I just re-watched, after a very long time, Kobayashi Masaki's (小林 正樹), magical 1964 film, "Kwaidan" (怪談), on the still-beautiful Criterion Collection DVD transfer. The film is a collection of highly-stylized treatments of four ghost stories by the noted 19th (to early 20th) Century expatriate writer, (Patrick) Lafcadio Hearn (小泉八雲).Its greatest virtues are its stylish visuals (brilliant lighting, set pieces and camera work), but even moreover, the magnificent "musical score" of the late 20th Century's great classical and cinema music composer, Takemitsu Tōru (武満 徹). I put the term "musical score" in quotes because, in this film, Takemitsu's music is largely a series of magnificent, atmospheric sound effects which become part not only of the drama but almost characters of their own.
Takemitsu wrote more than 100 film scores in his life in addition to his legendary classical scores for "western" orchestras and traditional Japanese instruments, chamber music, guitar pieces (among the most important in musical literature) and many more. If you've not experienced the music of Takemitsu, you've bypassed an essential part of the world musical dialogue. If you are not a lover of "straight" classical music, do at least hear his music on film. His scores for such classics as Teshigihara Hiroshi's (勅使河原 宏) Rikyu (利休) and Oscar-winning Woman in the Dunes (砂の女) and probably most famously, for Kurosawa Akira's (黒澤 明) Ran (乱) are not to be missed.
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