Description: Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, Kwaidan features four nightmarish tales in which terror thrives and demons lurk. Adapted from traditional Japanese ghost stories, this lavish, widescreen production drew extensively on Kobayashi's own training as a student of painting and fine arts. Criterion is proud to present Kwaidan in a new ravishing color transfer.
Amazon.com: A masterpiece of filmmaking artifice and mood-setting atmosphere, Kwaidan consists of four ghost stories adapted from the fiction of Greek-born Lafcadio Hearn (a.k.a. Yakumo Koizumi, 1850-1904), who assimilated into Japanese culture so thoroughly that his writings reveal no evidence of Western influence. So it is that these four cinematic interpretations--perhaps more accurately described as tales of spectral visitation--are sublimely Japanese in tone and texture, created entirely in a studio with frequently stunning results. There are painterly images here that remain the most beautiful and haunting in all of Japanese cinema, presented with the purity of silent film, sparsely accompanied by post-synchronized sounds and music (by Toru Takemitsu) that enhance the otherworldly effect of director Masaki Kobayashi's meticulous imagery. When viewed in a receptive frame of mind, Kwaidan can be intensely hypnotic.
Each of the four stories find their protagonists confronted by spirits that compel them to (respectively) make amends for past mistakes, maintain vows of silence, satisfy the yearnings of the undead, or capture phantoms that remain frightfully elusive. As each tale progresses, their supernatural elements grow increasingly intense and distant from the confines of reality. With careful use of glorious color and wide-screen composition, Kwaidan exists in a netherworld that is both real and imagined, its characters never quite sure they can trust what they've seen and heard. Vastly different from the more overt shocks of Western horror, the film casts a supernatural spell that remains timelessly effective. --Jeff Shannon
Beautiful and eerie. Spellbinding. Theatrical. I endorse most every review before this one. Read them. Or just get the movie. The more I watched, the more i liked. Hoichi the Earless was my favorite... the biwa chants were ... quite ... tearfully good... (musicians take note, especially western guitarists and vocalists on the wildness and pure differentness)
I could spend many sentences advocating, but suffice it to say, if you like artful cinema and/or theater this movie is worth watching. Even if you end up not liking it, it's worth it to see.
But every minute I watched, I liked it more and more.... At least rent it. Any "art" house type movie watcher will appreciate it.
Cannes Jury award winner and Oscar nominated for best foreign film (you aren't the only ones who liked it!!)
Would Be Five Stars Except For The Last Story I watched this film on TCM weeks ago and its is still with me. There are four stories of the supernatural featured in the film, and the final tale doesn't come across as complete as the first three (apparently the fourth tale was left out of the film for the American theatrical release in the Sixties). The story pictured on the cover is absolutely brilliant. The sets, the mood, the sound design... This and IKIRU are perhaps my favorite all time Japanese titles.
Not a film student? You will still love this movie! This movie is best described as a Japanese Twilight Zone - but it is so much more. It is not a "horror" movie. It is a painting rendered on film. I am no art house film buff. I'm just an average joe who has started watching lots of Japanese movies. I didn't know what to expect when I first saw this film - but it slowly grew on me. It was so beautiful, and rich in sound and color. It is like a waking dream. Something about this film keeps haunting me. If you have any interest in Japanese or foreign film, this is a must see. Also, Criterion is simply the best in DVD, so the price is worth it.
Immerse yourself in this haunting beauty You know, it's sad. Horror films, actually any genre of films, just don't come close to this anymore. They pale in comparison with the surreal tone, the haunting atmosphere, the elaborate and eerie set designs, the hypnotic sound effects. These four ghost stories don't try to bludgeon your senses with graphic violence. Instead they pull you in with their vivid imagery. They entrance you, they invite you to become so deeply involved with their spellbinding fashion. Submerge yourself in these gripping, seductive tales of the supernatural.
Cinema at its finest.
