Anyone heard of this? The film looks interesting, and Eureka's Masters of Cinema line is very good - I've watched their Onibaba disc and have their 2 discer of M.
Eureka Entertainment have announced the UK DVD release of Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan as part of their Masters of Cinema Series for 22nd May 2006 priced at £19.99. For the first time in the West, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present the complete 183-minute original Japanese cut of Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan — one of the most meticulously crafted supernatural fantasy films ever made.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, Kwaidan features four nightmarish tales adapted from Lafcadio Hearn's classic Japanese ghost stories. For this lavish, 'scope production, Kobayashi drew extensively on his own training as a student of painting and the fine arts. Indeed, the breadth of the film's poetic expression is unmatched in all of Japanese cinema: breathtakingly photographed on handpainted sets, the film is at once a miniature writ large, and an abstract wash of luminescent colours that seem to hail from another world. On the soundtrack, an electronic score by avant-garde composer Toru Takemitsu plays hauntingly with the natural sounds — crickets, rain, the cracking of wood, the loud silence of snow. This interaction of the film's plastic and aural textures with the simple, aching humanity of Hearn's tales serves to accentuate the power of the storytelling: four episodes about mortals caught up in forces beyond their comprehension — when the supernatural world intervenes in their lives. Perhaps the definitive adaptation of Hearn's work, Kwaidan also presents the author's most emblematic tale — "Hoichi, the Earless", in which a blind young monk journeys every night to an abandoned graveyard, compelled by the ghosts of a famous battle to retell their story, over and over again...
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai (Yojimbo, The Face of Another, Harakiri), this complete print of Kwaidan — incorporating 21 minutes of footage never before released to Western audiences — also includes the uncut version of "The Snow Maiden", in which a woodcutter marries a woman whose true calling is to wander enveloped in swirling snowflakes, bringing death to mortals. The episode marks the apotheosis of the film's eerie atmosphere — anticipating, and arguably surpassing, Japanese cinema's recent excursions in the realm of "J-horror". Over forty years on, Kobayashi's film remains an unparalleled achievement.
Features include:
* New progressive transfer of the complete 183-minute Japanese version
* A selection of original trailers
* Promotional material gallery
* New and improved optional English subtitles
* Special 72-page illustrated book with reprints of Lafcadio Hearn's original ghost stories; a survey of the life and career of Masaki Kobayashi by Linda Hoaglund; and a wide-ranging interview with the filmmaker — the last he ever gave
It is a really good film? I always thought it was some wannabe "Twilight Samurai" combined with fantasy stuff. I'll take your word for it then Bobbi as the German DVD has been around for quite some time now. Will get it then.
Well, it's rather old, from probably the '60s, as I recall. It's most definitely not a fast-paced film. I believe it was three separate stories, but for the life of me, I can only remember two of them. One has to do with a legend about a beautiful woman who appears out of the snow and becomes the wife of a man caught in the snowstorm. She's gives a condition to him about never asking from where she came, or something along those lines. Another story is about a blind musician at a temple who must face the brutal ghost of a warrior. I remember some similarities to Ugetsu, with the writing of scriptures on the body as protection. I'm sure that's the cover image for the VHS and most likely the DVD, as it's the most famous image from the film. Wish I could remember the third story! They're all legends or ghost stories.
The DVD cover you're showing above is most definitely a different film. Hmmmm. . . .
It's been a long time since I've seen Kwaidan, and this thread got me all eager to watch it again. Lucky for me, Deep Discount DVD had its big Criterion sale going on through midnight tonight, so I've ordered it. Even if the UK R2 is better, it can't be a better deal than $16.
btw, the cover art that thelostdragon posted is for a DIFFERENT Kwaidan.
They are both saying that it is a very beautiful film. It is about a samurai called Iemon Sakaino who has sworn never to use a sword again after his father's suicide.
A clan boss sends out his men to find a husband for his daughter Iwa, who was once a real beauty, but when she got sick with pox, her face was deformed. Although the left side of her face is still normal, men do not dare to look at her. When Iemon agrees to marry her he is offered a job as a samurai in the service of her father. He does not take the job, due to his oath and his wife Iwa believes to have married a weakling. Of course the film reaches the stage when he has to use the sword again.
DVDbeaver have put up a comparison for Kwaidan - R4 vs R2UK Eureka vs Criterion (which is cut to ribbons, making it moot). Both R4 and Eureka discs look excellent to me, but the Eureka disc has the better colours IMO (Who knows what the colour are meant to look like, since both director and DoP are dead). I'll probably get the R4 though since it's much much cheaper for me than the R2UK.
I hadn't heard of this until the Eureka was announced but blimey those DVD Beaver captures make this look awesome. The cinematography looks really inventive.
Overall I prefer the Eureka's colours too but in some shots it's to much, especially the first one. Looking closer the Eureka has to much Red though.
The UK R2 will be cheap when it's sale time unlike the R4 which won't. The UK R2 also has that 72 page book. The R4 also has those god awful Yellow subs, man I hate those.
My god the UK R2 is NTSC. I was expecting a Native-PAL conversion but good job to Eureka for knowing a badly made PAL conversion is a bad idea. Fair enough it costs to create a Native-PAL conversion.
Which makes no sense.
You say 3 pounds, not "pound 3".
Silly brits. Driving on the wrong side of the road and putting the £ in the wrong place.
I used to be "the man who loves the movies you hate".
Now I'm just "that weird french guy with a cat avatar who comes to BnB once a year for no reason and then disappears again".
I believe it was three separate stories, but for the life of me, I can only remember two of them. One has to do with a legend about a beautiful woman who appears out of the snow and becomes the wife of a man caught in the snowstorm. She's gives a condition to him about never asking from where she came, or something along those lines. Another story is about a blind musician at a temple who must face the brutal ghost of a warrior. I remember some similarities to Ugetsu, with the writing of scriptures on the body as protection. I'm sure that's the cover image for the VHS and most likely the DVD, as it's the most famous image from the film. Wish I could remember the third story! They're all legends or ghost stories.
Lucky for me, Deep Discount DVD had its big Criterion sale going on through midnight tonight, so I've ordered it. Even if the UK R2 is better, it can't be a better deal than $16.
