Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964)

I’ve seen Kwaidan for the first time ever and it was a life-changing experience. Produced by Toho and directed with a sensitive hand by Masaki Kobayashi, based on the American writer Lafcadio Hearn’s 1904 collection of Japanese folktales; Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. It’s interesting how I often, while researching Kwaidan, came in touch with the shame of calling it a horror film. Many, many people out there seems to have problems calling it what it really is, probably because it’s such a huge classic, a perfect example of true cinema - and they just can’t accept its a horror film (or several smaller, because it’s an anthology). I pity them, of course, because Kwaidan is true horror - very subtle horror - but horror. I mean, no one ever doubted James Whale’s Frankenstein films to not be horror, or maybe Dracula with Bela Lugosi. Horror is all around us and it comes in different shapes. Sometimes with a chainsaw and sometimes with a cup of tea.

In the first story, The Black Hair, tells the tale of a man divorcing his wife and leaving town, finding a new wife - but later regret this and many years later goes back to his first wife - a very nice and loving woman, only to find himself trapped in something way more scary. The second story is The Woman of the Snow, where a young woodcutter gets stuck in a snowstorm together with his older colleague and sees him get killed by a female ghost. Later the young man sees a woman with a similar face, falls in love with her and builds a family together. But he has forgotten a very important detail… the third story is Hoichi the Earless, a blind musician with a speciality to sing a certain saga of songs. But his friends are worried he’s playing music for ghosts and tries to protect him. The fourth story is In a Cup of Tea, where an unfinished story about a man seeing faces in the liquids he drinks somehow makes the author of the story cursed himself.

Kwaidan is close to three hours long but feels like a breeze This is SO good. It’s beautiful, very well-told. It has one of those scripts which uses the only necessary to tell the story and that makes it feel so sharp and focused. I collegue of mine would use the word “crisp”, and I think it’s a perfect word. There’s nothing you don’t need here. I would even say it’s a bit scary. A couple of times the hairs on my arms stood up and the stories captivated me like few other ghost stories. Kwaidan literally means Ghost Stories, which is a very fitting title. I find it very interesting how later films in Japan, such a Ringu, Ju-On, One Missed Call etc - belonging to the J-Horror genre - is part of such a long and fine tradition. Some people might think these films are new and trendy, but they’re all a part of the legacy of ghost stories. In Kwaidan you will see many similarities with modern Japanese horror, from female ghosts with long black hair, hair that comes to life and attack people, lots of revenge-theme of course - and interestingly enough, In a Cup of Tea, reminded me a lot of Ringu, but instead of a TV and a videotape there’s a kettle of water or a cup of tea.

Kwaidan is one of the best movies I ever seen. It’s a stellar horror classic, maybe one of the best ghost movies ever made. As an anthology film it dares to be a bit abstract, more beautiful than maybe logical sometimes. But it always keeps its shit together, something you don’t experience every day. If there’s one single movie you should watch in your life or bring to a deserted island or what ever (maybe a bit scary with a movie like this on a place like that!), Kwaidan is THE film.

Comments

[İsmail Açıkel]

Dear Fred, how are you? Sorry i want to write from here. As you know Twitter has been prohibited in Turkey. :) But we are continuing to challenge against this prohibition. Kwaidan is off course horror classic and a milestone in horror history. And this movie carries japanese perfectionism. (Technology, War etc...)

Phantasm V : Ravager comes to the theatre in 2015. Trailer is below;

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid935471787001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAACMzGMJk~,RYQzCEk5IfKnEyfo5dmHK5cF207hcFae&bctid=3400078450001

[Fred Anderson]

Hello Ismail!
Can you get around it anyway, the Twitter-ban? It must be some way to use it! Terrible anyway!
Kwaidan was so fantastic, can't imagine I haven't seen it until now!
And I can't wait to see what they've done with Phantasm V, especially because it seems to be a real indie project, shot in secret during two years! I love that :)

[Megatron]

"I’ve seen Kwaidan for the first time ever and it was a life-changing experience."

Not as fond of this film as you are....I liked Yabu no naka no kuroneko/The Black Cat from the Grove (1968), Onibaba/Devil Woman (1964), thought they were better.

" the third story is Hoichi the Earless, a blind musician with a speciality to sing a certain saga of songs. But his friends are worried he’s playing music for ghosts and tries to protect him"

That one was my favorite.

"I find it very interesting how later films in Japan, such a Ringu, Ju-On, One Missed Call etc - belonging to the J-Horror genre - is part of such a long and fine tradition. Some people might think these films are new and trendy, but they’re all a part of the legacy of ghost stories. In Kwaidan you will see many similarities with modern Japanese horror, from female ghosts with long black hair, hair that comes to life and attack people, lots of revenge-theme of course"

That is very true.....same thing goes with Yabu no naka no kuroneko/The Black Cat from the Grove (1968), also a ghost/vampire story with vengeance as a theme.

"If there’s one single movie you should watch in your life or bring to a deserted island or what ever (maybe a bit scary with a movie like this on a place like that!), Kwaidan is THE film."

Well, I prefer other films but taste is different.....but more people should see this one, good review.

[İsmail Açıkel]

I have seen Possesion (1981) directed by Andrej Zurawski on your facebook page. :) At the first step, you suppose that it is a hard drama movie, by 55-60minute, it is different and original, specially Isabelle Adjani is so successiful at her role. Polish guys do good works everytime.