movie film review | chris tookey
 
     
     
 

Kwaidan


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  Kwaidan Review
Tookey's Rating
5 /10
 
Average Rating
8.00 /10
 
Starring
Rentary Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe
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Directed by: Masaki Kobayashi
Written by: Yoko Mizuki from Lafcadio Hearn's stories

 
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Released: 1964
   
Genre: HORROR
FOREIGN
PORTMANTEAU
   
Origin: Japan
   
Colour: BW
   
Length: 164
 
 


 

A collection of short ghost stories.

Reviewed by Chris Tookey


A feast for the eyes and ears: director Masaki Kobayashi makes stunning use of colour and an appropriately haunting soundtrack. The film's production values and sense of composition won it a jury prize at Cannes and an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. However, the pacing is unendurably slow, and it's hardly frightening at all. It needs to be watched in widescreen. In the shorter, 125-minute version designed for US consumption, the second story (featuring Kishi and Nakadai) has been deleted.

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