Nobuo Nakagawa, Master of Horror
FFF presents all Nagakawa’s horror movies
Future Film Festival, after the 2006 retrospective Japanese Ghost Stories, pays a new tribute to the world of Japanese horror and to the numberless imaginary creatures through the movies by one of the master of the genre, Nobuo Nakagawa (1905 – 1984). Nakagawa is the universally recognised inspirer of Japanese Horror New Wave, from Ideo Nakata (Ring) to Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse).
He was also one of the best in the whole history of cinematography at evoking nightmares and ghosts. Nevertheless, Nagakawas’ films cannot be merely described as spectacular or frightening. These films are actual dramas, displaying complex stories of love, death and revenge in all their possible shades, interpreted by really standing out characters. Moreover, Nagakawa is artful, stylish and always experimenting with cinematographic languages. The outcome of his craftsmanship is an extraordinary and innovative use of colour and editing.
Among the films that will be presented this year, we would like to highlight the visionary and frightening Ghost Story of Yotsuya (1959) and Jigoku (1960), the most carnal and hallucinated representation of Hell ever realized.
Nagakawa was not just a horror movie director, though his most renowned works were his ghost movies. These works are those that made him go down in cinema history; they marked his career all along the years, from the 50’s to the 80’s, and it is through the elements featuring these films that is possible to tell the story of Nakagawa’s artistic and poetic evolution, at once cruel and humane.
This new FFF retrospective is particularly special since, for the first time ever, it will gather and show to the public all Nagakawa’s horror movies: Kaidan Kasane ga Fuchi (The Ghosts of Kasane Swamp) 1957; Kenpei To Yurei (“Il militare e lo spettro”) 1958; Borei Kaibyo Yashiki (Black Cat Mansion) 1958; Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (The Ghost of Yotsuya) 1959; Onna Kyuketsuki (The Lady Vampire) 1959; Jigoku (Hell) 1960; Kaidan Hebi-Onna (Snake Woman’s Curse) 1968; Kaiidan Ikiteiru Koheiji (The Living Koheiji) 1982.
A special guest will attend the Festival: Kensuke Suzuki, friend and Nakagawa’s assistant director, currently director of the Japanese Association of Directors. Kensuke Suzuki will present the Nakagawa’s movies to the FFF audience and will attend a meeting dedicated to Japanese horror.