A Meticulously Crafted Masterpiece that will Endure in the Annals of Japanese cinema....Horror or otherwise! When one thinks of Japanese horror in the U.S., there seems to be one stereo type that abound to most recent films. Ever wonder how the older, Japanese horror classics played out? Masaki Kobayashi's KWAIDAN (1965) gets the Criterion treatment and rightfully so; the film is a masterpiece in Japanese film-making. Black and White horror films that preceded it such as "The Innocents" and "The Uninvited" speculates and teases with the premise of the existence of ghosts, "Kwaidan", however, meets the spirit world head-on. It is a very effective rendition of terrifying reality. What would happen if the spirit world collided with the Samurai period?
Kwaidan consists of 4 episodes. Loosely based on the writings of Lafcadio Hearn; a folklorist of Greek-Irish ancestry who was naturalized as a Japanese citizen who renamed himself Yakumo Koizumi. Koizumi definitely embraced his adopted culture. If this film is any indication, the source material has no Western influence and definitely feels more geared towards Japanese than anywhere else. Kobayashi's direction takes the definitive style as if the audience is reading a book. The visuals unfurl with a style very similar to Japanese paintings of the historical periods from which the backdrop is set.
Black Hair A poor ambitious young samurai (Rentaro Mikumi) divorces his beautiful, loving wife (Michiyo Aratama) to marry a wealthy lord's daughter (Michiyo Watanabe) for the promise of social prestige and fortune. Despite his newfound fortune, he discovers that wealth cannot buy you happiness and true love. He happily returns to their dilapidated house after his term had expired to find his ex-wife as beautiful as ever, her black hair as shiny and dark as before. He swears to never leave her side again for all eternity. Unbeknownst to the samurai, the meaning of eternity may prove to be something else...
The Woman of the Snow A young woodcutter (Tatsuya Nakadai) is lost in a blizzard with his friend, Masaku. They take shelter in an old shack and sleep from exhaustion. When the young woodcutter awakens, he finds a mysterious ghost-like woman (Keiko Kishi) draining the life from his friend by blowing her icy breath into his mouth. Spotting him, the whitish phantom takes pity on him and spares his life, on the condition that he never tells a soul of what he had witnessed. Years passed and the young woodcutter is happily married to a woman named Yuki. Praised by the village folk of her timeless beauty. He loves his wife so much, that he considers revealing his sinister secret to her...
HOICHI, the EARLESS The tale centers on a blind musician (Katsuo Nakamura) who lives in a monastery. He specializes in the songs and sonnets about the Heike and Genji clans, whose burial grounds are a mere walking distance from the monastery. So well versed is Hoichi to these songs that it causes the spirits of the clan rise up to listen to his music. Hoichi is willing to do so since he is unaware that his regal audiences are the spirits of the dead clan. The head monk (Takashi Shimura) informs Hoichi that the unquiet ghosts will rip him to pieces if he continues to sing for them. The monks take steps to protect Hoichi from the spirits by writing the Holy scriptures all throughout his entire body.
IN A CUP OF TEA This is a tale of "incomplete" storytelling as a writer discloses the saga of a samurai retainer (Kanemon Nakamura) who sees the reflection of another face within his cup of tea. That evening, that samurai is confronted by the phantom in a duel. The warrior soon learns that he is dealing with something not human. How does this encounter play out?
The film's strengths lie with his excellent storytelling. While it does revolve around the supernatural, it never loses its very human premise; Love and ambition, Trust and betrayal, commitment to an art, human neglect and laziness. The film is quite frightening, but not in the sense of "in your face horror" and cheap scares. The viewer must immerse himself to the character's point of view to truly appreciate "Kwaidan". I really loved the way it dealt with Japan's cultural, social and even political views at a certain period. The film's proceedings may feel like a "stage performance" at times but it never loses its sheer frightening aspect. Kobayashi has achieved something spectacular; from the film's elaborate costumes and set designs, the director certainly has made one successful (if subtle) blend of realism and stylization. He has definitely cemented the idea that beauty and sheer horror can coexist on one medium, and effectively complement each other with coherence.
Highly Recommended! [5 Stars]
Criterion sports a very impressive transfer in a 2.35 ratio Anamorphic Widescreen. Minor print damage is visible on some scenes but the color is radiant and the picture is sharp. Excellent subtitles with the original monaural Japanese track is used.
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