Kwaidan Movies-Must Watch!! I love them!
I saw these movies around ten years back. I didn’t think much when I first saw them as everything was without many words but upon watching them closer, I found the movies very meaningful. When I watched it carefully, I was amazed at the movies actually!! I wanted to share them with everyone so much.
I’ve uploaded them both with English and Chinese subtitles as they speak in Japanese. I really wanted to share these treasures with my blog friends.. I thought when you want to take a break, or on a rainy afternoon, or a quiet Sunday, you can enjoy these visual feasts..some of you might be in remote places, well you will love these…Take your time to watch them. I have tried to keep the quality as best as possible and this will take more time to download, please keep this in mind.
The blog team particularly Justin worked really hard searching high and low for these movies and it took forever to render, etc. Hats off to Justin for helping me get these available for all of you. Joy ran around town looking also…I thank her for her help. She searched high and low also.
Remember that Japanese film-making has its own cultural identity that is unique and may not be totally understood by non-Japanese viewers but the meaning behind it is universal. The colors, cinematography, and feelings these films convey are really unique. Remember, Kurosawa is a legend in the East and West. His talents transcend all. Steven Spielberg mentioned in an interview once how Kurosawa has impacted his art so much, saying Kurosawa is one of his many influences.
I really love these movies…Please enjoy…enjoy and enjoy and share with others. This is hard, BUT LET ME KNOW WHICH ONE IS YOUR FAVORITE AND WHY PLEASE…I’M VERY INTERESTED TO KNOW.
The word “Kwaidan”is a Japanese term for “ghost story” or “folklore”
Tsem Rinpoche
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_(1990_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaidan_(film)
“Peach Orchard”
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
The Doll Festival, traditionally takes place in spring when the peach blossoms are in full bloom. The dolls that go on display at this time, they say, are representative of the peach trees and their pink blossoms. One boy’s family, however, has chopped down their peach orchard, so the boy feels a sense of loss during this year’s festival. After being scolded by his older sister the boy spots a small girl running out the front door. He follows her to the now-treeless orchard, where the dolls from his sister’s collection have come to life and are standing before him on the slopes of the orchard. The living dolls, revealing themselves to be the spirits of the peach trees, berate the boy about chopping down the precious trees. But after realizing how much he loved the blossoms, they agree to give him one last glance at the peach trees by way of a slow and beautiful dance to Etenraku. After they disappear the boy finds the small girl walking among the treeless orchard before seeing a single peach tree sprouting in her place. Hope…new growth..new beginning again…very powerful.
Or view with Chinese Subtitles here
“The Blizzard”
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
A group of four mountaineers struggle up a mountain path during a horrendous blizzard. It has been snowing for three days and the men are dispirited and ready to give up. One by one they stop walking, giving into the snow and sure death. The leader endeavors to push on, but he too, stops in the snow. A strange woman (possibly the Yuki-onna of Japanese myth) appears out of nowhere and attempts to lure the last conscious man to his death – give into the snow and the storm, she urges him on, into reverie, into sleep, into certain death. But finding some heart, deep within, he shakes off his stupor and her entreaties, to discover that the storm has abated, and that their camp is only a few feet away. It’s amazing how the storm is represented by this Yuki-onna. How artistic to represent an element in the form of a mythical being. How falling asleep, numbness, the false sensation of warmth is represented by her coaxing….very ingenious way to portray the struggles of mountain climbers trying to achieve something yet the elements are in their way…..My second favorite out of this lot..But be patient, wait till almost toward the end…watch carefully…not much words, but great movement and effects…
Or view with Chinese Subtitles here
“The Tunnel”
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
A Japanese army officer is traveling down a deserted road at dusk, on his way back home from fighting in the Second World War. He comes to a large concrete pedestrian tunnel that seems to go on forever into the darkness. Suddenly, an angry, almost demonic-looking anti-tank dog (strapped with explosives) runs out of the tunnel and snarls deeply at him. He proceeds with his walk, afraid, into the tunnel. He comes out the other side, but then witnesses something horrific — the yūrei (ghost) of one of the soldiers (Private Noguchi) whom he had charge over in the war comes out of the tunnel behind him, his face a light blue, signifying that he is dead.
The soldier seems not to believe he’s dead, but the officer convinces him and the soldier returns into the darkness of the tunnel. Just when he thinks he’s seen the worst, the officer sees his entire third platoon marching out of the tunnel. They too are dead… He tries to convince them that they’re dead, and he expresses his deep-seated guilt about letting them all die in the war. They stand mute, in reply to his words. He then orders them to about face, and then march back into the tunnel. Lastly, we see a second appearance of the hellish dog, from the beginning of this dream. This is a very strong theme in Japanese culture-loyalty. Loyalty is a very important quality the Japanese treasures. So in this very riveting moving film, you can see, even if your dead, you are loyal…..something to learn for life I guess.
