Inugami, literally means “Dog Spirit, is directed by Masato Harada ( Suicide Song ) and produced by Inugami Production Group. This movie is a ghost horror drama about Akira, a teacher who has transferred in a middle aged school in the village of Omine. Though the settlement is described by Akira as unique, it has remained to be untouched for over a hundred years. The inhabitants of this place were superstitious who believed that the fate of their rural community lies in the hands of the women of Bonamiya family. These women are “guardians” of the Inugami, a herd of wolves spirits who control the town As a consequence, the wolves caused destruction to their lowly village. As a result, the Bonamiya’s were blamed for the misfortune.
The conflict in the story began when the lovely teacher fell in love with Miki Bonamiya, owner of a paper making business. Harada had lots of script confusions and here were some of them. First, characters were very many and so confusingly introduced,. Thus, there were parts in the story were not fully developed. Second , the ancestral ritual scenes failed to establish the climactic highlights of the ritual scenes, Third, the shifting of the visual effects specifically, in terms of its color, from B& W to a colored one seemed to make the movie more uninteresting to some
The picturesque cinematography however, is very fun to watch. It shows an beautiful and very lively camera work. Why? The undeniable reality that this was shoot in the rural mountains, it must be wise and logical to say that the presence of a paper mill business is a “no, no” Therefore through the use of camera trick, it made the villagers to appear that they were helpless as a child. Consequently, the hearts and sympathy of the viewers were with them. Some of the views regarding the movie were it is more epic in scope rather than a horror film. The element of symbolism was over used by the director, making it complicated. The movie reflected that Omine villagers were thirsty for change in terms of technological progress, however, they were hesitant to let go of their traditional way of life. .Overall it is a good movie and is highly recommended to viewers that are interested in primitive way of life and how it longs for technological progress and advancement.
