:
Rentaro Mikuni,
Rentaro Mikuni,
Michiyo Aratama,
more...
:
Masaki Kobayashi,
Masaki Kobayashi
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Criterion
: Foreign, Costume Drama/Period Piece, Japan, Ghosts, Fantasy, Criterion Collection
: 161 min.
: Japanese
: English
see additional details...
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Kwaidan is an impressively mounted anthology horror film based on four stories by Lafcadio Hearn, a Greek-born writer who began his career in the United States at the age of 19 and moved permanently to Japan in 1890 at the age of 40, where he eventually became a subject of the empire and took on the name Koizumi Yakuno. Hearn became a conduit of Japanese culture to western audiences, publishing journalism and then fiction incorporating traditional Japanese themes and characters. "Black Hair," the first tale, concerns a samurai who cannot support his wife; he leaves her for a life of wealth and ease with a princess. Returning years later, he spends the night with his wife in their now-dilapidated house, only to awake to a horrifying discovery which drives him insane. In "The Woman of the Snow" (deleted from U.S. theatrical prints after the film's Los Angeles opening; it is on the DVD version), two woodcutters seek refuge during a snowstorm in what appears to be an abandoned hut. A snow witch appears and kills one of them but lets his partner free. Years later, the survivor meets and married a lovely young woman, only to learn her true identity. The most visually impressive tale is "Hoichi the Earless," in which a blind musician is asked by the ghost of a samurai to play for his late infant lord at a tomb. The monks who house the musician cover him with tattoos to prevent any harm coming to him, but they forget his ears. He returns from the engagement with his ears cut off; however, his misadventure propels him to fame. "In a Cup of Tea" concerns a samurai who is haunted by the vision of a man he sees reflected in his tea. Even after he drinks from the cup, he still sees the man while on guard duty. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
You might also enjoy:
The Others
Genuinely creepy ghost tale
The Human Condition, Pt. 1 - No Greater Love
Beginning of Kobayashi's beautfiul, brilliant epic series
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| smoke & mirrors
by cammelltoe
January 9, 2006 - 1:41 PM PST
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1 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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| Would have given this one a '10' if i didn't see it on the heels of seeing 'harakiri' and 'samurai rebellion', both of which were also directed by kobayashi,and both of which have a much more resonant emotional pull, due in a large part to great central performances--- from Tatsuya Nakadi and Toshiro Mifune, respectively. If you haven't seen those two films, i urge you to. the pleasures of 'kwaidon' are less visceral and more, uh, etheral, for lack of a better word. lush pictoral beauty combined with an awesomely discordant sound design is what's on the menu, offering a consistently eerie, nightmarish atmosphere. however, the plot and character work is not edge-of-your-seat stuff. |
| Beautiful Horror
by Chibisuke
April 5, 2004 - 10:33 AM PDT
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7 out of 8 members found this review helpful
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| Kwaidan is a series of Japanese folk tales for the silver screen. I found it to have been done really well for it's time. Especially when it came to wide shots. I think my favorite story in here is "The Woman of the Snow". I found a lot of the background work to beautiful yet mezmerizing. The story itself is a good one to teach the viewer to keep promises made. My second favorite was "The Black Hair". This one kinda freaked me out since I have somewhat of a phobia towards mounds of long hair (if anyone has read the mangas "Tomie 1 & 2" by Junji Ito you know what I mean). This story is very good at proving the point of "you don't know what you've got until it's gone". My third favorite was "Hoichi the Earless" for the fact that it had a history lesson within the tale. But more than that I found the costumes and the overall production of the story to be done beautifully...for a ghost story that is. Overall these three out of the five stories were very much worth the watch. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :o) |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.40)
199 Votes
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