YOTSUYA KAIDAN, PART II (SHINSHAKU YOTSUYA KAIDAN: KOUHEN). Viewed on Streaming. Score = six (6) stars; cinematography = six (6) stars; lighting = two (2) stars; restoration = one (1) star. Director Keisuke Kinoshita wraps up his stretched-out tale involving a wimpy, unemployed samurai who murders wife #1 in order to marry a rich wife # 2, and is immediately and endless remorseful to the point of imaging the seeing of wife # 1 all over the place. The Director cleverly factors in a number of strange events and starts to build ghostly suspense in the first half of the story. Unfortunately, this momentum evaporates with the subsequent endless, tedious, over-the-top emoting of lead actor Shigeru Amachi in the role of the wife-murdering (and wimpy) samurai as well as subplots involving multiple levels of blackmail. A house fire (see below) finally puts the hammy samurai character out of the viewer's misery. Actor Osamu Takizawa delivers the best performance by far as a self-declared, one-man Yakuza! The film provides an incredulous "Hollywood Happy Ending" with an after-life shot of the samurai and wife # 1 strolling among (what else?) cherry blossoms! The production seems overly "stage-bound," as action is mostly limited to running and jumping around a small interior set especially during a spectacularly-photographed fire at the film's conclusion (see below). Further, lead actresses and actors seemed to have learned their trade on the live stage given their stilted mannerisms (or perhaps this is just due to poor direction?). Cinematography (narrow screen, black and white) is very good. There are several fine tracking shots and the fire scenes at the end of the movie make it appear as if actresses and actors are right on the middle of a burning set! Lighting is mostly poor with many scenes just too dark to determine what is happening. Score is fine. Subtitles are close enough. Restoration is among the missing. This is a 70-year old film, and, sadly, it sure looks and sounds like it! Not especially recommended. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.
Review of The Ghost of Yotsuya: Part II
