From March 30 to April 2 at the cinema «Pioner» at the retrospective of Japanese cinema, held in Minsk with the support of the Embassy of Japan and the company JTI, will show a kind of film anthology «Kaidan»– the traditional Japanese genre, designed to scare the reader, the listener, and now the viewer. The Belarusian audience will enjoy both classic film characters of this genre, as well as its modern interpretations.
A new retrospective of Japanese films in Minsk is dedicated to the Japanese traditional genre – «kaidan». These are stories about encounters with the supernatural: ghosts, witches, demons, werewolves. As early as the Middle Ages, collections of kaidans – kaidanshu 怪談集 – were transformed into a separate literary genre. The kaidans were often the basis for the plays of the national kabuki theatre, and with the advent of the cinematography, mystical films. Japan’s best directors repeatedly turned to this genre, creating masterpieces of style and storytelling.
«These films are mistakenly categorized as horror films, but there is no excessive bloodshed or excessive violence. Anxiety and fear are achieved through slowly building tension and anxious anticipation, » commented Igor Sukmanov.
At the retrospective, Belarusian moviegoers will see four films of this genre for the first time: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s «Journey to the Shore» (2015), Kenji Mizoguchi’s «Moon in the Fog» (1953), Satsuo Yamamoto’s «Peony Lantern» (1968) and Seijun Suzuki’s «Ghost Theater» (1981).
This is the sixth retrospective of Japanese cinema held in Minsk with the support of JTI. In previous years, Belarusian viewers saw pictures by classics of Japanese cinema Shohei Imamura and Keisuke Kinoshita, laughed at the cult comedy about Tora-San and appreciated the movie masterpieces made by Shochiku Film Company.
«Promotion of Belarusian-Japanese cultural ties is one of our company’s priorities in the social sphere, » said Gennady Brusnikov, Deputy Director of Japan Tobacco International S.A.D. (JTI). –Concerts of Keiko Matsui, Sakura Alley, the international project dedicated to Iosif Goshkevich are just a few examples of large-scale events supported by JTI in Belarus. Since 2012 this series has been complemented by the retrospective of Japanese cinema which has already opened new bright pages of Japanese cinematography for a wide audience. We are confident that the screening of «kaidan» films will continue the good tradition and expand the range of our understanding of another unique and beautiful facet of Japanese art.
A nice addition to the opening of the retrospective will be an exhibition of artworks of the students of the art studio of the Center of Japanese Culture «Hagakure», made in the genre of traditional Japanese painting «sumie» in ink. The exhibition will be shown in the hall of the cinema «Pioneer».
All films are shown in their original language with Russian subtitles.
