Kuroneko
| Kuroneko | |
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Japanese film poster for Kuroneko
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| Directed by | Kaneto Shindo |
| Produced by | Nichiei Shinsha |
| Written by | Kaneto Shindo |
| Starring |
Kichiemon Nakamura Nobuko Otowa Kiwako Taichi |
| Music by | Hikaru Hayashi |
| Cinematography | Kiyomi Kuroda |
| Edited by | Hisao Enoki |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Kuroneko (藪の中の黒猫 Yabu no Naka no Kuroneko?, "A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove") is a 1968 black-and-white Japanese horror film, directed by Kaneto Shindo, and an adaptation of a supernatural folktale. Set during a civil war in Japan's Heian period, the spirits of a woman and her daughter-in-law seek revenge after losing their lives to a brutal incident.
Yone (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law Shige (Kiwako Taichi), who live in a house in a bamboo grove, are raped and murdered by soldiers, and their house is burned down. A black cat appears, licking at the bodies.
The women return as ghosts with the appearance of fine ladies, who wait at Rajōmon. They find samurai and bring them to an illusory mansion in the bamboo grove where the burnt-out house was. They seduce and then kill the samurai like cats, tearing their throats with teeth.
Meanwhile, in northern Japan a battle is taking place with the Emishi. A young man, Hachi (Nakamura Kichiemon II), fortuitously kills the enemy general, Kumasunehiko. He brings the severed head to show the governor, Minamoto no Raikō (Kei Sato). He lies that he fought the general under the name Gintoki. He is made a samurai in acknowledgement of his achievement. When he goes looking for his mother and bride, he finds their house burned down and the women missing.
Raikō tells Gintoki to find and destroy the ghosts who are killing the samurai. Gintoki encounters the two women and realizes that they are his mother and wife. They have made a pact with the underworld to return and kill samurai in revenge for their deaths. Because Gintoki has become a samurai, by their pact they must kill him, but the bride breaks her pledge to spend seven nights of love with Gintoki. Then, because she has broken the pact, she is condemned to the underworld. Gintoki lies to Raikō that he has destroyed one of the ghosts.
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Wikipedia