I enjoyed "Kaidan", don't get me wrong. But I couldn't like it more simply because the story seemed overly burdened with too many plot elements and was unnecessarily circuitous. I really believe eliminating a few plot points would have actually made for a better film.
The story begins unusually. There is a prologue but it's presented like a play--with obvious sets and a narrator. The tale involves a money lender who is viciously murdered by a samurai in order to avoid repaying an honest debt. As the man dies, he curses the man--saying that his child will one day exact revenge on the murderer's family. Believe it or not, none of this is actually needed for the film. When the murderer's son is eventually accorded his fate, it really is NOT because of his father's sins but his own, as Shinkichi is an evil and selfish man in his own right. Plus, he ends up destroying the daughter of the man his father murdered--and for this and his subsequent actions, he really deserved EVERYTHING he deserved. But, enjoyable as it was, it sure took a long time to get to this point. Very stylish, very beautiful but also too many things that got in the way of point A and point B. Good but flawed.
The story begins unusually. There is a prologue but it's presented like a play--with obvious sets and a narrator. The tale involves a money lender who is viciously murdered by a samurai in order to avoid repaying an honest debt. As the man dies, he curses the man--saying that his child will one day exact revenge on the murderer's family. Believe it or not, none of this is actually needed for the film. When the murderer's son is eventually accorded his fate, it really is NOT because of his father's sins but his own, as Shinkichi is an evil and selfish man in his own right. Plus, he ends up destroying the daughter of the man his father murdered--and for this and his subsequent actions, he really deserved EVERYTHING he deserved. But, enjoyable as it was, it sure took a long time to get to this point. Very stylish, very beautiful but also too many things that got in the way of point A and point B. Good but flawed.