14 / BD 56 Kuroneko

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Lino · #1 Post by **Lino** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:05 am

Kaneto Shindo's Kuroneko — released to great acclaim in 1968 — is a sparse, atmospheric horror story, ascribing to the director's philosophy of using beauty and purity to evoke emotion. Eccentric and more overtly supernatural than its breakthrough companion piece, Onibaba (1964), Kuroneko revisits similar themes to reveal a haunting meditation on duty, conformity, and love.

In this magnificently eerie and romantic film — loosely based on the Japanese folktale The Cat's Return — a mother and daughter-in-law (Nobuko Otowa & Kiwako Taichi) are raped and murdered by pillagers, but return from the dead as vampiric cat spirits intent on revenge. As the ghosts lure soldiers into the bamboo groves, a fearless samurai, Gintoki (Kichiemon Nakamura), is sent to stop their reign of terror.

Kuroneko remains a standout film of the kaidan eiga genre of period ghost stories often based on old legends or kabuki plays. Marking Shindo's first use of wire work as Yone and Shige battle against samurai blades, the film is subtly complimented by Kiyomi Kuroda's award-winning chiaroscuro cinematography, Hikaru Hayashi's vibrant score, and riveting performances from many of the greatest actors of Japan's Golden Age of film. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Kuroneko on DVD for the first time in the West.

Special features

• Newly restored high-definition transfer, anamorphic 2.35:1 OAR
• Optional English subtitles (new translation)
• Production stills gallery using Toho promotional material
• 32-PAGE BOOKLET with an essay by Doug Cummings; a 1972 interview with Shindô conducted by Joan Mellen; and rare archival imagery.

Lino · #2 Post by **Lino** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:34 am

Here's some info from what you can expect:

Loosely based on a Japanese folktale entitled The Cat's Revenge, Kuroneko is a spare, atmospheric, sensual, and acutely haunting portrait of love, duty, revenge, and inhumanity. Kaneto Shindo juxtaposes elemental and poetic natural imagery with the abstract, highly stylized expressionism of Noh theater to create an indelible aesthetic of visual dichotomy that exposes the underlying contradiction and hypocrisy of tolerated societal behavior. From the introductory presentation of the disheveled, unnamed rogue army leader who participates in the terrorization of the women, then subsequently re-emerges as a distinguished samurai who, nevertheless, is eager to exploit an opportunity to pursue a captivating and seemingly vulnerable young woman walking home alone, Shindo examines similar themes of innate primitivism, godlessness, and violence that exist beneath the veneer of civility as his earlier feature, Onibaba. Moreover, through pervasive ambiguity of character and interchangeability of identities - from the anonymous, brash samurai who was once a forcibly conscripted farmer that parallels Gintoki's own social evolution (his abandoned identity symbolized in his adoption of the name Gintoki in lieu of retaining his peasant name, Hachi) to the vicious bakeneko (cat monsters) that take on the form of noblewomen who are forbidden by the evil gods from revealing their true names - Shindo draws an implicit connection between Yone and Shige's sinister pact and the cruel legacy of the samurai bushido that further reflects on the human struggle between individuality and conformity, duty and conscience, personal will and hierarchical laws. By evocatively depicting the irreconcilable tragedy inherent in the unredemptive attainment of civilized order through warfare and social privilege through barbarism, Kuroneko serves as a horrifying and provocative indictment of man's vain, misguided, and inevitably ephemeral quest for wealth, power, pleasure, and immortality.

Lino · #3 Post by **Lino** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:51 am

Cover is up but the thumbnail isn't working yet. Apparently they will be using the polish poster and the cover is so beautiful that I am currently in love with it! Polish poster art is the best ever!

swingo · #4 Post by **swingo** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:01 am

looks kinda eerie...

I'm not familiar with this film maker, any comments?

