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Kwaidan - Criterion Collection Actors: Rentaro Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama Director: Masaki Kobayashi Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 164 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-10-10 Buy from Amazon |
 "Handsome and affecting"Handsomely-mounted production of four Lafcadio Hearn retellings of tales from ancient Japan: "Black Hair" has a samurai returning to his estranged wife after marrying to elevate his station; "Yukionna" features a woodcutter and a female snow spirit in a secret pact; "Hoichi the Earless", the longest and best segment, has a blind monk who is commanded to play the biwa for the restless spirits of the dead Heike; "In A Cup Of Tea", which was originally an aborted manuscript, gets a creative treatment here. Breathtaking to look at if a little long and un-unified, and only the most tenuous connection between any of the stories (barring perhaps the consistent thread of the dead being jealous of the living!). Still essential for any Japanese film lover, though.  "One of the greatest fims of all time."This film is so utterly magnificent, it's on eof the greatest films of all time. It has the most gorgeous art work, dream-like visuals, color photography I've ever seen in film. This is based on tales by Lafcadio Hearn. A bizzare, eerie and horrifying musical score by Toru Takemitsu works exellently with the beautiful visuals. This video also has a gorgeous color Cinemascope widescreen presentation. The first tale Black Hair, is a bit slow, but's it's so worth it in the unbelievable horror climax. The second tale, Woman in the Snow, is one of the best and most beautiful in the whole film. Masaki Kobayashi uses just all white during the blizzard sequinces with some blood reds, lush greens, dream like blues, and odd purples. The third story, Hoichi, the Earless, begins with one of the most beautiful scenes in the film. An epic sea battle between the Heikie and Genji clans. This scene feautures all kinds of bizzare and beautiful colors including a firey red sky. The rest of the film concerns a young blind man's horrifying ordeal with ghosts. I can see some references to this segment in Akira Kurosawa's Ran. The final segment is called In a Cup of Tea and is the weakest. It's too short, and too fast moving. It does feature lots of gorgeous visuals to make up for it. I recommend this film to anyone, if you haven't seen this film. CLICK BUY RIGHT NOW! "Fantastic piece of artwork"I became a fan of the more artistic genre of Japanese film with Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Hidden Fortress, both black and white classics of the style. After I happened to see this collection of stories on TV, I ordered the video. Still impressed after several viewings, I've decided to purchase the DVD version when it comes out this fall so I can see the film in it's most perfect form for home viewing. The collection is based on a series of short stories by a Louisiannan writer, Lafacado Hearn. Kwaidan is Japanese for ghost stories, a type of fiction I've enjoyed since childhood introduction to MacBeth and The Christmas Carole, and these are some very well written examples. My favorites of this collection were the Woman in the Snow and Earless, the former for director Kobayashi's incredible sense of color, sound and setting, and the latter for his sense of historical pagentry and drama and its surprise ending. An incredible piece of artwork. I will probably give my video version to a friend who is also fond of the genra and an afficionado of all things Japanese. "The Greatest "Art House" Horror Film""Kwaidan" is a cinematic masterpiece of the horror genre which, unfortunately, is not nearly as well known to genre fans as it should be. In my view it ranks with Werner Herzog's 1979 re-make of "Nosferatu" as the finest horror film ever made in color. Part of the reason for "Kwaidan"'s obscurity is its national origin (though, strangely enough, the Japanese folktales which form its basis were written by an American expatriate, Lafcadio Hearn). Yet even in Japan, the film was a commercial flop, despite superlatives from critics. More likely, the obscurity of "Kwaidan" derives from its artistry; viewers who come to it for the first time will probably be only marginally aware that they're seeing horror at all. Search in vain for gore and special effects; the film almost recalls Val Lewton's old classics in its reliance on suggestion. As an anthology, moreover, "Kwaidan" is in the same league as the 1946 British film, "Dead of Night," except that it has no over-arching "frame" device to tie the stories together. All four films which make it up are essentially revenge plots: simple and straightforward, like most folktales, though I would like to mention a personal favorite: "Yuki-Onna," whose surrealist account of a female vampire awed me with its weird snow-scapes and eerie soundtrack. By all means, see "Kwaidan" if you have any curiosity at all about horror as viewed through the lens of an artistic master; I only wish American directors had a comparable interest in quality. "Incredible"Without a doubt one of the most, if not THE most visually stunning film ever made. Jaw-dropping in its formal elegance and use of color and scope photography. Coppola's Dracula and Kurosawa's Dreams were obviously influenced by this masterpiece of unease and dread. Kudos to director Masaki Kobayashi whose little-seen "Harakiri" is nearly as monumental--which means it too is a must-see. Criterion had better do the DVD right! |
