21 Sep 11: "Kwaidan" by Masaki Kobayashi

Next wednesday we'll be screening Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan (1964), stated as "one of the most meticulously crafted supernatural fantasy films ever made, and one of the most unusual". Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1965, Kwaidan features four nightmarish stories, based on Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales, in which terror thrives and demons lurk. 

Shot almost entirely in enormous studio sets, with a completely post-synched and carefully controlled soundtrack, Kwaidan is about as far from moviemaking “realism” as it’s possible to go. Yet in going to such dramatically ambitious lengths as adapting aspects of Kabuki and Bunaraku puppet theatre to filmmaking techniques, Kobayashi achieves a subtle synthesis of realism and stylization. He makes palpable a vision in which beauty and horror not only coexist but complement one another.

A beautiful film not to miss on the big screen!

$3 Donation - BYOB!
opens at 8pm (movie starts at 8:30pm)