Axel.

filmghost · #5 Post by **filmghost** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 10:58 am

Kuroneko is a great ghost story still effective after all those years...It also makes you wonder how some scenes were shot without the special effects we are used to nowadays. I am glad I had the chance to watch that on a big screen. Maybe it's not up to the art of Kwaidan or Shindo's Onibaba, but it certainly is one of of the the greatest ghost stories of japanese cinema and the best of the ghost-cat tradition (with second probably Nobuo Nakagawa's "Borei kaibyo yashiki", 1958). Although on a first level it's a horror film (and a really eerie one!), it doesn't lack the social context. Like many Shindo films. it deals with human survival and it has an anti-war message...I'm very happy that that film and Naked Island (which I haven't seen) are getting a DVD release! I also think that Shindo is considered the second oldest, still working director, next to Manoel Oliveira...I saw his odd, last film Fukuro/Owl (2003) at the International Film Festival of Thessaloniki a couple of years ago...

swingo · #6 Post by **swingo** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 11:06 am

thanks for the insight....

Axel.

Lino · #7 Post by **Lino** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:36 am

I wonder why the Kuroneko specs aren't up yet... What have you got hidden up your sleeve for us, peerpee?

Pinback · #8 Post by **Pinback** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:53 am

Annie Mall wrote:I wonder why the Kuroneko specs aren't up yet... What have you got hidden up your sleeve for us, peerpee?

I think the delay is just down to the fact that it's the furthest-off release of all the announced titles. It's already been announced that unlike Naked Island and Onibaba, Kuroneko won't have a Shindo commentary. I'm just glad it's getting DVD release...I've been dying to see this film for about a year, and am reluctant to shell out £16 for an old VHS copy...

acquarello · #9 Post by **acquarello** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:28 pm

Kuroneko is actually my second favorite Shindo after Naked Island, above Onibaba. I mentioned it some time back in filmjourney, but Shindo was working with quite a few highly stylized visuals in the film that I think turned out quite advanced even by today's standards. My favorite is one scene where the seductress is shown with a samurai in what seems to be a sexual encounter, except that the delineation is blurred between when the sexual climax evolves into violence. Alfred Hitchcock was thinking of a similar concept around the time of Frenzy and more recently, Claire Denis in Trouble Every Day, but I still think that Shindo's execution is still the most perfect.

peerpee · #10 Post by **peerpee** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 6:59 pm

What A Disgrace · #11 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:13 pm

Nice cover indeed. Can't wait for July.

peerpee · #12 Post by **peerpee** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:17 pm

This one's gonna be pretty barebones I'm afraid. THE NAKED ISLAND and ONIBABA are getting the "brunt" of the extras.

What A Disgrace · #13 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:26 pm

I can't complain. The film and transfer by themselves will be worthwhile.

What A Disgrace · #14 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Sat May 07, 2005 12:52 am

Specs are up.

-Newly restored high-definition transfer, anamorphic 2.35:1 OAR
-Optional English subtitles (new translation)
-Production stills gallery
-24-page booklet with a new essay by Doug Cummings, and more...

peerpee · #15 Post by **peerpee** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 4:10 pm

This and ONIBABA are wrapped and will be out on time.

Subbuteo · #16 Post by **Subbuteo** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 4:20 pm

BIG KISS on those old lips of yours

peerpee · #17 Post by **peerpee** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:40 pm

ONIBABA and KURONEKO are being released on Aug 22nd, but some retailers have Sep 5th as the release date.

If you order from Bensonsworld you may receive them upto a week before the release date.

Lino · #18 Post by **Lino** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 3:57 am

Beaver review

ogtec · #19 Post by **ogtec** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:19 am

And a nice review at dvdtimes.

The reviewers ends with: "So while Kuroneko may not have quite as hard an impact as Onibaba, it is a much stronger film in terms of straight up horror and tragic drama. For me both films are equally worthy of their classic status and should make an excellent double bill for any budding Asian horror fan."