Or view with Chinese Subtitles here
“The Woman In the Snow”
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
An old and a young woodman are surprised by a snow storm, and the younger is saved by the spirit of a snow woman who falls for him. He promises never to tell what happened to him after witnessing this supernatural lady taking the life of the old woodsman… Years later, he breaks his promise, telling the secret to his wife with shocking results. He loved his wife and the happiness she brought to him, so he wanted to share everything with her..but but but….watch…
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/kwTheWomanInTheSnow.flvOr view with Chinese Subtitles here
“Hoichi The Earless”
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
The beginning of this film is so beautiful illustrating the battle between two royal ancient clans vying for power and control. When one loses, they have to safe honour and dignity. The costumes, scenes, and story is so reminiscence of Kabuki which I love….The blind Hoichi lives in a temple and magnificently plays his biwa and tells the sea battle of Dan-No-Ura between the clans of Genji and Heike. One night he is invited to perform his skills to a rich family and their guests in their house. He is invited nightly and slowly the life in him is taken away. The kindly abbot who is skilled in the arts of protection realizes what has happened to poor Hoichi and protects him. He has the sacred Heart Sutra painted all over the body of Hoichi to hide him from the spirits.
My step mom had the ‘third eye’. She used to see many types of spirits and have powerfully accurate dreams that were prophetic. Some of the spirits she saw were malevolent and wanted to harm her… So her family’s Tibetan Buddhist monk painted mantras on her body as a young girl with consecrated water with the parents present. After this, the malevolent beings could not harm her she told me…She would see them, but they would back away when they saw her..She felt a sensation of light emanating from her body when these spirits appeared to her she recalled…Hoichi has this done also and what I like is, it is based on a real practice to paint sutras on bodies when there’s a need, but there’s a fatal mistake by the Abbot’s assistant in this movie which brings both disaster and benefit….
The Amitabha temple in this movie is so beautiful as it was built to pacify the hundreds of sad souls that had died and are restless in that area. I like all the films, but this is my favorite. This film is stunning and I really like it very much…please watch carefully and enjoy. It’s mysterious and very entertaining also…
Or view with Chinese Subtitles here
Thank you Rinpoche. I am a big “fan” of old Japanese cinema and still think of these short films, especially from Dreams. The old Zatoichi TV series was my other “favorite,” he acted almost exactly like a Buddha that takes wrathful form.
I also liked the old Japanese monster movies like Gamera, Godzilla, Mothra, etc. My favorite monster was Gamera. I use to draw alot of pictures of him as a kid. When I was in Tokyo/Kamakura a few years back, I saw shops that sold vintage and new figures of these monsters in many sizes. They are still popular there I would guess. Can find the films on youtube now also…love these films. Japanese are really good with movies..TR
Rinpoche, I remember seeing bits and pieces of those late at night. The Youtube videos are very interesting
If your assistants ever need help finding clips or editing anything please I hope they contact me. I work as a video editor, in fact I would like to do it for Kechara some day, and also it must be easier to get certain clips in the US with all the resources.
Dear Tobias,
We have alot of need for video editing. We have so much work. Seng Piow does the personal ones for me. He needs help for sure.
And Yes many movies cannot find here where we are. Even when we order, some places in US do not send to Malaysia. So we usually order and send to a private person in US and they re-pack and then send it to us. It’s complicated to order movies and get them sent at times….There are many movies I am looking for from time to time…TR
Thanks Rinpoche for posting these 2 great movies…
I watched Kwaidan more than 10yrs ago when I was still in school. I only briefly remember the blind monk/musician who was disturbed by spirits and not knowing it and the part when the monk writes the Heart Sutra on his body was really cool as its to protect him from spirits..I will watch it again..
Kurosawa’s is also one of my fav director. The Kurosawa’s film that I like: Yojimbo,Sanjuro, 7 Samurai, Hidden Fortress (Inspired Lucas to do Star Wars), Madadayo (a story about Guru Devotion), RAN (Japanese version of King Lear)
It will be really good if Rinpoche can teach us on all the Dharma significance thru movies…it will be good, to have Youtube teaching on this..
Thanks again for all the teachings..it really change my way of looking at things
I love these short movies, too! I found the collection on Netflix here in the US under a slightly different name, and of course now I can’t remember it. This director has done amazing work, and these shorts are particularly wonderful. I highly recommend checking out more of his movies after watching this collections of gems.
Here is a link on more about Kurosawa and his work: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/mar/23/akira-kurosawa-100-google-doodle-anniversary
Rinpoche ~ I had not read what you wrote about each film before I watched, but I chose to watch Hoichi because I liked the image. It is late, and I was not planning to watch the whole movie, I thought I would just watch 10 minutes. But I could not turn it off. What a brilliant and visually mesmerising work of art this film is. I was entranced the entire time by the music, the story, the stylistic and stark visuals. This is a very powerful film that I will think on some more, so many details, like an intricate jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece creating another world of many dimensions. The use of the 2 clowns was very skilful to break the tension and thus enhance it. Thank you so much for this unexpected gift tonite.
