Kwaidan poster

Feature1965·183m·7.7

Kwaidan

In the tradition of "RASHOMON" and "GATE OF HELL."

HorrorFantasyDrama

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

Cast

Michiyo Aratama

First Wife (segment "The Black Hair")

Rentaro Mikuni

Husband (segment "The Black Hair")

Misako Watanabe

Second Wife (segment "The Black Hair")

Kenjirō Ishiyama

Father (segment "The Black Hair")

Ranko Akagi

Mother (segment "The Black Hair")

Fumie Kitahara

(segment "The Black Hair")

Kappei Matsumoto

(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)

Yoshiko Ieda

(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)

Otome Tsukimiya

(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)

Kenzō Tanaka

(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)

Kiyoshi Nakano

(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)

Tatsuya Nakadai

Minokichi (segment "The Woman of the Snow")

Keiko Kishi

Yuki the Snow Maiden (segment "The Woman of the Snow")

Yūko Mochizuki

Minokichi's Mother (segment "The Woman of the Snow")

Kin Sugai

Village Woman (segment "The Woman of the Snow")

Noriko Sengoku

Village Woman (segment "The Woman of the Snow")

Akiko Nomura

(segment "The Woman of the Snow") (uncredited)

Torahiko Hamada

(segment "The Woman of the Snow") (uncredited)

Jun Hamamura

(segment "The Woman of the Snow")

Katsuo Nakamura

Hoichi (segment "Hoichi the Earless")

Details

Status: Released
Original language: Japanese
Languages: Japanese
Budget: —
Revenue: —
Age rating: —
Quality: 4K UHD · HDR10 · Dolby Vision
Production: Ninjin ClubTOHO

Crew

Director

Masaki Kobayashi

Writers

Yōko Mizuki, Lafcadio Hearn

Toru Takemitsu

Original Music Composer

Hisashi Sagara

Editor

Masahiro Katō

Costume Design

Yoshio Miyajima

Director of Photography

Gallery

Reviews

CinemaSerf

12/2/2024

7.0

I'm always a little daunted when I settle down in a cinema seat for a film that is 3 hours long - I fear the last glass of wine may have been one too many - but this simply flew by. It is a compendium of four different Japanese "poems" that deal with just about every emotion in the human panoply - love, hate, greed, joy, fear, envy, betrayal... You name it! Each story has a central theme that, perhaps not terribly sophisticated to anyone with a fairly well-centred moral compass of their own, delivers a salutatory lesson in what is decent and what is flawed about human nature, even amongst the best of us. "In A Cup of Tea" - is a wonderfully intriguing story and my personal favourite is "Hoichi" - featuring a blind priest who can sing such beautiful songs but at such a fearful price. The staging is superb, though the fight scenes - especially on the water - maybe a little too studio-bound to be truly effective. The colours and sounds test every range of your senses; ecstasy and despair, bliss and rage and leave you, at the end, feeling as drained and fulfilled, simultaneously, as any film could hope to possibly engender... This really is a glorious roller-coaster of a ride!