kobayashi was best known as the director of a film that translated his own pacifism into the trilogy ”the human condition”, a nine-hour unpacking of the life of a a japanese pacifist and socialist, as he tries to survive in the oppressive world of wwII-era japan. kwaidan grew out of the collection of stories of the same name penned by greek ex-patriot lafcadio hearn .
here's a pic of lafcadio and his japanese family. after gaining japanese citizenship, lafcadio changed his name to koizumi yakumo. ”kwaidan: stories and studies of strange things” was published in 1904. in it you can read stories that yakumo gathered from a variety of sources including the ”tale of yuki-onna”” or “snow woman”. the snow woman is an iconic figure in japanese literature - a tall, beautiful woman with transparent skin and long hair who magically appears out of nowhere on snowy nights.if you are inclined to read this book without purchasing it then you can find a digitized copy here .
if you would like to own your own copy of this extraordinary cinematic masterpiece then nip over here. the book can also be had by popping over here. a graphic novel version of these tales can be found here .
the first segment of kwaidan is entitled “the black hair”. it does not appear in the book kwaidan, rather it appeared in one of hearn’s earlier collections ”shadowings” published in 1900.
the painterly cinematography of kwaidan makes full use of the settings and stunning costumes such that you don’t want to turn your eyes away for a second in case you miss yet another exquisitely detailed shot.
part one . . .
part two . . .
part three . . .
part four . . .
part five . . .
section two of kwaidan will appear in the next posting!
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