Kwaidan
Kwaidan • 3h 3m
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi • 1965 • Japan
Starring Rentaro Mikuni, Keiko Kishi, Katsuo Nakamura
After more than a decade of sober political dramas and socially minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn’s collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted. This version of KWAIDAN is the original three-hour cut, never before released in the United States.
Up Next in Kwaidan
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KWAIDAN Commentary
Recorded in 2015, this audio commentary features film scholar Stephen Prince, author of “The Warrior’s Camera.”
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Masaki Kobayashi and Masahiro Shinoda...
This conversation between director Masaki Kobayashi and filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda about the making of KWAIDAN was shot in 1993 for the Directors Guild of Japan.
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Kiyoshi Ogasawara on KWAIDAN
In this interview, shot in 2015, KWAIDAN assistant director Kiyoshi Ogasawara discusses working with director Masaki Kobayashi and the original, 183-minute version of the film.
