Based on a Kabuki ghost story from 1825, but this version toned it down. There's no actual ghost, just a husband's guilty conscience. A strange, complex plot about an unemployed samurai, his clingy wife, her look-alike sister and a couple of ex-convicts. There's blackmail and murder. I thought it would be a big soap opera, and it was to a point, but I found it hard to get into.
I watch samurai movies and thought I finally got used to the horrible historical Japanese hairstyles---the samurai would shave the top of their heads for some reason. But, in this movie, both men and women had awful elaborate hairdos I just couldn't reconcile myself to.
Had a samurai in it but wasn't exactly a samurai movie. You couldn't really remake it as a western although it might be interesting if someone tried.
Available on the Criterion Channel. They also have a more recent movie apparently based on the same story.
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