Kwaidan (Strange Things)
Kobayashi MasakiClass Notes
Week 3
Religon and the Supernatural
Kwaidan (Strange Things)
Kobayashi Masaki
1965
Religion and the Supernatural
See Handout #4,
Key Terms
Dynamic:
Having energy or movement. Appliled here to films as opposed to paintings.
Static:
Non moving or lacking energy or force. Applied here to paintings, still photographs as opposed to films
Revealed text:
A text which is authored by God or some divinity.
Basic Concepts:
Two major religions: Shinto (Shin'too or Kami no Michi) and Buddhism
No revealed text like the Torah, the Bible or the Koran.
Buddhism deals largely with the dead, Shin'too (Shinto) with the living. Funeral rites are generally in Buddhism, while marriages, rituals for new houses, and so on are done in Shinto. There are many Shinto matsuri (festivals)
There are many sects of both Buddhism and Shinto
Buddhism has otera "temples", while Shinto has jinja (e.g. Yasukuni Jinja), jingu (e.g. Ise Jingu) and taisha (e.g. Izumo Taisha) "shrines" which are generally marked by a torii or "gateway arch".
Torii at Yasukuni Jinja, Tokyo
Shinto is "nature venerating" and requires a sacred time and space.
Primary diety (kami) is Amaterasu the sun goddess (interesting in a society seen as male dominated)
Both allow belief in the other (not exclusive) , most Japanese are both Shintoist and Buddhist. Shinto shrines may have Buddhist temples on the grounds and Buddhist temples may have Shinto shrines on the premises.
In addition to the two major religions in Japan, there are a number of folk beliefs which are poplar and deal with ghosts and a number of other supernaturals.
Although Christianity is well known in Japan, it is practiced only by a small percent of the population.
KWAIDAN
Tales collected by Lafcadio Hearn, a Welshman who lived in the US and finally in Japan. He wrote a number of books on Japan including collections of stories Kwaidan and In Ghostly Japan. Kwaidan is a dialect word, standard Japanese says Kaidan, and it is under this title the films was released in Japan. Outside of Japan, Kwaidan was used.
Kwaidan tells four "ghost" stories (Black Hair, Snow Woman, Hoichi the Earless and In a Cup of Tea). These deal largely with Folk Beliefs, although the merger of these with Buddhism is evident in the third story "Hoichi the Earless". The stories, although supernatural are not "horror" stories, but set out to generate a mood or atmosphere. Unlike the previous films, this film does not seem to comment particularly on the past, but rather describes it. Kobayashi was a painter and had complete control over the film in the sense that it is all built on sets in an airplane hanger. He himself painted the background. The film is known for its artistic merit, and some feel that as a film (it won a prize) it is overrated.
Kobayshi's films are often heavy on social commentary. Later we may see one part of Ningen no Joken (The Human Condition) a 6 or 9 part film which runs over nine hours. In Kwaidan, Kobayashi was more interested in creating atmosphere.
Questions:
How does the director generate atmosphere?
Can we say anything about the morals of the people in any of the stories?
On whose side is the director in any of the stories.
How does the director make use of color, lighting and so on to generate the particular atmosphere for the film?
How important is movement in this film - both by the camera and things being photographed?
What kind of things that we have talked about with nature appear in the films
Kobayashi is often seen as a directorwho comments a great deal on social issues. This film has been seen as not using the past to comment on the present. Are there, however, still social comments in the film for example the treatment of women?
Is this a horror story or a ghost story. In the west nasty ghosts are horror, pleasant ones are fantasy. IN WHAT WAYS is Kobayashi interested in the genre? Is the film "scary"? "horrifying" what?
The film can almost be seen as an experiment in two areas:
(a) creating the atmosphere of the stories, rather than an attempt to terrify or frighten the audience. Is the film scary? There is a kind of "growing horror" in the stories which is rather fatalistic. People become aware of what the supernatural is. As they begin to realize they are in that realm, we are asked to begin to have the same feelings.
(b) experimenting with the ways in which the dynamic quality of film can used.
Starting with the use of nature in film, we can see that there are four stories- what does that have to do with nature? Four seasons. Each story is set in a different season.
