Kwaidan (1965)
Kwaidan consists of four separate Japanese ghost stories and it's pretty difficult to find reviewers who will say anything bad about it. Well, allow me to be an exception.
The film's praised for its beauty. Well, I guess if you're into Japanese art (and I'm not), it could be considered pretty. For the most part, the sets are sparse and monochromatic -- not a bad thing, by any means -- but not visually stimulating either. It's also praised for choosing to be "disturbing" rather than going for cheap shocks. Well, excuse me for wanting to be scared when I see a ghost story...and excuse me again for pointing out that what may be disturbing when told around a campfire (and left to the imagination) can morph into kinda silly when put on film. A smiling man's face in a cup of tea is more "what the...?" than "Aiiiieeeeee!"
It just didn't entertain me -- and nearly three hours of non-entertainment is pretty irritating. Does that make me shallow?
D+
The film's praised for its beauty. Well, I guess if you're into Japanese art (and I'm not), it could be considered pretty. For the most part, the sets are sparse and monochromatic -- not a bad thing, by any means -- but not visually stimulating either. It's also praised for choosing to be "disturbing" rather than going for cheap shocks. Well, excuse me for wanting to be scared when I see a ghost story...and excuse me again for pointing out that what may be disturbing when told around a campfire (and left to the imagination) can morph into kinda silly when put on film. A smiling man's face in a cup of tea is more "what the...?" than "Aiiiieeeeee!"
It just didn't entertain me -- and nearly three hours of non-entertainment is pretty irritating. Does that make me shallow?
D+
posted by MeMe | 11:40 PM
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