Blind Witness is a brilliant thriller that surpasses the original.

 

I had previously covered a remake that I thought far surpassed the original. That movie being the Japanese version of Memoirs of A Murderer. For this particular blog post, I wanted to cover another remake that is better than the original in my humble opinion. This time, it is the 2019 thriller, Blind Witness, the remake of 2011 Korean thriller, Blind. 

Blind Witness follows the story of protagonist Natsume Hamanaka. Natsume has just completed her training at the police academy and following the graduation, she sees her younger brother loitering with some unsavoury types and tells him to go home with her. Whilst driving him home, Daiki drops a valuable piece of jewellery and can't quite reach ii and he nags Natsume to retrieve it. This small act causes them to crash their car with devastating consequences. Daiki dies whilst Natsume loses her eyesight. She gives up being a police officer following the accident and blames herself for it. 

3 years later, she still hasn't gotten over the accident and can't bring herself to visit Daiki's grave. On the way home from the graveyard, she notices a skateboarder go past before coming across a minor car accident involving the aforementioned skateboarder. Whilst checking upon the occupants of the car, she smells alcohol in the front seat and hears the voice of a young girl begging for aid. Believing that the young girl has been kidnapped, she informs the police who unfortunately believe her to be an unreliable witness that may have hallucinated. Not giving up, Natsume takes matters into her own hands, eventually finding the skateboarder, Haruma and uncovering leads to what could be a serial kidnapper/murderer. 

Junichi Mori is the man responsible for the Japanese remake, having been behind the director's chair. He certainly knows what he's doing as he managed to create a compelling remake that is different enough to merit existing and has enough changes from the original to stand alone. He co-wrote the script alongside Kiyomi Fujii, a woman who had a hand in screenwriting the first 2 live-action adaptations of Rurouni Kenshin. It shows in the tight script and solid editing that makes everything streamlined and clear, the pace being a little slow, but not overly so. 

The cinematography is pretty solid as well. There's various shot types and styles, including the reaction shots one would expect highlighting the reactions of the characters to certain events and revelations. Also used are reverse shots which help keep conversations going with a good flow. There's plenty of close-ups, mid-range shots and even some wide-angled shots. There's a little shakiness to the camera at one point, but to be fair it is whilst in a car as it is travelling and thus can be forgiven. The lighting and colour usage also varies throughout the movie, with the scenes involving the kidnapped girls having a very grimy, dirty yellow-ish colour hue which emphasises the bleakness of their situation. There's also the pretty cool effect were everything is white and shapes can barely be made out after a while, which is a great way to highlight Natsume's lack of sight. I also really liked the lighting hiding the killers face in darkness in the climatic showdown. The killer is known by that point their face is on screen a fair bit, but it makes them look menacing and non-human. My favourite shot though is the tracking shot that follows Haruma as he skateboards towards the underpass. The tricks he does are perfectly framed. 

What the Japanese version did differently included showing glimpses of Natsume's training as the opening of the movie. In the original Korean version, the protagonist is already a police officer when we're introduced to her and we don't see what she was like all that much before the accident besides a childhood memory and a recording of her admission into the academy. On the other hand, the Korean movie shows more of the life of her brother with them not actually being siblings. The versions also differ in regards to the accident as in the Korean version, the protagonist is expelled following it instead of quitting herself as in the Japanese version. 

There's also the fact that the protagonists first encounter with the killer are different in each version. In the Korean version, the protagonist is actually targeted by the killer and almost killed herself in the hit and run attempt. As previously mentioned, the Japanese version has the killer in the process of kidnapping a victim with Haruma almost being hit by the car instead of Natsume. The social media elements are also much more prominent in the remake with it being used to search for leads and collecting information, which makes sense with it coming out much later than the original which came out before social media blew up. The police response time also differs with the Korean version having them be quick to respond thanks to the protagonist stating something about the hit and run that coincided with a missing persons case. The remake has the police slow to respond and disbelieving the protagonist as they think she is unreliable. The Korean version also has the police doing most of the investigating with the aid of the protagonist instead of Natsume and Haruma doing the lion's share of the investigating themselves.

The biggest differences involve the killer and his motive. In the original, it is a typical kidnapping and murder case instead of the much better copycat ritual murder spree of the remake. The murders themselves or rather the aftermath is shown much more prominently in the remake as well. Much more grisly gore. The killer's identity is also different and I prefer the remake in this regard as well as it makes it more interesting. 

Perhaps, the best difference is the fact that the guide dog survived being stabbed in the remake. In the original it is killed by the murderer and as such, I prefer the remake in this regard as well. I apologize for the spoiler, but I really do not like dogs being killed in movies or dramas at all and I'm glad this change was made. 

Riho Yoshioka portrayed the titular character and protagonist, Natsume Hamanaka with grace and poise. She expertly sold the role of the blind ex-police officer and was convincing when it came to the believability of her disability. She emoted really well, expressing a range of emotions without having to use her eyes much and made for a badass protagonist. I felt for her as her guilt and self-doubt really came across. 

I really enjoyed Tomorowo Taguchi in the role of Yuichi Kimura. He had the air of a veteran police detective with a heart of gold and the conscience to match. He did seem rather stupid though in his confrontation with a certain character, but that was the fault of the writing and not in the performance of the actor. He played off of Koji Ohkura really well with Koji's Yoshino being the much more cynical cop that seeks to redeem himself towards the end of the movie. 

Overall, Blind Witness is a terrific thriller that surpasses the original in my humble opinion and is well worth the watch if you enjoy thrillers with some elements of horror such as the chase sequences being reminiscent to those found in slashers.