Earlier than ‘I’m Nonetheless Right here,’ Walter Salles Directed One of many Uncommon Good English-Language Horror Remakes

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Walter Salles is a filmmaker who would not come round that always — actually. A part of the euphoric response to his comeback with I’m Still Here goes past its shattering poignancy or well timed subject material, however the truth that it had been 12 years since he final made a characteristic movie. It is good to know his contact has solely gotten extra refined with age, although it must be mentioned he has at all times had a splendid deal with on elevating materials previous its generic origins. That is how he made certainly one of the few good English-language remakes of a Japanese horror hit with Darkish Water, a movie that packs extra coronary heart than its extremely soggy exterior would lead you to imagine.

What’s ‘Darkish Water’ About?

Picture by way of Buena Vista Photos

Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) is on the rebound after a nasty divorce from her ex-husband, Kyle (Dougray Scott), and in search of a brand new place to stay along with her daughter, Cecilia (Ariel Gade). Needing a spot on the cheaper facet, she finds an residence on Roosevelt Island in New York Metropolis, and it is considerably of a fixer-upper. It is not the worst residence, though it does seem like the type of house the Narrator from Fight Club would have an existential disaster in. It would not assist that it wants a brand new paint job, it has home windows match for a sanitarium, to not point out all that black water dripping from the nook of the ceiling always.

The troubles do not cease there, as she should single-handedly cope with her daughter’s growing attachment to an “imaginary buddy,” a shady superintendent (Pete Postlethwaite), who’s aggravated at having to repair the leakage, and a supervisor (John C. Reilly), who appears utterly oblivious to how dangerous the residing scenario is, keen to comb any issues underneath the rug. If any of that is beginning to sound like a haunted home movie, that is as a result of it basically is — one which will get by on the energy of Salles’ intuition for ambiance and a focus to human conduct.

‘Darkish Water’ Succeeds Extra For Its Ambiance Than Its Scares

When Darkish Water was first launched in theaters, critics largely shrugged it off, accusing it of being stale and predictable in its development as a “horror” movie. That is not an unfair criticism, as satirically, the movie is at its weakest when making an attempt to be overtly “scary.” Most of its makes an attempt at bounce scares are pretty limp or really feel thrown in and poorly constructed up. For example, the constructing appears to be totally devoid of inhabitants in addition to Dahlia and Cecilia, till some teenage hooligans present up for one scene the place they mildly harass Dahlia in a laundromat and are by no means talked about once more. The movie feels prefer it’s caught between the hushed paranoia of Rosemary’s Baby and the hectic tomfoolery of Poltergeist, typically faring higher when it stretches issues out with the creeping paranoia.

The spooks that the movie does handle derive extra from how a lot Salles personalizes the residence complicated, because it feels totally lived in and bursting with the potential for one thing spooky round each nook. With the fixed sound of arduous rain and leakage dripping, plus the cramped hallways and sallow lighting, it might make for an ideal Silent Hill environment, had the partitions and furnishings been much more decrepit and destitute. However it’s actually the folks within the constructing that make the movie so efficient, not simply the place they’re caught.

The Queasy Human Relationships Make ‘Darkish Water’ Work

Darkish Water strikes a nerve when it hones in on the unsure dynamics amongst its major characters, with Salles placing a variety of thought into how the visuals inform you about every particular person. Exterior of Dahlia and Kyle, not one of the adults are proven as competent or worthy of being totally trusted with something. For example, we all know to suspect the superintendent as a result of he shops large gallons of fresh water in his workplace, hinting that he is aware of one thing concerning the water nobody else does. We all know to not imagine the supervisor’s authority as a result of his wardrobe and workplace are sloppy and shabbily thrown collectively.

We all know to be cautious of Dahlia’s lawyer (Tim Roth) as a result of he juggles being a lawyer with driving a taxi cab, indicating that he in all probability will not do his job very effectively. On paper, these are commonplace clichés of a mid-2000s horror film, with the world working in opposition to the protagonist. However Salles’ route faucets into the hazard of being left within the care of the neglectful folks that make up an uncaring society. That implies that even when this studio remake is an outlier in his filmography from a manufacturing perspective, it suits in together with his oeuvre as one lengthy research within the fixed battle for humanity to beat its tendency to disregard that which it would not need to acknowledge.

On this case, the titular darkish water was greater than a enjoyable visible to play with, however a metaphor for our souls slowly drowning underneath the load of the injustice we select to not confront. Regardless of how a lot it continues to pile up and be quickly fastened, the water, very like the issues we dare not say to different folks out of disgrace or cowardice, will not cease till we face them head-on. However Dahlia has to be taught the arduous method that once you stay in a world that is full of individuals extra prepared to look the opposite method out of non-public motivation or real ignorance, that is a seemingly not possible activity.