Dear Ani Kunzang,
Being out there on a huge piece of land, in a tent, working for your teacher by loving/caring for animals is great, but you need a break sometimes. You deserve a break… When I was putting these movies online, I thought about you hoping you will watch them. My motive, to give you some artistic entertainment because you work so hard. Glad you enjoyed Hoichi. Please watch the other ones. Enjoy. Tsem Rinpoche
what a wonderful film. .
seems somehow elemental in places – especially at the beginning
I don’t know -
thankyou so much for sharing Rinpoche
Amongst the 5 japanese movies, Peach Orchard, seems the most appealing to my taste. With such a superb chance to peruse old japanese movies, it certainly brings back many old memories of the past,both pleasant and unpleasant. Japanese people are very cultural, fond of and expert at celebrating festivals. As seen in this old movie, Peach Orchard, where the Doll festival, traditionally takes place in spring where “cherry peach blossoms” are in full bloom. It is so wonderfully colourfull. Japanese too, are very artistic, decorative and filled with an immensed sense of beautiful colours, as can be seen in their beautiful, lovely varieties of colourful Kimonos, soooo pleasing to the eye! What an ingenious way to display their wonderful work of Japanese art, giving one such a deep sense of feeling of peace. Akira Kurosawa has always been and still is my favourite japanese movie director. Deeply appreciate and TQ to our Rinpoche for this wonderful entertaining teachings.
Just saw The Woman In the Snow and must say I liked it a lot. It’s so arty and the scenes are so picturesque they could make many poster opportunities. It’s like a butoh performance, every nuance heavy with meaning. In the first scene, while lost in the blizzard, I could not help but think, could it be like a cold hell, could he be drifting in and out of consciousness in a bardo like state. And is the bardo experience like that, when we don’t even know if we’re dead or alive. Food for thought.
It got me hooked and must find time to watch the rest. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing them.
Another arty film I like is Ashes of Time by Leslie Cheung.
I love Hoichi the Earless and when I first saw it, I knew something bad was gonna happen because they forgot to paint the sutras on his ears! I felt really bad for him but I loved how it ended, Hoichi playing for the souls of the departed.
I remember these movies so well that I can recall all of them to memory. This is a great selection and Lafcadio Hearn surely had an interest in Japanese culture to write these tales down.
Excellent choice Rinpoche!
Dearest Rinpoche, thank you for the wonderful videos.
I liked Peach orchard and Hoichi the earless.
Had tears in my eyes when I watched Peach orchard because of the love and sincerity of the little boy for the orchard. In return, he got hope. Love the music, the slow moving ‘moves’, the colors and the costumes.
For Hoichi, I liked the music and the biwa. Beautiful writing on Hoichi’s body. Even after what happened to Hoichi’s ears, he continued to play for the restless souls out of love and compassion.
Dear Tenzin, I agree. I dropped tears for the little boy also as he was given hope for his trust and belief. Very moving.
Hoichi although almost died and endured terrible tragedy, was not bitter. He continued his art and benefitted the Temple and the ghosts who harmed him. Beautiful Buddhist inspired story. TR
My dear Lama
Thank you for sharing these movies. They are my favorite also. During my college years back in the US, I enjoyed watching films directed by Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Satyajit Ray, and Federico Fellini. I read the biographies of these directors. Their films and how they described the happenings of human lives whether it is sad, happy or in between are unique, artistic, and very beautiful. And so I learned about the concept of ateurs and how many of the films stories such as those by Fellini and Bergman are based on their own life stories.
I learned so much about people diverse people’s point of views are and the way I view somethings may not be the same as others just from watching the works of these directors. For that I learned about tolerance for diversity.
Much love and care
Valentina
I watched them all and they all appelled to me…I had no sad feelings watching the Peach Orchard, cause somehow I knew it would be ok in the end…I liked very much the Blizzard, especially the fact that their camp was actually VERY CLOSE…sometimes we give up when it is very close…..;As for the tunnel, as loyalty is so important to me, it was the one that moved me the most, although it was not the most artistic of them. What I loved about the Woman in the snow is the fact that some things are not implacable. Even the heart of that spirit “melted” and she didn’t kill him. Of course, there is always a price… Hoichi was the most artistic one, beautiful images and message but I found horrible the sound of that biwa instrument…..so I liked it also but more intellectualy…There is something sad and cold about the Japanese art, no matter how beautiful it is, as if life is really missing..It is a different culture, I was there,so I can understand that…..Thanks for the effort made to have these movies scenes on this blog!
I love Kirosawa movies.
The peach orchard one, it’s so deep. That one little tree there all alone. It makes me wonder, what is precious? What is important? I used to think I knew, even last week. But now I don’t really know.