| Ghost Stories - Kwaidan (1965)
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| Front Cover |
Actor |
Back Cover |
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| Rentaro Mikuni |
Husband (Black Hair)
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| Michiyo Aratama |
First wife (Black Hair)
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| Jun Hamamura |
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| Keiko Kishi |
Yuki the Snow Maiden (The Woman in the Snow)
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| Tatsuya Nakadai |
Mi nokichi (The Woman in the Snow)
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| Kanemon Nakamura |
Kannai, a Guard (In a Cup of Tea)
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| Katsuo Nakamura |
Hoichi (Hoichi the Earless)
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| Noboru Nakaya |
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| Takashi Shimura |
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| Haruko Sugimara |
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| Misako Watanabe |
Second Wife (Black Hair)
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| Tetsuro Tamba |
Warrior (Hoichi the Earless)
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| Osamu Takizawa |
Author/Narrator (In a Cup of Tea)
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| Plot |
| 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 |
| Movie Details |
| Genre |
Foreign; Horror |
| Director |
Masaki Kobayashi |
| Producer |
Shigeru Wakatsuki |
| Writer |
Yoko Mizuki; Lafcadio Hearn; Yôko Mizuki |
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| Studio |
Criterion |
| Country |
Japan
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| Language |
Japanese |
| Audience Rating |
PG-13 |
| Running Time |
161 mins |
| Movie Release Date |
11/22/1965 |
| Color |
Color |
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| Personal Details |
| Format |
DVD |
| Seen It |
No |
| Index |
499 |
| Collection Status |
In Collection |
| Purchase Date |
7/15/2005 |
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| Product Details |
| Edition |
Criterion Collection |
| Region |
 Region 1 |
| Screen Ratio |
 Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic) |
| Layers |
Single Side, Dual Layer |
| UPC (Barcode) |
037429152027 |
| Chapters |
28 |
| Release Date |
10/10/2000 |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Packaging |
Keep Case |
| Audio Tracks |
 JAPANESE: Dolby Digital Mono |
| Nr of Disks/Tapes |
1 |
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Extra Features
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| Color Widescreen |
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