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- Title
Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan.
- Authors
ESWARAN, SWARNAVEL
- Abstract
This essay engages with Kobayashi’s Kwaidan, an anthology of four short films about ghosts, to foreground its uniqueness in the horror genre at the intersection of Japanese history and culture. For instance, hair is not merely an abject figure but is symbolic of the avenging spirit of a wronged woman. Similarly, the ears signify the musician and his nuanced skills and finesse, but more importantly, Kobayashi’s personal history during the Second World War. The final episode, often dismissed by critics, is an affective invocation of the specter to indict the erasure of homosexuality in the official history of the male-centric Samurai world and, thereby, wartime Japan. Additionally, the second story of the Yoko-onna––the snow woman—deconstructs the angry ghost by positing it as the mindless victim of the militarist system by disavowing any personal reason for her murderous action. Thus, Kwaidan compellingly addresses the specters that haunt the Japanese psyche.
- Subjects
WORLD War II; JAPANESE history; HOMOSEXUALITY; SHORT films; SAMURAI; BLIZZARDS
- Publication
Mise-en-Scène, 2021, Vol 6, Issue 2, p30
- ISSN
2560-7065
- Publication type
Article