The Tale of Oiwa’s Ghost
directed by Tai Kato
starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, Ayuko Fujishiro
Radiance Films
The Japanese folk tale of Oiwa’s Ghost is one of the most popular ghost stories in Japan, spawning nearly three dozen film adaptations. In 1961, Toei Studios adapted the story of marital infidelity, murder, and vengeance as The Tale Of Oiwa’s Ghost, directed by Tai Kato. Although the story is quite familiar, it is malleable enough to allow film directors to make various unique takes on the story. Such is the case with Kato’s version, which is a very different beast from Nobuo Nakagawa’s 1959 feature The Ghost of Yotsuya.
Regardless of adaptation, there are certain facts in the story that remain constant. Iemon is a ronin, a samurai without a clan to fight for. He and his wife, Oiwa, live a basic life, with Iemon making parasols and Oiwa taking in laundry and mending. Iemon longs for his previous stature as a proper samurai, so when the possibility of marrying a nearby lord’s daughter arises, he begins to secretly court her behind Oiwa’s back. The lord wants Iemon and his daughter to marry, and a plot is hatched to poison Oiwa to get her out of the way so the marriage can happen. Oiwa is poisoned, but it is a slow and painful process that disfigures Oiwa’s face. Once she dies, she is framed as an adulteress, and her body is thrown into the river. But hell has no fury like that of a woman scorned, and Oiwa’s spirit returns to inflict swift and terrible vengeance against all those who played a part in her suffering and death.
In the 1959 Daiei Films adaptation, the story was presented with a deliberate fairy tale visual aesthetic with a very stylized color palette, uncanny soundstage sets, and broad acting choices. Two years later, when Tai Kato picked up the legend for Toei Studios, he went with a grittier, more realistic approach that fit well with his filmography of historical and samurai dramas. The result is a film that, apart from the last ten minutes, has no sense of the macabre, which makes for a jarring conclusion when the supernatural horror of Oiwa’s ghost wreaks havoc. Tai Kato’s use of widescreen black and white cinematography proves to be especially effective in the climax, as all of the deep shadows on the edges of the screen seem to be harboring spirits, and Iemon is driven to madness.
Radiance Films has resurrected The Tale Of Oiwa’s Ghost on a splendid Blu-ray that presents the film with a lovely transfer that hasn’t been over processed, allowing the natural film grain to show while also delivering a sharp picture with plenty of detail in the film’s inky shadows. The film is supported on the disc with a visual essay on female ghosts by Lindsay Nelson and an interview with Japanese film critic and author Mari Asato, who always delivers insightful takes on Japanese horror and fantasy cinema. The whole package is then topped off with a booklet essay from Tom Mes and gorgeous artwork from Time Tomorrow.
