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Kwaidan [Film Review] __

Kwaidan is directed by the brilliant Masaki Kobayashi who has an impeccable array of films to his credit such as The Human Condition (1961), Seppuku/Harakiri (1962), and Samurai Rebellion (1967).

The English translation of Kwaidan literary means "ghost stories" and this is exactly what we are shown.

In my mind horror movies are very hard to get right and rarely deliver the spine-chilling fright we often want or expect. The fear factor is at times more effective by what we don't see rather than relying on cheap-thrills and computer generated gore.

Kwaidan is scary but not in the way we have come to be scared by Hollywood. It's more an eerie; "creeping up on you after the movie is finished" type of scary. There is also an underlying moral message in each story, covering what we expect from Japanese movies.

Kwaidan is a compellation of four short films written by Lafcadio Hearn who specialised in cultural folklore in the mid 1800s. Lafcadio was born in Lefkas, Greece, and was a man of notable talent in the journalistic world. His father Charles Hearn was Irish and his mother Greek, a heritage he was always proud of. He traveled to Japan to work for a magazine in 1890 and instantly fell in love with the country, so much so that he never left. He married Koizumi Setsu who was the daughter of a Samurai and took the name Yakumo Koizumi. Hearn continued to write and became an exemplary academic teacher. Kwaidan is made up of four short movies running for just over half an hour each. Some people have tried to read into why Kobayashi choose the order of play that he did and many feel the finale was a poor choice. The four films are:

1. The Black Hair
2. Woman of the Snow
3. Hoichi the Earless
4. In a Bowl of Tea

All of the four short films have their own unique characteristics and they all are incredibly beautiful. My favorite was Hoichi the Earless. The story begins with the clash of the Taira and Heike clans at Dan-no-ura, which is another well-told story in Japan. Kobayashi lets unfold this most tragic event in delightful fashion using the most hypnotic colours and a plaintive song that tells the story instead of sound effects. A blind monk who resides in a temple near the fabled battlefield plays amongst his repertoire "The song of Heike".

Each night the monk disappears to a secret location to play for the dead warriors who need his music to soothe their troubled souls.

Visually stunning this sad and at times creepy, short film is fabulous and worth the DVD on its own. Luckily there are three more quality films with their unique twist and creepiness.

Throughout the movie I could see where Fellini and Stanley Kubrick may have found inspiration, and if anyone remembers the TV series "Tales of the Unexpected" Tales by Roald Dahl, you will find a familiar ghost theme and creepiness.

The gorgeous way Kobayashi creates the perfect mood and chilling atmosphere is splendid. Another point worth mentioning is the music, which really gets under your skin with its long eerie tones and subtle delivery. I am a big fan of creative music scores and it is an area that is frequently overlooked. It is obvious that so much went into the music for Kwaidan and it really does justice to what Kobayashi wanted to create.

So much preparation went into making this film and at the time of production it was the most expensive film made in Japan. Worldwide appreciation followed and it was capped with an award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival of 1965 where the Special Jury Prize was awarded.

A lot has been said about the rivalry between Kobayashi and Kurosawa and many believe that if the genius Kurosawa had been around in another generation Kobayashi would have had greater successes. I don't side with this view and believe them both to have wonderful qualities, they both had a style and what they did for the Japanese Film Industry and Japanese Culture could never be gauged. We are fortunate to be able to see inside the minds of such brilliant individuals.