Dynamics of film:
Movement- from the opening there are swirls of color that drift down the screen.
Consider the movement of both the camera, the performers and the way the special effects operate.
(running horses, superimpositions, etc.)
Supernatural events are often marked with movement of inanimate things. Doors and gates open by invisible means; supernatural lights dance in the air; people "materialize" in the scene; lighting is often dark and then the person's face is revealed by light.
Sounds both diagetic (film's world) and non-diagetic have impact on the film. the musical score is often hard to distinguish from sounds in the film. There is often a mismatch between the visual image and the sound.
Black Hair: (Fall)
Nature in house he leaves. There is a garden. When he returns, nature becomes uncontrolled in house where wife lives(d). Is this is sign she is dead?
Off screen sounds are often used in horror films - how is sound used here? Consider the scene where the husband is taking part in the archery contest. Do we always hear the sound of the horse running? Do we hear sounds that stem from what he is thnking about, namely his first wife.
What moral virtues do the people have and lack. What values does the narrator tell us that the husband and the two wives have? Who is virtuous?
Is the samurai an "upright" person? What about his second wife? What about his first wife?
How is lighting used to express atmosphere - darkness and menace. How does the director use the light to reveal things from darkness? How does this reflect his ideas about static and dynamic principle in art and film?
How do lighting and motion affect the scenes where the samurai realizes his wife is dead?
We see the horse running, but do not hear it. We hear sounds of the house where the samurai lived. Sometimes the diagetic sound stops altogether, and the musical score produces the only soud we hear. Camera movement is preceded by doors opening mysteriously. How does this bring us into the film? Transformation of man at the end of the story. Is he dead too? Compare white face and disheveled appearance with Yojimbo and the scene in the cemetery.
Snow Woman: (Winter)
Movement in the story
Vision of tress as almost alive, moving in the wind. Snow, wind and other natural elements appear in the first part of the story
Use of painted scenery to generate feeling and atmosphere. What is painted "in the sky"? How does the change in the sky affect the feeling of the scenes.
Lighting
How does the lighting shift on the face of the Snow Woman when she returns to her original form? Does the shift in lighting become a clue to the appearance of the supernatural?
Sounds
Musical score is often indistinguishable from the sound of the wind and perhaps the sound of the snow woman.
Hoichi the Earless: (Spring)
The story begins by juxtaposing the paintings of the battle of Dan no Ura with the actual filmed sequences.
Genji (Minamoto) vs. Heike (Taira) - old warfare story about 1100 (the very end of the Heian Period 794-1185. The establishment of Genji starts the Kamakura period and Minamoto no Yoritomo becomes the founder of the Kamakura Shogunate, the first warrior government in Japan).. The battles between Genji and Heike are described in Heike Monogatari (The Tale of Heike). The final battle between the two families is at Dan no Ura on 25 April 1185. This is the story Hoichi will chant at night.
Use of color - blood red water when Heike people jump into it. Contrast it with earlier scenes with water both in this sequence and he presious one. How is the water shown in "Black Hair"? Or in the opening sequences of "Hoichi the Earless"? How "painterly" is the idea of making a "red sea" with mist and fog as opposed to showing the real sea.
Consider Kobayashi's use of painting of battle of Dan no Ura vs. film of same with real actors. What comment can you make?
The transformations that occur in scenes with ghosts - superimposition, fog, changes in light on faces, Hoichi's visible ears. Moving lights. Lighting techniques?
Natural phenomenon. Compare the use of rain in this story with that of the rain and wind in Yojimbo and later in Rashomon.
Hoichi is being 'killed" by the ghosts. Need to save him. Humans are fallible. Fail to cover his whole body. None the less, he is saved and goes on to lead a productive and to some degree lucrative life. The lossof his ears is seen as perhaps a possible reasonable trade off for his life.
In a Cup of Tea: (Summer)
Lighting
Use of shadows, darkness at the time of the appearance of the spectres.
Shadows are not only to produce darkness, but appear as representations of the "visitors".
Idea of reflection as soul. Image is representation of what? What do we see when we see a reflection? Are movies reflections? Of what?
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