Kaidan (1964)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Masaki Kobayashi

Writers:

Yôko Mizuki (screenplay)
Lafcadio Hearn (novel)

Release Date:

22 November 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Plot:

This film contains four distinct, separate stories. "Black Hair": A poor samurai who divorces his true love to marry for money...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Ghost | Woodcutter | Musician | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Michiyo Aratama	...	First wife (segment "Kurokami")
Misako Watanabe	...	Second Wife (segment "Kurokami")
Rentaro Mikuni	...	Husband (segment "Kurokami") (as Rentarô Mikuni)
Kenjiro Ishiyama	...	Father (segment "Kurokami") (as Kenjirô Ishiyama)
Ranko Akagi	...	Mother (segment "Kurokami")
Fumie Kitahara	...	(segment "Kurokami")
Kappei Matsumoto	...	(segment "Kurokami")
Yoshiko Ieda	...	(segment "Kurokami")
Otome Tsukimiya	...	(segment "Kurokami")
Kenzo Tanaka	...	(segment "Kurokami") (as Kenzô Tanaka)
Kiyoshi Nakano	...	(segment "Kurokami")
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Mi nokichi (segment "Yuki-Onna")
Keiko Kishi	...	Yuki the Snow Maiden (segment "Yuki-Onna")
Yûko Mochizuki	...	Minokichi's mother (segment "Yuki-Onna")
Kin Sugai	...	Village woman (segment "Yuki-Onna")
Noriko Sengoku	...	Village woman (segment "Yuki-Onna")
Akiko Nomura	...	(segment "Yuki-Onna")
Torahiko Hamada	...	(segment "Yuki-Onna")
Jun Hamamura	...	(segment "Yuki-Onna")
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Hoichi (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Tetsuro Tamba	...	Warrior (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi") (as Tetsurô Tanba)
Takashi Shimura	...	Head priest (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Yoichi Hayashi	...	Attendant (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Eiko Muramatsu	...	Kenreiinmon (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Kunie Tanaka	...	Yasaku (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Kazuo Kitamura	...	Taira no Tomomori (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Ichiro Nakatani	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi") (as Ichirô Nakatani)
Masanori Tomotake	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Tokue Hanazawa	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Shizue Natsukawa	...	Taira no Tokiko (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Susumu Tatsuoka	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Makiko Kitashiro	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Masakazu Kuwayama	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Mutsuhiko Tsurumaru	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Akira Tani	...	Huntsman #2 (segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Yosuke Kondo	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi") (as Yôsuke Kondô)
Kiyoshi Yamamoto	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Kinji Omino	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Atsuo Nakamura	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Ginzô Sekiguchi	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi") (as Kinzô Sekiguchi)
Akio Miyabe	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Gen'ya Nagai	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Toru Uchida	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi") (as Tôru Uchida)
Hikaru Jinno	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Toshio Fukuhara	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Kirô Abe	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Toshiro Yagi	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi") (as Toshirô Yagi)
Yuriko Abe	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Yuri Satô	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Kyôichi Satô	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Nobuo Aikawa	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Taiji Kodama	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Nobuaki Maeda	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Teruhiko Shibata	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Haruo Kaji	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Michio Gina	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Seiji Tabe	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Mitsuko Narita	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Noriko Mikura	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Aiko Nagayama	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Michiko Nakahata	...	(segment "Miminashi Hôichi no hanashi")
Kanemon Nakamura	...	Kannai - a Guard (segment "Chawan no naka") (as Kan'emon Nakamura)
Osamu Takizawa	...	Author / Narrator (segment "Chawan no naka")
Haruko Sugimura	...	Madame (segment "Chawan no naka")
Ganjiro Nakamura	...	Publisher (segment "Chawan no naka") (as Ganjirô Nakamura)
Noboru Nakaya	...	Shikibu Heinai (segment "Chawan no naka")
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Old man (segment "Chawan no naka")
Kei Sato	...	Ghost samurai (segment "Chawan no naka") (as Kei Satô)
Shigeru Kôyama	...	(segment "Chawan no naka")
Jun Tazaki	...	Kannai's Colleague #1 (segment "Chawan no naka")
Junkichi Orimoto	...	(segment "Chawan no naka")
Akiji Kobayashi	...	(segment "Chawan no naka")
Yoshiro Aoki	...	(segment "Chawan no naka") (as Yoshirô Aoki)
Isao Tamagawa	...	(segment "Chawan no naka")
Eisei Amamoto	...	(segment "Chawan no naka")
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Akiko Naraoka	...	Suzue, Kannai's Sister (In a Cup of Tea)

Directed by
Masaki Kobayashi

Writing credits
Yôko Mizuki		(screenplay)
Lafcadio Hearn		(novel) (as Yakumo Koizumi)

Produced by
Shigeru Wakatsuki	....	producer

Original Music by
Tôru Takemitsu

Cinematography by
Yoshio Miyajima

Film Editing by
Hisashi Sagara

Art Direction by
Jusho Toda		(as Shigemasa Toda)

Sound Department
Hideo Nishizaki	....	sound
Tôru Takemitsu	....	sound designer

Camera and Electrical Department
Akira Aomatsu	....	lighting technician

Other crew
Kiyoshi Awazu	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Bungei
• Ninjin Club
• Toho Company
• Toyo Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Distributors

• Toho Company (1964) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Continental Distributing (1965) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Metropolitan Films (1964) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Filmax Home Video (2001) (Spain) (DVD)
• Home Vision Cinema (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

Ghost Stories (International: English title) (literal title) (USA)
Hoichi the Earless
Kwaidan (USA)
Weird Tales

Runtime:

183 min | Argentina:162 min | Spain:182 min (25 fps) (DVD edition) | USA:125 min | Japan:161 min (cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | UK:PG (uncut version) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Bungei

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bulletproof Monk (2003)

Masterpiece of Japanese Supernatural

This film presents four supernatural tales:

"Black Hair" ("O Cabelo Negro"): In ancient Kyoto, a samurai decides to leave his poor but beloved wife and become rich marrying a wealthy wife. He misses his loved wife, and years later, when he returns to her, he finds a surprise waiting for him.

"The Woman in the Snow" ("A Mulher da Neve"): And old and a young woodman are surprised by a snow storm, and the younger is saved by the spirit of a snow woman. He promises never telling what happened with him. Years later, he breaks his promise, telling the secret to his wife.

"Hoichi the Earless" ("Hoichi, O Sem Orelhas"): The blind Hoichi lives in a temple and magnificently plays his biwa and tells the sea battle of Dan-No-Ura between the clans of Genji and Heike. One night he is invited to perform his skills to a rich family and their guests in their house.

"In a Cup of Tea" ("Em Uma Xícara de Chá"): a samurai drinks water in a cup of tea, and he sees the soul of a former samurai. Later, he is haunted by the spirit.

"Kaidan" is the first work of Masaki Kobayashi that I have had the chance to see, and I am really impressed with such masterpiece of Japanese supernatural. Beginning with the visual using of awesome colors and cinematography, which look like paints on exhibition, all the stories are amazingly great without exception. The title of the third story spoils the twist, and the storyline of the second story was adapted in one episode of "Tales From the Crypt" years later. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Kwaidan, As Quatro Faces do Medo" ("Kwaidan, The Four Faces of Fear")