Search

The Online Encyclopedia and Dictionary

 
     
 

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Quotes

 

Kwaidan

Kwaidan (怪談, Kaidan, 1965) is a film directed by Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi and is based on one of Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales, (1903). The film is split into four separate, discontinuous stories: "The Black Hair," "The Woman of the Snow," "Hoichi, the Earless," and "In a Cup of Tea."

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 set pieces 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 link

The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. How to see transparent copy