Look! Kanako was a penguin!
Why was I a penguin?
That's hilarious!
At least they're cute.
I was a defeated samurai.
That's horrible!
Me, a beaten samurai!
Hit by an arrow.
With bad hair.
Yuck!
At least you were human.
Yeah, you were a penguin!
So what was I?
You were...
What's wrong?
Oh, nothing.
Let me see.
How does it work?
Rumi showed me how...
Yeah, she knows about cell phones...
Thank you, Mr. Saeki.
All you drivers out there, be careful.
Next up is 'Cinema 11'...
...with 'Memory', director
Matsumura's first film in two years...
...based on the worst mass murder case
of the last century...
...'The Gunma Hotel Massacre'.
There's no one in at the moment.
Please leave a message at the tone.
It's Yamanaka, the producer.
How's the script coming?
We've got auditions next week,
so that's the situation right now.
"The Puzzle Of The Random Murders!"
"Eleven Dead"
"Screams Echo Through Quiet Hotel"
Together forever!
REINCARNATION
Um, as for me personally...
...I don't like horror films...
...but I'd really like to play
a role where I get killed.
Why?
I was killed in a past life.
So maybe if I had to
re-enact that on stage...
Wait... a past life?
Yes. It's like I've kept
some memory from it.
Ever since I was a kid...
...I've remembered things
I knew nothing about.
They must be experiences from
before I was born as who I am now.
I was a woman.
It's like I was strangled or something.
So I'm really confident about this role.
OK...
Anybody else?
Questions? Anything?
From you?
Nothing.
That's all for today, then. Thank you.
Thank you.
Nagisa Sugiura
It's not a school exam.
You've got to get used to it.
All right.
There'll be so many auditions
you'll be sick of them.
That director was glaring at me.
I don't understand.
There's no use getting nervous.
That's what directors are like.
A horror film again, huh?
Well, it's Matsumura.
There'll be lots of blood and gore.
But you've got to make
these film people remember you.
You need a 'look at me!' attitude, OK?
Hey, are you all right?
I saw...
Were you even listening to me?
Thank you.
May I?
Crown Agency
That's it.
The director sent it himself.
I took a look at it.
Does this mean I passed the audition?
I'm not really sure.
I've been calling them all day.
Anyway, read it.
Hello?
It's Murakawa, from Crown.
Could I speak to Mr. Kondo, please?
He sent it directly to you.
That means at least Nagisa Sugiura
made an impression on him.
I guess so. That means
I can be happy, right?
Damn right!
But it's like I've heard
this story somewhere...
What? You didn't know?
It really happened.
Some lunatic university professor
killed his family in a hotel...
...then killed a bunch of staff
and other guests...
...and then finally himself.
I was a kid when it happened.
It was the year of the Osaka Expo... 1970.
Year 45 of the Showa Era.
Wait...
Before you were born!
Yes.
"Memory"
'Night.
Thanks a lot.
Good night.
I'm home!
Ta-da!
Who is it?
Good morning.
Some of you have probably realized...
...this film is based on a true story
of murders in a certain hotel.
For the details, please read
the material we're posting over there.
Now we'll hear from the director.
I'm Matsumura, the director. Hello.
In this incident,
...at the hands of just one man.
The script is based upon this incident,
but in the film...
...he will never appear.
The murderer will simply be
'someone in the dark'.
This is to say the focus will be
on the victims, not the murderer.
This should be an ensemble performance...
...of these 11 actual people.
Portraying their 'attachment to life'
and 'fear of dying'...
...in the face of sudden
and bitter death...
...I would like to lay
their vengeful souls to rest.
That's all from me.
Now we'll announce
the casting of these 11 people.
Step forward when your name is called.
Naomi Nakata...
Yes!
I'd like you to play
one of the victims, the hotel maid.
Yes.
- Tetta Shinohara...
- Yes.
- You'll be the hotel's front-desk clerk.
- Yes.
- Yukihiko Yamaguchi...
- Yes.
You play the husband from a couple
who happened to be staying there.
I'll do my best.
Yoko Shinjo...
The role of the wife
from the couple, please.
Nagisa Sugiura...
Ms. Sugiura...
Uh, yes...
I'd like you to play the role
that corresponds to this girl.
The girl, only six at the time...
...fled with her 10 year-old brother
around the hotel...
...then died at her own father's hands.
I've changed her age for the film...
...but this is a vital role,
as she was the last one to die.
All right, Sugiura?
Yes.
Next, Junko Suzuki...
"Eleven Die In Hotel Murder"
"Eleven People Dead And Cold"
Miyata! Is this OK here?
Yes.
Look at this!
Now, this is a model of the set
that will be built here in the studio.