Lino · #20 Post by **Lino** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:58 am

I was thinking about this film lately and I started to wonder if anyone knew of any other Ghost Cat Stories films from Japan. Just last night I rewatched Black Cat Mansion by Nobuo Nakagawa (which I love to bits) and found myself craving for more. Any thoughts (and please don't turn this into a list)?

#21 Post by **Matt** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 1:29 pm

Annie Mall wrote:I was thinking about this film lately and I started to wonder if anyone knew of any other Ghost Cat Stories films from Japan.

Doug Cummings' notes in the booklet mention Ghost Cat of Arima Palace as well as The Mansion of the Ghost Cat. Googling "kaibyo" got me these:

Kaibyo Arima goten (1953)
Kaibyo Gojusan-tsugi (1956)
Kaibyo Karakuri Tenjo (1958)
Kaibyo koshinuke daisodo (1954)
KaibyÃ´ noroi no kabe (1958)
KaibyÃ´ noroi numa (1968)
KaibyÃ´ Okazaki sÃ´dÃ´ (1954)
Kaibyo Otamaga-Ike (1960)
Kaibyo ranbu (1956)

Lino · #22 Post by **Lino** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 1:40 pm

Why, thank you kind sir! So this is how you're spending your holiday, huh? Hey, this is a workday for me so thank you for caring. Just one thing: I believe that The Mansion of the Ghost Cat and my above-mentioned Black Cat Mansion are the same one. BTW, I recommend you to see it if you can. In fact, I recommend any Nobuo Nakagawa you can lay your hands on!

And from looking at those dates, I guess that the 50's were the heyday of those creepy cat tales, right? Hmm, someone should really start releasing those here in the West. I'm getting sick of ghouls and vampires.

#23 Post by **zedz** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:07 pm

Just watched this last night and was suitably impressed. The first half hour is simply extraordinary. Shindo is at the top of his game, combining theatrical lighting, unexpected camera movement, elliptical editing, sparing (and sublime) slow motion, music and silence for a thoroughly unnerving effect: one of the eeriest sustained sequences I can recall.

Once the hero enters the film, it all lowers in intensity (partly because he seems to me rather ineffectual, stolid and dim, and he takes the focus away from the women, who are the centre of the film's mystery), but remains compelling.

HerrSchreck · #24 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:52 pm

Just acquired this & watched for the first time last night, and find baron zedz' assessment pretty accurate. The first half hour is so sparse, pictorially told, hewing to Shindo's unique style of rendering his mise en scene very nearly in silent film terms-- and very effectively so.

Then come the mechanics of the script-- the necessity of finding a way to thrust forward to the next third of the film, and doing so via dialog-driven melodrama. Not that it doesn't work, but these scenes nail the film a little closer to the ground, taking it out of the ethereal world of light & shadow & mist & texture and relying on the finite world of personality, acting & gesture.

But a great film and a nice disc. Cheers Signore Wrigley.

PillowRock · #25 Post by **PillowRock** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:22 am

I watched Kuroneko for the first time last night. Interesting flick; I enjoyed it.

There was one point where a visual metaphor that I found interesting jumped out at me, but it's not one that I've mentioned anywhere (here, online reviews and essays, or in the essay in liner note book).

When the mother is explaining to Gintoki that his wife has chosen to literally go to hell rather than kill him, they sitting / kneeling opposite each other under spotlights that brightly illuminate only a small area. Between them, in the far foreground, outside the lit area so that it is barely noticeable, a single bamboo trunk crosses the frame at angle.

When Gintoki finally realizes what it is his mother is saying to him, and it hits him that he is the cause of his wife's decent into hell, he suddenly stands up. The framing and camera angle are such that when Gintoki does this, that bamboo blocks the audience's view of the front half of his head (but not any of the rest of his body). Visually, Gintoki literally "loses face" at that moment.

Did anybody else interpret that piece of photography that way that I did? Or was I just imagining things?