Film Forum

Masaki Kobayashi’s KWAIDAN 怪談

Masaki Kobayashi · 1964 · Japan · 183 min

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Based on a collection of folktales by Lafcadio Hearn Four ghost stories by American expatriate Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904): When he adds a second wife, Rentarô Mikuni finds a skeleton at the feast; woodcutter Tatsuya Nakadai (star of Kobayashi’s Harakiri and Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Ran) meets a strange woman in the snow; a blind biwa player gives a command performance for a spirit; an apparition appears in a cup of tea. Kobayashi’s first color film, with an eerie score by the great Tōru Takemitsu (Ran, Harakiri, Teshigahara’s Woman in the Dunes, etc.). Restoration by Toho Co., Ltd. A JANUS FILMS RELEASE