It's based on photographs of the hotel
and other materials we have.
This is the outside,
and this is the inside.
Take a good look.
Wow!
With this set we intend
to recreate the hotel...
...as it really was.
But Mr. Matsumura...
...I understand you want it real...
...but we can only research so far...
Wake up! This course was your idea!
And so these 'memories' are often
things you've been told...
...or that you've read
in a book somewhere.
They vanish into your consciousness,
and reappear in different form.
This is what usually happens
in what is called...
...the 'cryptomnesia phenomenon'.
When we place these concepts under
such headings as 'past lives'...
...or 'reincarnation'...
...they become very convenient...
...for religious thinkers and moralists.
But you know, I keep
having this same dream...
That happens.
This is different.
Dreams about me?
You wish!
In this dream,
I always see the same hotel...
...but I've never been there.
Weren't you listening to the lecture?
That's that 'crypto' something...
'Crypto...'
No, listen...
That red triangular roof, the walls,
the corridors... it's all so real!
You were probably there
when you were a kid, and forgot.
No. There's no place like that
in any of our old photos...
...and my parents have no memory of it.
Oh, come on!
And my mother was really surprised
when I told her about it.
She asked if I still had that dream.
I always used to ask
to go the hotel I'd seen in it.
Enough about dreams!
I'm going to eat!
Good! Stop there.
Now listen...
Yes...
Don't answer. Concentrate!
Slowly...
She gets all the attention!
Well, she's a nobody in the main role.
I heard he chose her first.
Did you hear?
We're all going to that hotel.
The place it really happened?
Isn't that just staff? For the sets?
No, they called my agent.
What?! Why do we have to go?
Yeah! People died there!
You might die!
You can't hear his footsteps now.
Hold your breath.
Become invisible.
If he finds you, you die.
Cut!
Right!
OK!
OK!
Are you all right?!
Ms. Sugiura!
Mr. Matsumura!
What's wrong, Sugiura?!
Are you all right?! Sugiura!
I realize you're not happy
about going where people died...
...but the director wants
all the main cast to come.
I have the feeling
I shouldn't go to that hotel.
Why, all of a sudden?
Something's not right.
Strange things have been happening
ever since I got this script.
Strange things?
I see that hotel in my dreams.
And that girl...
I'd never heard of this!
Hey!
You read the articles.
That girl whose father killed her...
It's like I'm...
Hey!
Settle down!
But it's weird!
I knew that girl's face!
Look...
Her memories are in me.
Nagisa!
Get a grip, will you?
Look, even if, and I mean 'if'...
...you were that girl reborn...
...you won't die in that hotel again.
Well...
You know how big an opportunity
this film is, don't you?
We're here!
This is the site of the incident.
What's wrong with you?!
Sorry.
Ow!
Careful! Let me do it.
This is quite the fence!
This way.
Be careful up there. Watch yourself.
Be careful.
Watch yourself.
The door's open.
Everyone...
This way.
Watch your step.
This way. In you go.
Gather round.
Everyone over here.
First, here...
Shinohara...
Lay down here. Head over there.
Turn your head a bit this way.
Arms out like this.
OK, Shinohara...
The front-desk clerk died here,
like that.
Everyone...
...remember what you see,
what you touch, and how it feels.
Wait... don't move.
Be careful! Watch your step!
Suzuki, come here.
Sit here.
Your head this way,
your legs sprawled out...
Not all the way. You'll get dirty.
Yamaguchi!
Your head over there,
laying on your back.
Just enough to feel it.
I didn't ask you!
Sorry?
Why are we here?
So everyone can get
the real feel of the place!
Sorry.
I'm sorry.
OK...
Please...
When he falls,
I want to cut to a close-up.
Then go hand-held...
Excuse me...
Don't move...
Hey... are you feeling OK?
I'm fine. Sorry.
You look a bit pale...
Sorry to keep you...
Mr. Kondo?
What happened?
Is Nagisa here?
Has Nagisa come back?
What?
I was by the washroom waiting for her,
but she's gone.
Gone?
What?!
Well, it's...
...the ladies' room downstairs.
I'll go check.
Where is it?
Downstairs.
Sugiura!
Come on.
This room...
The girl you're playing was killed here.
You sense things...
She's late, damn it.
It's odd, though, isn't it...
you knowing someone like that.
Well, you said you wanted to meet her.
She might help with my report.
No way!
That professor's going against
all that 'reincarnation' stuff.
You can meet 'Weirdette', but still...
'Weirdette'?
So why are you two such good friends?
We're not.
How do you know her?
Tell me!
She's just a friend!
Look, if you don't want to meet her...
She's pretty.
Well, she's a would-be actress.
She is, is she?
Am I late?
No, no. Thanks for coming.
