 | Starring: Rentaro Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiko Kishi, Katsuo Nakamura Directed by: Masaki Kobayashi
Written by: Yoko Mizuki
Genre: Suspense/Horror
Year: 1964
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Media: DVD
Imdb:
Rating: 8
Price: 183 min
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This film contains four distinct, separate stories. "Black Hair": A poor samurai who divorces his true love to marry for money, but finds the marriage disastrous and returns to his old wife, only to discover something eerie about her. "The Woman in the Snow": Stranded in a snowstorm, a woodcutter meets an icy spirit in the form of a woman spares his life on the condition that he never tell anyone about her. A decade later he forgets his promise. "Hoichi the Earless": Hoichi is a blind musician, living in a monastery who sings so well that a ghostly imperial court commands him to perform the epic ballad of their death battle for them. But the ghosts are draining away his life, and the monks set out to protect him by writing a holy mantra over his body to make him invisible to the ghosts. But they've forgotten something. "In a Cup of Tea": a writer tells the story of a man who keep seeing a mysterious face reflected in his cup of tea.
I'd read a few small snippets of information about Kwaidan before I put it on my netflix. I knew it was a mid-60s Japanese movie and looked incredible. That was it.
Well, the film does look incredible. Just amazing cinematography and set design. What I didn't know going in was that the movie isn't a single narrative. It's actually four stories of legend/myth/folklore (or whatever you want to call it) told in an anthology style with a single unseen narrator opening each story.
The first story is a little off on it's pacing and ends in a semi-silly way but it shows the beginnings of the "creepy, black hair over face ghost girls" that Asian horror became really popular for. Nothing very scary about it except for the main character's second wife's blackened teeth. Something about that is just unsettling in general.
The second story will be very familiar to any fan of anthology horror movies. Specifically if you've ever seen Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. It's the exact same story as Lover's Vow from that film. Except in Kwaidan it's a ice spirit that freezes people to death instead of a grotesque gargoyle creature.
Hoichi the Earless stands out as the most unique of the bunch with the story of a blind musician who is unable to see that he is being tricked into playing ballads for ghosts. The image from the poster is Hoichi covered in the monk's protective prayers. I can't even imagine how long Katsuo Nakamura had to sit there to get all those characters painted on him. This one was really enjoyable because just before the end your brain kind of forgets what the title of the piece was. Nice simple shocker ending.
In a Cup of Tea seems to be based on the idea of a soul trapped in water and what happens if someone "drinks" that soul. This one is structured in a unique way as the narrator introduces a writer who is actually writing the story that is the main part of this segment. Had they possible cut this film differently with the introduction of the writer at the beginning perhaps it would more closely resemble a modern anthology story with bookends.
This movie was an interesting look at common folklore of Japan but possibly a bit dated and "weak" by modern standards of suspense. It does play out like a PG movie so if interested you won't see any nudity and no gorey deaths. Lots of pale screaming in terror faces though. If you're interested in the Asian horror wave you might want to check it out just for a history lesson.
Again the cinematography was just fantastically gorgeous. Very rarely do I like to see the edges of sets, painted backdrops or fake indoor set weather but this film is one of the rare exceptions. It really does feel like you are watching a Japanese painting come to life.
I would have given this film a 7 out of 10 but right near the end with the In a Cup of Tea story they pulled off an "Evil Dead" shot and it blew my mind. A film from the 60s going crazy with the dutch angles gets bonus points in my book.
