i like both of these movies more for their atmosphere and art design than the plot i guess, but the stories in kwaidan are also good.
kuroneko i’ve only seen once so i don’t have many memories of it, but iirc the sound design is really good and creepy. it also has lots of good translucent fabrics and other fun light things
kwaidan, in addition to being really beautifully photographed + having amazing sets and art design in general (esp. the snow woman one), is also probably one of the most successful film adaptations of that particular kind of literature, and it’s something that’s not easy to do. though admittedly i haven’t seen many other japanese movies like that. in chinese versions they tend to either add tons of unnecessary plot details to make it more into a melodrama, or in the really successful cases (basically all king hu movies) just make everything extremely slow and atmospheric so the sense of creepiness just gradually builds. i like kwaidan because the plots themselves stay kind of simple, even if everything still moves pretty slowly.
the hoichi the earless segment is basically the most My Shit thing every put on film so i feel like i can’t really explain why it’s good persuasively
but i always kind of get exhausted by the last one, i always forget it’s there
I think this sums it up better than I would have been able to at this time.
Kwaidan does kind of feel a bit tiring by the time it gets to the last story, so I kind of feel like it should have been left out or placed earlier. But I guess that would spoil the whole ‘four seasons’ theme each story has.
by the way, if you like Kwaidan, it’s worth tracking down the old Shaw brothers movie “Fairy, Ghost, Vixen,” which is another anthology type movie, adapted from a collection of Chinese stories that is pretty similar to the Lafcadio Hearn tales used for Kwaidan. It is 100% not as good a movie, but it provides a good contrast of how many different ways there are to adapt this kind of thing.
Mine too. I have the Discotek release that includes the soundtrack but it doesn’t include all the songs from the movie. I eventually tracked down the other album releases by Mach 1.67 and the “Star Burn” EP from 2000 contains the missing tracks! I should put them up somewhere for posterity.
If you want an essential “Sunday dinner in Eastern Europe” experience, starting with a stressful drive to the family patriarch’s house and ending with shared laugh at the absurdity of family life:
If you want the best breakup movie that ever existed (don’t believe those who say it’s about mourning):
If you want a masterfully executed comedy which is always bursting with kinetic energy and probably served as a basis for Dougie Jones’ subplot in latest Twin Peaks:
If you want to see pure display of the power of cinema which consists of (among other things) Kylie Minogue having a tearful parting with her lover, mocapped CGI monsters copulating in most bizarre ways and the best accordion performance ever recorded with a camera:
If spending 80 minutes in a moody, neglected cinema building where almost nothing ever happens sounds relaxing to you:
today i watched jarmusch’s strangers in paradise. the film is so . . . comfortable to watch. the dialogue has this kind of slow-burn effect, it’s kind of morose at times in a grossly realistic way.
it is structured in two ways: in three main acts and in this succession of blackscreens that show up between scenes. the scenes themselves are like little sketches, with very little action or camera movement or cuts. but somehow these blackscreens and the sharpness of frame composition make it super engaging! it’s like a compilation of tiny stories that build a larger narrative.
i’ve never seen a jim jarmusch film but i’m really intrigued to learn more, now
You have just very eloquently described basically the entire oeuvre of Jim Jarmusch, so if you liked that then you should definitely check out his other work. Coffee and Cigarettes is fun as a series of little comfortable vignettes where different characters have interesting conversations in a cafe.
Down by Law is my favorite Jarmusch, so I gotta recommend that. He applies his jazzy style to a prison break movie, starring Tom Waits… Hell yeah.
