Japońskie duchy
Japanese Ghosts

Summary/Abstract: Pierzchała analyses elements typical of Japanese horror movies on the example of Masaki Kobayashi’s 1964 film "Kwaidan", based on a collection of folk tales by Lofcadio Hearn (known in Japan as Koisumi Yakumo) who was inspired by Japanese legends, Buddhist faith in reincarnation and karma, Shinto mythology and the Japanese “religion of nature”. Also analysed is "The Ring", directed by Hideo Nakata (1998), the story of a “demonic” videotape, based on "Ringu", the popular Japanese book by Kôji Suzuki in which you can find elements of the Buddhist concept of evil resulting from strong emotions, focused on the self (e.g. on own pain) of an individual (or a hell of illusions). Pierzchała points out that the aesthetic aspect of the film (especially the sequences in which a ghost appears) has been inspired by classic Nōh theatre. The film is compared with its U.S. remake, directed by Gore Verbinski. The third movie discussed by Pierzchała is Nakata’s 2002 "Dark Water" (based on Kôji Suzuki’s novel). "Dark Water" is the story of a woman haunted by the ghost of a drowned child; the film is juxtaposed with "Dark Water", its American version, directed by Walter Salles in 2005.

• Details
• Contents