MovieChat Forums > Kaidan (1965) Discussion > People ought to realise

People ought to realise

posted 11 years ago by joet1999
12 replies | jump to latest

It is very frustrating to see people on this board upset because they thought this film was boring and not scary. These people need to realise, it is not a horror film, these are ghost stories that have been used as concepts that can produce messages within their narratives. The story may be slow compared to the awful films (generally) we see generated from the hollywood machine nowadays but all of the classic Japanese films are like this (although you could argue this became less the case when the new wave came along). The visuals are sublime, the sound effects are masterful (note how the sound of whatever is happening always comes slightly after what has happened on screen), the direction is wondrous, the art design is beautifully dreamlike and creepy. It is a wonderful masterpiece, yes, I would very much like to have a discussion with someone who did not like this film, but please, don't complain that it wasn't scary.

'Loneliness has followed me my whole life' - Travis Bickle Taxi Driver

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] joet1999 11 years ago

Yeah, that sequence is so visually wonderful! Kobayashi is a true Japanese master.

'Loneliness has followed me my whole life' - Travis Bickle Taxi Driver

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] joet1999 11 years ago

I think my favourite is Woman in the Snow and Hoichi the Earless too, but Black Hair and In a Cup of Tea are also masterful. Black Hair is better than In a Cup of Tea though, In a Cup of Tea had a very interesting ending however. Woman and Hoichi are the most visually stunning and beautifully constructed I believe.

'Loneliness has followed me my whole life' - Travis Bickle Taxi Driver

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] bureau203 11 years ago

You've heard the saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink", right? Whenever someone creates anything, there are people who won't like it, and there is nothing that you can do about it. Just be grateful that the film was made and you got to see it.

[–] Golem36 11 years ago

I also think a lot of people really haven't seen the film how it was meant to be seen... I first watched "Kwaidan" 13 years ago on Criterion's DVD and I couldn't even sit through the whole film! I really hated it. My friend told me to give it another try with the The Masters of Cinema DVD and I liked it. Criterion's DVD is truly ATROCIOUS! It's cut and the print is awful (very dark and drab). The film's power comes from its haunting images and use of sound. It's so smooth and hypnotic (very dreamlike). When will Criterion release this on Blu-ray?

[–] lynda618 11 years ago

Sound effects are amazing!

[–] NickameNotAllowed-1 10 years ago

The music and sound design were by Toru Takemitsu, who was one of the great film composers — right up there in the top tier with Bernard Hermann (who, incidentally, did the sound design for 'The Birds,' which was otherwise without music). Takemitsu's work for Hiroshi Teshigahara ('Woman In the Dunes,' 'The Face of Another') is especially striking and unusual, as are those films.

[–] NickameNotAllowed-1 10 years ago

I would say it's a horror film, but it's also clearly an art film. In fact, it didn't do very well with Japanese audiences initially who apparently regarded it as something made for Western audiences to win awards at festivals, etc. I would say that most horror films aren't actually scary, but that doesn't automatically mean they're not good. (Most horror films aren't good for other reasons - and this is coming from someone who actually likes the genre).

[–] carpet_seller 10 years ago

I bought the Eureka edition,

And I didn't think much of it apart from the nice filming and nice colours.

I am not saying I didn't like it because I didn't get scared, I didn't watch it expecting to be scared. I watched it hoping for a very good film that would speak to me in some way, but this one did not do that. I found it to be on the verge of boring. the last 2 stories were the best.

5/10 really but 6/10 given it was made in 1964.

You can look at my ratings to see I do like japanese and Korean etc films be they classics or modern. So it's not that I am incapable, it just didn't grab me.

[–] prplayer 8 years ago

for me it's an obvious horror film

a horror is not defined by whether you find it scary or not, but by having horror movie elements

so many movies, so little time