Monday, March 5, 2012

An Engaging Japanese Story Quartet

THE OTHER NIGHT I saw an odd, engaging Japanese film called 'Kwaidan '(1964).  The movie was a series of four stories with each one possessing a considerable amount of bizarre twists. I believe the little story called 'In a Cup of Tea' was especially unique, for this one is about a man who keeps seeing a weird image looking at him from the lower part of his cup of tea.  The other three stories...'Black Hair,' 'The Woman in the Snow' and 'Hoichi the Earless' ...are also full of remarkable, emotional twists that will make even the most whimsical mind delighted.

CRAFTY, ODD EFFECTS abound  in this jazzy, film conumdrum. It's rather amusing and grande guignol  in the fact that the clever ghosts seem to be pulling the very life out of the characters. I think the intense emotionalism in 'Kwaidan' really works well and the overall effect is powerhouse kind of like the visceral clout prevalent in rather contemporary Japanese cinematic works like 'Yojimbo' By Kurosawa.

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Nice Writing

THE GOOD terse writing of Ernest Hemingway is a real joy.  He does not use too many adjectives.  His 'Torrents' is a fine tome.