Grudge Cultures Mix Easier
TOKYO—Takashi Shimizu, creator and director of the upcoming sequel The Grudge 2, told SCI FI Wire that he's applying lessons learned shooting the first English-language version of his Japanese horror series back in 2004. Shimizu, who speaks little English, had to learn the American production style when working with stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr in the original American The Grudge, a remake of Shimizu's Ju-On. Like the first Grudge, the sequel is shooting entirely in Tokyo with a Japanese crew and international cast.

"Very small things, but a lot of different things," Shimizu said through a translator during an interview on the sequel's set at Toho Studios in Tokyo earlier this week. "And especially between the actors and [me], I think I'm more careful with them. Because last time, I just didn't know anything about this American actor system. ... The only system I knew was this Japanese system. And since I know what the American system is like now, so that I know how to really ... make it work with them."

That included adhering to Screen Actors Guild rules, such as taking a lunch break and allowing enough time between shooting days, a production spokeswoman told SCI FI Wire. Normal Japanese practice is to shoot as long as it takes and to break only when filming is completed.

Another difference: When SCI FI Wire visited the set of the first Grudge in 2004, Shimizu had only recently learned to use the English word "Action!" to alert the actors that a scene had begun. In Japanese productions, a scene commences immediately once a slate is clapped. This time around, Shimizu regularly used the English terms "Ready! Action!" and "Cut!"—which his production team on occasion pronounced "Cut-toh," in the Japanese fashion.

Amber Tamblyn, who stars in The Grudge 2, said in a separate interview that she is enjoying working with Shimizu, despite the cultural difference. "It's just certain words," Tamblyn said. "Like, when they say 're-set,' that means going on to the next shot. So they'll say, 'OK, we're going to re-set now.' And ... the literal translation of re-set is that you are ... doing it over again. ... So that, for me, I'm always like, 'OK, we're going to do it again.' And then Chiho, the translator, is, 'No, no, no. We're going to the next shot.' It's like, 'Oh, OK.' I always forget that."

But Tamblyn added that Shimizu is refreshingly direct with her and the other American or international actors on the set. "It's really funny," she said. "It's definitely not, I would say, an experience for an actor that needs their ego catered to. Because there's no room to be careful with what you say around actors. Which I think is so amazing. Shimizu-san will come to me, and he'll say: 'That was good, but for some reason, the rehearsal was better.' And I love that. Because ... it's that simple to explain something to you. ... Whereas, in America, you'll have a director who ... will take 45 minutes to explain what they mean."

The Grudge 2 is in the middle of production, with an eye to an Oct. 13 release in the United States. —Patrick Lee, News Editor  

www.scifi.com  4/7/06