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French 1 panel This poster is for the 1964 Japanese horror anthology film Kwaidan (meaning "Ghost Stories"), directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The film is celebrated for its stunning, painterly visual style and surreal hand-painted sets, which were mostly filmed within a massive studio.Film OverviewAnthology Format: The film adapts four traditional Japanese folk tales from the collections of writer Lafcadio Hearn.Accolades: It won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival (as noted on the poster) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.Production: At the time, it was one of the most expensive Japanese films ever produced. Director Kobayashi even sold his own home to finish the project after it exceeded its budget.The Four StoriesThe Black Hair: An impoverished samurai abandons his devoted wife to marry into wealth, only to return years later and discover a terrifying secret about his original home.The Woman of the Snow: A young woodcutter is spared by a snow spirit on the condition that he never tells anyone of their encounter. Years later, he inadvertently breaks his promise.Hoichi the Earless: A blind musician is summoned by ghosts to perform an epic tale for their dead court. To protect him, monks paint his body with sacred text, but they forget his ears, with tragic consequences.In a Cup of Tea: A writer tells an unfinished story of a samurai who sees a mysterious face reflected in his tea and subsequently finds himself haunted by spirits.Poster DetailsThe image you provided is an original French theatrical poster from 1965. It lists several prominent Japanese actors, including Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiko Kishi, and Takashi Shimura. |
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