- 藪の中の黒猫 (Kuroneko)
1/9/24 (Tues)
Shindo Kaneto’s 1968 horror film is less scary than it is spooky and moody. It takes place in Kyoto near Rajomon (known later as Rashomon), the massive gate that had become a dilapidated structure by the late Heian Period when, judging from the clothing and the presence of Lord Raiko, the movie is set. The gate was by this time known as a haunted spot good for disposing of corpses and unwanted infants. (The film’s full Japanese title, “Black Cat [or Cats] in a Grove”, perhaps intentionally recalls Akutagawa’s short story In a Grove that was the basis for Kurosawa’s Rashomon. I’m not sure why they chose Kuroneko as the English title rather than the translation, Black Cat.) Cats are supernatural beings in Japanese folklore in the form of “bakeneko” (ghost cats), so the notion of felines lurking somewhere in the woods immediately signals something shadowy.
sekenbanashi 