Kwaidan

UPC: 037429152027

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Sexual Situations]

Summary: 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, Rovi

Category: Fantasy

Awards: Best Foreign Language Film – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Special Jury Prize – Cannes Film Festival

Features: Stunning new widescreen transfer, enhanced for 16x9 televisions
Origianl theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
Optimal image quality: RSDL dual layer edition

Kwaidan

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 10/31/2000

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: 1 USA & territories, Canada, 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 161 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Subtitles: English

Region: Universal Compatability

Chapters: Side #1 -- Widescreen
1. Opening Credits [:11]
2. "I've Had Enough of Poverty!" [3:18]
3. "Please Take Care of My Daughter" [3:30]
4. The Thoughtlessness of Youth [1:33]
5. The Arrow and the Slap [3:03]
6. The Husband's Return [3:52]
7. No Escape [3:48]
8. The Snow Storm [2:13]
9. The Woman [6:40]
10. The Mother [4:24]
11. Yuki [4:51]
12. "She's a Wonder!" [6:53]
13. Remembrance [1:00]
14. Pledge for Life [2:52]
15. Song of the Great Sea Battle [2:12]
16. The Blind Musician [4:20]
17. Command Performance [1:15]
18. Looking for Hoichi [2:16]
19. "Where Have You Been Going?" [3:55]
20. In the Rain [3:32]
21. The Court of the Emperor [4:25]
22. The Holy Text [2:37]
23. Two Ears [5:34]
24. The Song Continues [4:55]
25. The Reflection [:52]
26. The Confrontation [1:03]
27. Guests at Midnight [:14]
28. Inside the Jar [7:27]

Tom Wiener

Elegantly shot in widescreen by Yoshio Miyajima and impressively scored by Toru Takemitsu (Japan's greatest film composer), Kwaidan is a visual or aural feast. It's also the last great film by director Masaki Kobayashi, best known for his epic World War II trilogy The Human Condition. For contemporary western film audiences used to slice-and-dice horror films cut to rock & roll rhythms, it will seem impossibly slow and tame, but that's because it makes no concession at all to western sensibilities. On its original release in 1965, the film was greeted with indifference by U.S. audiences, whose idea of Japanese horror was honed by the pulpy exploits of Godzilla and Mothra. Lafcadio Hearn's source stories delve into the psyches of men who venture into unknown territory; they often begin fearlessly but wind up mad or maimed by their experiences, often at the hands of evil women. In an odd way, Kwaidan resembles a series of film noir tales. Ultimately, though, it is a series of very spooky ghost stories, clearly mounted with great skill on lovingly constructed studio sets (designed by Shigemasa Toda), whose artificiality actually ratchets up the sense of dislocation. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Takashi Shimura  Actor 
Jun Tazaki  Actor 
Noboru Nakaya  Actor 
Ganjiro Nakamura  Actor 
Joichi Hayashi  Actor 
Toru Takemitsu  Composer (Music Score) 
Masaki Kobayashi  Director 
Yoko Mizuki  Screenwriter 
Shigeru Wakatsuki  Producer 
Rentaro Mikuni  Actor 
Michiyo Aratama  Actor 
Misako Watanabe  Actor 
Keiko Kishi  Actor 
Tetsuro Tamba  Actor 
Tatsuya Nakadai  Actor 
Katsuo Nakamura  Actor 
Ganemon Nakamura  Actor 

Country: Japan