Kaidan

In the Nineteenth Century, the acupuncturist Soetsu lives with his daughters Oshiga and Osano in the Shimousa Province, Japan. He saves some money, becomes a moneylender and lends his money to the samurai Fukami. Three years later, he visits Fukami to collect his money and the samurai kills him and dumps his body in the Kasane Swamp, where bodies disappear and never return to the surface. However, before dying, Soetsu curses Fukami and the samurai goes crazy and kills his wife.

Twenty-five years later, Fukami's son Shinkichi, who is a street vendor of tobacco, meets Oshiga, who is a singing teacher in Edo, and they fall in love with each other. Oshiga is older than Shinkichi and financially supports him. She becomes infamous in Edo and when her student Ohisa flirts with Shikichi, she becomes jealous and decides to give no more classes to her. Shinkichi decides to leave Oshiga and move to his homeland Hanyu with Ohisa. Oshiga has an argument with Shinkichi and he hits her face with the Bachi of her Shamisen. Oshiga has an infection in her face and dies; however, she curses Shinkichi and promises that she will haunt and take to the grave any woman that he loves.

"Kaidan" is a great Japanese ghost story about deadly jealousness, curse and doomed love. This stylized slow-paced film combines romance, drama and supernatural genres with a magnificent cinematography. The romance between Oshiga and Shinkichi in Edo shows beautiful locations and the camera work uses angles and movements to show details sometimes in a corner or in another room or space.

I believed that Hideo Nakata's "Kaidan" would be a remake of the 1964 Masaki Kobayashi's classic masterpiece, but they are totally different stories. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Maldição do Rio" ("The Curse of the River")

"Kaidan" is a part of a ghost's stories anthology produces by the Japanese master of J-horror Takashige Ichise. Alongside with the great Shimizu's" Reincarnation" and the disappointing Kurosawa's "Retribution", "Kaidan" forms a trilogy that the producer wants as a reflection of the best that Japanese horror movies can offer. Unfortunately, "Kaidan" is the worst of the three movies, and Nataka doesn't manage to create fear as he successfully did in "Dark Water" or in his rightfully most famous movie : "Ring".

"Kaidan" is an homage to the classical romantic horror stories that Japanese studios produced in the fifties and sixties. It begins with an elaborated black and white narration, that tells an old samurai/ghost tale in a classical Japanese Kabuki style. But soon after this beautiful introduction, the actual story really starts, ans if almost as if all this introductory sequence had took all the talent of Nakata. It mostly deals with a young itinerant salesman, that convinces an older singing teacher to marry him, in the medieval Japan where such a socially disturbing weeding like this one wasn't easy. When she dies, women easily felt in love with the young boy, whereas his love is doomed by his previous wife...

The story is so classical that it becomes boring and predictable. The photography is just plain and gives a televisual look to the movie (whereas Shimizu gave an amazing visual touch to his one), and the direction is quite the same : unoriginal and even sometimes lazy (whereas Kurosawa used a very inventive use of space in in movie, and a very inventive direction).

But to me, the worst element of this movie might be the lead actor, Kikunosuke Onoe, who's supposedly a charismatic character in the movie. But he's really got a enormous lack of charisma and never manage to give any credibility or substance to to his character and the story he carries. He's supposedly a master of a old Kabuki technique, but he apparently failed to transpose it on the big screen. Or I may have lacked the culture the subtility of his play required. Anyway, I just found it quite boring, and nearly felt asleep while watching his Kabuki plays.

All in all, "J-Horror" isn't a really good introduction to the Japanese modern ghosts movies. If the directors are all good, their works here look a lot like a repetition of their previous movies, that were far better. So Shimizu's "Grudge", Kurosawa's "Kairo" and Nakata's "Ring" still stay the best of the Jap'Horror movie collection.

Kaidan, which from what I understand translates to "ghost stories," is an effective horror-romance period piece set during the Edo period. The film opens with a dramatic scene from the past, then shifts to the present, where it follows Shinkichi, a tobacco seller who falls deeply in love with an older but beautiful woman named Oshiga.

Both Shinkichi and Oshiga are deeply flawed characters, and the story between them is well developed. It genuinely feels like a ghost story from another era, yet still manages to be unsettling. The atmosphere and emotional weight linger long after the film ends.

Review written by artist jayakumar jrain.

Kaidan (2007) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a wandering man who was orphaned as a child when his parents were killed by a samurai who owed them money. The young man now sells tobacco on the streets and one day falls in love with a brothel owner. He tries to leave her when he realizes their relationship is bad for her business. He discover leaving her is going to be harder than it appears, especially after an unfortunate accident. This movie is directed by Hideo Nakata (Dark Water and Ringu 1 & 2) and stars Kumiko Asô (Pulse), Leona Hirota (Endless Waltz), Hitomi Kuroki (Dark Water) and Kikunosuke Onoe (47 Ronin). This movie is entertaining from beginning to end. They do a fantastic job setting up the storyline and delivering the backstory of the family and lake. This movie has great character development and delivery of both the main and side characters. The writing is excellent displaying how a lack of malice and intention can lead to absolute malice nonetheless. The circumstances are interesting and unpredictable and the horror elements are a slow build but once they get going are very good. I loved the ghost elements and the conclusion was outstanding. This is a very well written and well done movie that is definitely worth your time. I'd score this an 8.5/10 and strongly recommend it.

"Kaidan" was a rather odd mix of movies. It blended together elements from typical Japanese horror, then threw in elements of samurai movie, supernatural element and ordinary drama movie. The end result, well, that was a mixed result, at least for me.

I enjoyed the movie in the sense that it was a nice step away from the traditional (and often stereotypical) Japanese horror movies that have a tendency of resembling one another quite a lot. That being said, then it should also be said that "Kaidan" is not at all scary. There are no scare moments that makes you jump out of your seat. Instead, "Kaidan" is running on psychological terror and that of a traditional curse. As the viewer, we know the curse that is put upon the main character, and as such, sit around knowing that something bad will happen, despite him trying to atone for his wrong-doings.

Being set in ancient Japan, "Kaidan" was a nice change of scenery for a Japanese horror movie. It was nice to see a horror movie set in this age, because of the simplicity and purity of that age and surrounding. A nice step away from the neon-lit Tokyo of the 21st century. And being set in that time, it was easier to buy into a curse actually being present and taking effect.

There was something majestic and grand about the movie. Perhaps it was the way it was shot, combined with the age in which it took place, plus the set and props were really great. Lots of nice detail and the scenery was so nicely made. It was like you were right there with the people. It was really a beautiful movie to watch.

The story, well, it moved onward at a fairly slow pace. But somehow the storyline picks you up and leaves you wanting to see what happens next. Story-wise, then don't expect too much of a complex story or too much adrenaline-filled thrills, because that is not here. The movie is slow and builds up suspense, and it works well enough.

As for the acting, then it was nice to see a movie with all actors and actresses that I can't recall having seen elsewhere. At least not off the top of my mind. And the people did good jobs with their given roles.

If you watch "Kaidan" for thrills and scares, then you are in for somewhat of a disappointment. However, if you want a Japanese horror movie that is somewhat out of the ordinary you see in Japanese horror movies, then "Kaidan" might be a great choice. Just prepare yourself for a psychological horror movie that is not fast-paced. Despite it being a good enough movie, with amazing setting, then I somehow think that the movie didn't accomplish all that it could have. There was something missing from the movie to make it unique. And that was a shame, because "Kaidan" could really have left a mark and set a new standard for Japanese horror movies.