This week’s roundup includes reviews of several new films, including the latest from directors Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Cédric Klapisch along with the new Jason Stratham vehicle (“Mutiny”) and an auspicious debut by violist-turned-triple threat Isabel Hagen (“On a String”). But leading the pack is a restored version of Japanese master Mitsuo Kobayashi’s stylish ghost story tetralogy, “Kwaidan.”
In-Theater Releases of the Week
Kwaidan (Janus Films/Film Forum)
Japanese director Mitsuo Kobayashi’s 1964 classic is unlike other ghost stories, since he is not concerned at all with actual scares or things that go bump in the night (predating Kubrick’s “The Shining”), and deliberately has made one-dimensional characters who are lacking in motivation throughout these four weird tales. Instead, Kobayashi concentrates on stylized atmosphere above all else: each story’s setting is brilliantly evoked, beautiful and haunting trappings for these eerie meanderings. Stylishness has never been so spectacular, and Kobayashi’s cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima, editor Hisashi Sagara, art director Shigemasa Toda, costume designer Masahiro Katô and composer Toru Takemitsu are up to the formidable task.
The Ol...