Kwaidan
KWAIDAN (15)
D: Masaki Kobayashi
Toho/Ninjin Club/Bungei (Shigeru Wakatusi)
Japan 1964 (released 1965)
125 mins
Horror
W: Yoko Mizuki [based on the stories of Lafcadio
Hearn]
DP: Yoshio Miyajima
Mus: Toru Takemitsu
PD: Shigemasa Toda
Rentaro Mikuni (Samurai), Michiyo Aratama (1st
Wife), Misako Watanabe (2nd Wife), Katsuo Nakamura (Hoichi), Ganjiro Nakamura (Head Priest), Takashi Shimura (Priest), Joichi Hayashi (Yoshitsune) Ganemon Nakamura
(Kannai)
A collection of four Japanese ghost stories, told
in a very traditional way, beautifully filmed and far more haunting than they are "scary".
Each tale has its own individual style and while
all are beautifully filmed, directed and produced, it's probably the chapter 'The Woman In The Snow' which is the most memorable.
Hollywood certainly took note, with a couple of
the stories dressed up for remakes (the most notable in the 1991 horror anthology "Tales From The Darkside").
7/10
