"There is so much writing in English on Japanese cinema that can't be accepted at face value — not because the writers are careless, but because the differences in culture and language are just too intricate. When I see August Ragone's name on a piece of writing, it gives me permission to place my faith in it completely. Among Japanese fantasy film historians, he's the best working in English." —Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

CRITERION #90: KOBAYASHI'S UNCUT "KWAIDAN"
Coming to DVD & Blu-ray on October 20, 2015!

小林正樹のノカット版『怪談』はBlu-ray とDVDに米国に来ます!


New cover art for KWAIDAN designed by Sean Freeman.

For the first time, the uncut, original three-hour version of Masaki Kobayashi's haunting anthology, KWAIDAN (1964), will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States this October 20, 2015 by Janus Films and the Criterion Collection!

From the Criterion press release: After more than a decade of sober political dramas and social-minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn’s collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted.

This all-new home video release of KWAIDAN will include:

• New 2K digital restoration of director Kobayashi’s original cut
• Uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary by film historian Stephen Prince
• 1993 Kobayashi interview by director Masahiro Shinoda
• New interview with assistant director Kiyoshi Ogasawara
• New piece about author Lafcadio Hearn
• Trailers
• New English subtitle translation
• An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

Japan
1964
181 minutes
Color
2.35:1
Japanese

The Criterion Collection's page for KWAIDAN

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