Thursday, June 4, 2009

Kwaidan (1964)

...aka: Ghost Stories
...aka: Hoichi the Earless
...aka: Kaidin
...aka: Weird Tales

Directed by:
Masaki Kobayashi

Four part Japanese horror/supernatural stories, each set during a different season. It's beautifully made, the storylines are styled as old fashioned morality tales and the art direction and cinematography are both astonishing. The 125 minute version released many places is missing the second tale. The full version (available from Criterion) runs 164 minutes. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes film festival and was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar; one of the only times a genre picture has received either honor.

★★★1/2

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