A quartet of ghost stories kicks off new film series at the Japan Society
MONTHLY CLASSICS: KWAIDAN (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964)
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Friday, October 15, $12, 7:30
Series runs through February 18
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org
Masaki Kobayashi paints four marvelous ghost stories in this eerie collection that won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. In “The Black Hair,” a samurai (Rentaro Mikuni) regrets his choice of leaving his true love for advancement. Yuki (Keiko Kishi) is a harbinger of doom in “The Woman of the Snow.” Hoichi (Katsuo Nakamura) must have his entire body covered in prayer in “Hoichi, the Earless.” And Kannai (Kanemon Nakamura) finds a creepy face staring back at him in “In a Cup of Tea.” Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, KWAIDAN is one of the greatest ghost story films ever made, four creepy, atmospheric existential tales that will get under your skin and into your brain. KWAIDAN kicks off the Japan Society’s “Zen & Its Opposite: Essential (& Turbulent) Japanese Art House,” comprising six films that illustrate the Six Planes of Existence, or the Six Paths of Samsara. The series continues on November 12 with ONIBABA (Kaneto Shindo, 1964), December 10 with FIRES ON THE PLAIN (Kon Ichikawa, 1959), January 12 with HELL (Nobuo Nakagawa, 1960), and February 18 with SWORD OF DOOM (Kihachi Okamoto, 1966).