No problem.
This is a big school, huh.
Yeah.
It's a nice place.
There's lots here.
Oh, this is Ms. Kinoshita,
Yayoi Kinoshita.
Yuka Morita.
Hi.
Hi.
Let's go inside.
Hm?
Have we met before?
I don't think so...
Oh, I know!
Sorry. Maybe it was before.
'Before'?
In a past life, you mean...
I'm sure we've met somewhere.
Do you often feel like that?
You must know the feeling
that you've been somewhere before...
Deja vu, you mean...
Hell, even I get that.
Sure! Everybody should know,
but they just can't remember.
You're just not conscious of...
But how can you tell apart...
...memories from before you were born
and ones from after?
It's easy. Research.
Research?
There's something you want to know...
Let's both go.
Go where?
Come on.
Thanks for the treat.
Hey, wait a minute!
Producer Koji Yamanaka
will now offer the sacred bough...
...in prayer for the safety
and success of this production.
"Eleven Lives Stolen Away"
Here. In a past life I was her.
...35 years ago.
You see it says she was strangled?
Look.
Doesn't that hurt?
No. I was born with it.
It used to be fainter, though.
Lately it stands out more.
Not good for an actress.
Where's this hotel?
Oh, yeah...
there's a picture further back...
Hello?
Hi. Can you talk now?
Just a minute...
There's a picture back a few pages.
Hi. I'm in a library now...
I'll call back.
No...
It's nothing really important
or anything...
You know that drama you were in...
"Professor Omori's Wife Badly Injured,
Unconscious"
"Mrs. Ayumi Omori - Sole Survivor"
Damn!
Sorry. Some books fell down.
Yuka?
Yuka?!
I'm hanging up, OK? 'Bye.
Yuka?
Yuka?
Yuka?
Yuka?
Together forever.
Together forever.
Why did you decide
to make a film about this?
Why?
I've been getting weird sensations.
Like at that hotel...
Why did you want me
to play that girl so much?
Why...
...were in you that room?
I got this for the film...
...from the family of one of the victims.
The girl you're playing
was holding this when she died.
All her bitter fury would have
gone into this doll.
Confront the spirit of the girl...
...who died holding this.
I'm the only one who survived.
I pray for them every day...
...but I never feel that the souls
of those children are at peace.
Please...
I got this when it happened.
I don't know how to say this...
That hotel...
We'd stayed there...
...on the only family trip we ever took.
I have something I'd like to show you.
I drew it when I was small.
Were you there, too?
I've never been there.
But I've always seen it in dreams.
This belonged to that man.
The newspapers all said
Professor Omori was mad.
I thought so, too.
Or at least, I wanted to think so.
But reading and rereading those notes,
I came to realize...
...that man wasn't crazy at all.
'The flesh is but a vessel.'
At some point
he went beyond his specialty...
...into where we come from
and where we go...
...and if our memories really vanish
when we leave our bodies.
It's like he was obsessed with that.
Is there a Mr. Omori staying here?
You are?
His wife.
This way.
In here.
Thank you.
May we meet again.
Yuya! Chisato!
Together forever.
I think...
...he was doing an experiment.
We're filming at last!
Oh, that film you gave me...
they got something off it.
It was hard finding someone
who'd work on it.
Where did you get it?
Hey, Nagisa...
Thank you.
You OK?
Oh yeah...
...what should I do with this?
What's on there?
I don't know.
You don't know?
Yes?
Ms. Sugiura, it's time to get changed.
Thank you.
Hello, it's me.
That girl Yuka I introduced you to...
Her family called.
She hasn't been home since that day.
Call me if you know anything.
'Bye.
Look behind you...
Like you were dizzy sometimes...
That's right...
Pant if you want...
Now fall!
Yeah... then wait for a bit...
Turn forward, then stand...
Like you're being pulled forward...
Good... you're dizzy...
Behind you again...
This way, too...
Stop... look right...
Good. Now left, and quickly...
OK!
Cut!
Can we do that in one cut?
One cut?
Hmm...
Yes, if we pull out the ceiling
and the walls at the corner.
Take out ceiling and wall!
I'm taking the wall.
The wall's coming out!
This.
Boy, that takes me back.
There's still some around!
Would it be possible to see this?
Yuka!
Yuka!
What's going on?
Yuka, what happened?
Yuka?
Cut!
Cut!
Sugiura... are you ready for a take?
Yes.
Let's roll it, then.
That was great.
Yeah.
Imai! Let's go!
Back to your places!
This is a take!
Take the chair.
Imai!
You ready?
Yep!
Yuka...
Together forever.
All ready. This is a take!
Ready!
And...
...action!
I'm next...
Nagisa?!
Together forever!
Together forever.