- Actors: Aiko Nagayama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Chinatsu Nakayama
- Director: Eiichi Yamamoto
- Disc Format: DTS Surround Sound, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
- Language: Japanese
- Subtitles: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Studio: Cinelicious Pics
- Release Date: July 12, 2016
- Run Time: 87 minutes
There is little
reference for a film like Belladonna of
Sadness in modern cinema, a psychedelic adult animated feature from 1973
which is equal parts exploitation and art film. One could easily find the
influence of director Eiichi Yamamoto’s film in modern manga and anime, and
somehow Belladonna of Sadness still
remains unique in its style and tone. The film exists in the world of
exploitation, but titillation rarely seems to be the purpose of the shocking
imagery. Mixing psychology with the supernatural in order to tell an erotic
tale of revenge, this is a cult film unlike any other, now or then.
Inspired by the non-fiction Jules Michelet
book, “Satanism and Witchcraft,” the story follows the moral decay of an innocent
young woman following a violent rape. The film begins with happiness that does
not last, introducing us to newlyweds Jeanne and Jean before despicable actions
alter their path. The couple lives in a rural village and has simple
aspirations until Jeanne is ritually gang raped by the local baron on her
wedding night. Helpless to do anything, Jean simply suggests that they put the
violent assault behind them, but the resentment and pain eats away at Jeanne
until she is visited by a tiny phallic creature feeding off of her anger.
This small
creature shaped like a penis is Satan, and he begins to grow as Jeanne’s soul
becomes corrupted by her feelings of hatred and acts of vengeance. The larger
that Satan grows, the more powerful Jeanne becomes, though it comes with the
price of increasingly violent sexual assault as the penile Satan also grows in
size. This unimaginable cost provides her the ability to fight back against the
evil baron and his court of followers. The biggest difficulty in relating to
the narrative is the bleak lack of moral characters to root for, ultimately
focusing on the darker elements of humanity.
As adult as the
themes of Belladonna of Sadness may
be, the animation is geared towards experimental rather than realistic. This
allows the horrendously violent and sexual sequences to be portrayed with
metaphoric voracity without becoming too graphic. The shock value comes more
from the moral degradation than from visual realism of the situations. This
also allows for more artistic freedom in the animation process, which is often
more of an acid nightmare than traditional animated narrative films. Audiences
today may have grown more accustomed to seeing this type of surrealist cinema
in the music video medium, but even today Belladonna
of Sadness is a surprisingly unique film. In some ways the film does
resemble a music video in feature form, as the story is often driven along by
an experimental jazz and rock score by composer Masahiko Satoh.
Animation is one
of the few genres that high definition presentation is visibly superior, and
the new 4K restoration of Belladonna
from the original 35mm camera negative is as sharp as any animation from the
early ‘70s. An additional 8 minutes of footage was also added back into the
release, previously cut from the original negative. The special features for
the Blu-ray also include new video interviews with Yamamoto, Satoh, and art
director Kuni Fakai. The only other extras on the disc are the vintage
trailers, though the release also comes with a 16-page booklet with photography
and a new essay by filmmaker and film fan Dennis Bartok.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
Special Features: 6.5/10
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