Kwaidan (1964) Review

There’s no mistaking Masaki Kobayashi was at the peak of his career when he made KWAIDAN. Known for his powerful social criticism films such as THE HUMAN CONDITION and HARAKIRI, his political writing takes a back seat in an effort to embrace (maybe even reclaim) Japan’s cultural heritage.

As a result, Kobayashi masterfully curates an excellent horror anthology based on his country’s haunted past by providing a plethora of beautiful avant-garde techniques needed to tell this carefully crafted story. And seeing how this was Kobayashi’s first feature film in color, he brilliantly makes use of every palette available to his advantage while keeping true to the anthology’s haunting nature.

The film contains four stories about the strange and uncanny folk-history of Japan, with “The Woman of the Snow” being one of my favorites. To me, everything in that segment exemplifies what Kobayashi was trying to accomplish. Its writing was tight, its atmosphere was unsettling, and its colorful visuals and production design were ahead of its time. It's wild this quality of Japanese filmmaking would not be seen again until far later into Akira Kurosawa’s career, with many claiming this was among Kurosawa’s inspirations when moving to color.

KWAIDAN truly is something special. This magnificent piece of art was already made at the height of a director’s creative peak, but the fact it’s a horror film makes it all the more incredible. It’s a beautiful tribute to a man’s heritage and a film that should be viewed as such.

5/5