In this magnificently eerie and romantic film — loosely based on the Japanese folktale The Cat’s Return — a mother and daughter-in-law (Nobuko Otowa & Kiwako Taichi) are raped and murdered by pillagers, but return from the dead as vampiric cat spirits intent on revenge. As the ghosts lure soldiers into the bamboo groves, a fearless samurai, Gintoki (Kichiemon Nakamura), is sent to stop their reign of terror… —Masters of Cinema
Japanese filmmaker/scriptwriter Kaneto Shindo’s most famous directorial efforts include The Island (1960), a nearly silent, but powerful glimpse at a lonely farmer’s daily toil, and Children of Hiroshima (1952), a wrenching and sentimental account of the city’s post-bomb aftermath. Shindo was born in Hiroshima and got his start in films as an art director during the late ’30s. Less than a decade later, he wrote his first screenplays and went on to work with a number of Japanese directors, including Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa. In 1950, Shindo was a co-founder of a production company. He made his directorial debut in 1951 with The Story of a Beloved Wife.
He was married to actress Nobuko Otowa (1925–1994), who appeared in several of his films. He won the 1996 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year for A Last Note.— allmovie guide
A very sad film despite the themes and genre. Also possibly one of the most accessible films from the new wave.
Beautiful black & white. Gorgeous cinematography, lighting and sets. Very dreamlike soundtrack. Perfect music. Fine story. Good acting. Too long. Could have been done more effectively (perhaps) in half the time.
Shindô as a visual artist is amazing, judging by his compositions and camera movements his style is spare but extremely elegant and suggestive, by far my favorite element in the movie. Now the problem I might argue is that he favors atmosphere over pacing a bit too much, which simply doesn't work here as well as it did in his previous films.
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Also: Kuroneko and Stagecoach (not that one).
Via his blog Cinemasparagus and two Twitter accounts (@evillights and @mastersofcinema), Craig Keller has been declaring Kentucker
Though they’ve already been plastered all over the internet, I’d be remiss if I didn’t pay attention to the four teaser posters for Darren
A hungry and disheveled band of feudal Japanese soldiers is disgorged by a dense forest. Soundlessly they advance upon a hut that is the home of a young woman named Shige and her mother-in-law, Yone… read review
