre might be easily pleased at watching two good-looking people taking their time to fall in love and stay in love despite obstacles.

Song Seung Heon, model and familiar face of K-dramas like 'East of Eden' and 'Autumn Fairy Tale', plays Juno Kim – a Korean ceramist who lives in Tokyo. His girlfriend is Nanami – acted by another well-known East Asian star Nanako Matsushima. Even if you are not a fan of Japanese dramas, you might remember her as the lead in 'The Ring'. Both of them play their parts with a certain tender conservativeness and sensitivity that is probably not unusual for mainstream Asian romantic movies. To be honest, it is no Hollywood romcom, so if you do not enjoy beautiful people staring longingly into each other's eyes for the longest time and having sweet and unassuming interaction, then you would probably be better off watching Natalie Portman's romantic movies.

The saving grace to the slowness of 'Ghost' is Whoopi Goldberg's equivalent – Satsuki Unten the fake psychic. With her stereotypical crazy old psychic expression and jittery demeanor, she adds laughter and a twist of craziness to the already quite absurd situation. As she is contacted by Nanami and proceeds to discover that her fake psychic powers are not so fake anymore, hilarity ensues as she tries to convince the grieving boyfriend that his girlfriend is still around and there is more to her death than is known. The eventual tragic parting after all the unfinished business is completed is guaranteed to draw some tears – only if you can get over the fact that she is a ghost and that dead people can return in movies.

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Ok note that I love the classics and not a fan of almost all remakes of anything. But dang it this one I try hard to cope through just because I adore the casting, the story though feels sloww and painful. Asian movies should just stay making Asian-vibe things cause this just ain't it. Feels forced almost.

I've never seen the American version of ghost but this Japanese version is amazing It's a sad heartbreaking love story and I cried throughout the movie The acting by the two leads is amazing and the ending is very emotional It's a movie you'll want to watch over and over I can't recommend this movie enough it's just amazing

Hopefully ghost will get an American blu Ray release but fortunately it's currently available to stream on Tubi TV

Highly recommended