Kwaidan (film)

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Kwaidan (怪談, Kaidan, 1965) is an anthology film directed by Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi and is based on Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales. The film is split into four separate, discontinuous stories: "The Black Hair," "The Woman of the Snow (Yuki-onna)," "Hoichi, the Earless (Mimi nashi Hoichi)," and "In a Cup of Tea." "The Black Hair" was adapted from "The Reconciliation" that appeared in Hearn's collection Shadowings (1900), the middle two were adapted from his (1903), while the last was adapted from his Kottō: Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs (1902).

"Hoichi, the Earless" depicts the Battle of Dan-no-ura, a war fought between Taira no Kiyomori and Minamoto no Yoritomo during the last phase of the Genpei War. Hoichi is a blind musician/priest or biwa hoshi who sings the Japanese epic Heike Monogatari and plays a classical East Asian lute called a biwa.

While Kwaidan is normally put into the horror genre, it is nothing like the vast majority of horror films (though perhaps one could make a few comparisons with a much less gory Suspiria). Kobayashi uses an unusual combination of artificial sets and colorful backdrops lit from behind for many of his outdoor scenes, lending them an almost fairy tale-like quality, the graveyard scenes from "Hoichi, the Earless" and the background depicting the giant eye of "The Woman of the Snow" being especially memorable. Kwaidan may only have specialized appeal today but at the time it marked the most expensive production in the history of Japanese cinema.

External links

[David Ehrenstein essay at criterionco.com]

Text of Lafcadio Hearn stories that were adapted for Kwaidan

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