The highly stylised Kabuki-esque aesthetic and ghostly soundscape of this 1964 cinematic gem create a dream-like state that makes no attempt to be realistic. Director Masaki Kobayashi spent five years in preparation before he started shooting; painting and building the elaborate sets almost single handedly and renting an aircraft hanger to use as a sound stage. The opening credits (see stills above) establish the unforgettable restrained beauty that runs throughout the four stories which make up the portmanteau film.
While often billed as a horror film Kwaidan (‘ghost story’) is slow moving, quiet and gore-free. Taken from the early twentieth century collections of Japanese ghost stories by the Greek/ American writer Lafcadio Hearn (who was so taken by Japanese culture when he arrived there he became a citizen and changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo), it tells the eerie tales Hoichi the Earless, In a Cup of Tea, The Black Hair and Woman of the Snow, which is based on the folkloric character of Yuki Onna.
Speaking of Yuki Onna, a new body of work dedicated to her by Australian photographer Luke Hardy is currently on display at Meyer Gallery in Darlinghurst. His incarnations of the ethereal snow witch were created in Japan and Australia and they have a delicate enigma about them. The show was opened this week by Akira Isogawa and a selection of Hardy’s images are also on display at the Akira boutique in Woollahra for the duration of the exhibition.
