Kwaidan (1964) 4K Restoration

After more than a decade of sober political dramas and socially 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. In the first story, a penniless samurai (Rentarô Mikuni) marries for money with tragic results. In the second, a man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden (Keiko Kishi), but his rescue comes at a cost. In the third story, the blind musician Hoichi (Katsuo Nakamura) is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. And in the final story, an author (Osamu Takizawa) relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.