Kuroneko [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Kaneto Shindo

Overview

This cinematic retelling of the venerable Japanese folktale A Cat's Revenge is set in the 12th century. Two women are raped and killed by renegade samurai warriors. The victims come back to life as ghosts and seek revenge on the guilty criminals. Tempted by the promise of love, the samurai are lured to a secluded country house before being murdered by the throat ripping temptresses. A warrior assigned to destroy them happens to be the son of one of the dead women and the husband of the other.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/18/2011
UPC:	0715515087810
Original Release:	1968
Source:	Criterion
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	8,969

Special Features

Video interview with Director Kaneto Shindo from the Directors Guild of Japan; ; New video interview with film critic Tadao Sato; ; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kichiemon Nakamura (2nd)	Gintoki
Nobuko Otowa	Yone (Mother)
Kiwako Taichi	Shige (Daughter-in-Law)
Kei Sato	Raiko
Taiji Tonoyama	Farmer
Rokko Toura	Samurai
Hideo Kanze	Mikado
Julie Benz	Annie Garrett
Christopher Cousins	John Oaks
Patrick Day	Motel Manager
Juliette Goglia	Colleen O'Brian
Marsha Mason	Mary Lou O'Brian
Paul Le Mat	Guido Levits
Gage Golightly	Taylor Garrett
John Livingston	Ross Garrett
Robert Pine	Douglas McCloud
Hikaru Hayashi	Composer

Technical Credits

Kaneto Shindo

Nobuyo Horiba	Executive Producer,Producer
Kazuo Kuwahara	Executive Producer
Setsuo Noto	Executive Producer
Nichiei Shinsha	Producer
Kaneto Shindo	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Kaneto Shindo's Kuroneko combines a traditional Kwaidan, or vengeful ghost story, with some samurai action in the story of two murdered women (Nobuko Otowa and Kiwako Taichi) revived by a demon-cat to kill all samurai warriors. The women's son/husband Gintoki (Kichiemon Nakamura) is ordered to destroy them, and the ensuing emotional drama -- the wife makes a bargain in order to be temporarily reunited with her husband, the mother has to kill her son -- fits in well with the action and composes a moving theme about the civilian effects of war. The major set pieces are clear and concise, particularly the opening where the murder of the women is conveyed through a final long shot that has the samurai exiting a farmhouse and walking off-screen and moments later a cloud of smoke belching out the windows and doors. Other highlights include the use of repetition and suspenseful editing when the ghosts lure the warriors to their death and an amusing, if superfluous, fight scene between Gintoki and a colossus warrior in a towering grass field. The supernatural elements are visualized using simple efficient tricks: spot lighting, minimal but suggestive sets, and smoke machines. Overall, it is a wonderfully engaging piece of cross-genre entertainment.