Comparison of the Narrative Techniques of Midnight Furious Bell and Complaint

The two horror films "Midnight Bell and Grudge" may be representative of Japanese horror films. It can be seen from street sales with pirated DVD covers-as long as it is a DVD collection of Japanese horror films, whether it contains these two films or not, most of them use the classic shots of the two films as the cover. The two films were shot at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. From the comparison of these two films, we can see the relationship between the inheritance and development of Japanese horror films across the century. And now film critics seem to pay more attention to the inheritance relationship between them, such as long hair and unclear faces, as well as shocking eyes and so on. Few people pay attention to the difference in their narrative methods. And I think this is the biggest difference between the two films. From this difference, we can see the development of Japanese horror films.

The time factor

in the narrative . Time is a very important factor in the midnight bell. The film mainly tells a story that people will die within seven days after watching it, so the slow passage of time has itself become a very scary thing. In order to let the audience have a clear concept of time, subtitles indicating the date are added before telling the protagonist's daily events. The whole film presents the story strictly in chronological order. In the Grudge, the chronological order is completely broken. The film emphasizes the different encounters of different protagonists, and arranges together what happened to these characters at different times. This makes things that happen at different times overlap each other, making people feel that time is completely messed up.

Simply put, the time in the midnight bell narrative is single linear, while the time in the grudge narrative is complex and intertwined. The single linear time obviously has the characteristics of classical physics: time is only a coordinate and a background of the movement of things. Things can only develop in the order of time, and cannot break away from the constraints of linear time. The complex interlaced time has the characteristics of modern physics: time is no longer an ever-changing coordinate and background, but a manifestation of material motion, so different material motions converge at different times. From this we can see the profound influence of the development of physics concepts on the humanities in the two centuries.

Space factors in narration

In the midnight ring, the main line of the story is the change of time seven days after watching the film, so the spatial factor is relatively unimportant. The scenes in the film are constantly changing, from room to room, from city to city. The main line of the grudge is the cursed house, and most of the scenes take place in that gloomy house.

Whether the space changes or not expresses the mentality of the characters in the space. The ever-changing space suggests to people such a concept-running and busy. When the protagonist faces the terrible curse, the way he copes is to run around actively to get rid of it. In this way, when the male protagonist Ryuji returned to his apartment, a space that made people feel familiar and safe, it naturally made people breathe a sigh of relief. At this time, Sadako crawled out of the TV and made people feel even more desperate— —It turned out that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get rid of it in the end. The unchanging space gives another hint-stagnation and dead silence. Whenever anyone enters this space, they will be swallowed by the curse without a doubt, and there is no room for active resistance at all. This is also an extreme despair. A negative, absolute despair. Although they are all desperate, they still clearly reflect the atmosphere of the two eras: negative and positive.

The culture behind the difference in narrative techniques

The narrative technique in The Grudge is completely arranged according to the different protagonists, making the whole film very similar to the strange story in Japanese horror films: the stories of different short films are assembled in one film. This kind of weird movie is very oriental. Short, real, and rich in Zen: reflect unusual connotations in ordinary things. The narrative technique of Midnight Ring is very westernized, rigorous and logical. The difference between these two points is not only reflected in the narrative technique, but also clearly expressed in the content. Midnight Ring is entangled in the content of the question of how the supernatural curse is possible. First of all, the protagonist has been looking for a reasonable explanation for the entire incident, not only tracking down, and treating this incomprehensible incident like a cocoon; secondly, the story itself is also answering the question of why nature is possible, which will be reflected in the reappearance of the fierce bell. The curse is explained as a variant of the smallpox virus. This rational attitude towards the supernatural is itself a characteristic of Western horror films. In the grudge, neither the film nor the protagonist of the film seem to have any doubts about the possibility of the supernatural curse. The core factor in time causality is not logic but ethics. This is typical Eastern mysticism. From this transition, can we see the change from the western center of culture to the plural center?

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