Set in Medieval France, the film tells the story of two peasants a man named Jean and a woman named Jeanne who marry. Per tradition the two must make an offering to the Feudal lord who rules over their village, but when the lord rejects Jean's meager offer and instead takes an evening with Jean's bride Jeanne who is subjected to brutal rape by the Feudal lord and his court for their amusement. When Jeanne returns home, humiliated and pained, Jean becomes distant. A spirit visits Jeanne promising power and prosperity. But the Feudal lord and his court grow jealous of Jeanne's powers and use their status of "Divine right" to denounce Jeanne as a witch(which even her husband Jean buys into) and the spirit revisits once again revealing itself to be Satan, but his bargain is not what one would think.
The final film in the Animerama trilogy(following A Thousand and One Nights and Cleopatra) a series of adult skewing Japanese animated films initiated by anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka and produced by Mushi Pro. Belladonna of Sadness was the only one of the trilogy to have no involvement from Tezuka who had stepped away from the film to focus on his manga work. The film is co-written and directed by Eiichi Yamamoto a colleague of Tezuka's who's worked with him all the way back to the days of Mighty Atom(Astro Boy) and Jungle Emperor Leo (Kimba the White Lion). The film is an adaptation of the book Satanism and Witchcraft by historian Jules Michelet giving a sympathetic view of women and peasants as well as to Paganism and Satanism which stemmed from acts of rebellion against the Feudal Lords and the Roman Catholic Church that legitimized their power. The movie is very much of that mindset and gives a surreal journey through an act of defiance by an ordinary women who suffers cruelty and indignity at the hands of one such Feudal Lord and his Catholic Priest and gradual attains power by embracing the antithesis of her feudal society.
The movie as an animated film has little actual "Animation" instead going for an experimental approach with most of the film's story told through stills and Panoramic painting linked through voice over and narration. The movie uses this limitation to its benefit in that while there's limited movement, when there is actual movement it strikes just the right mood and is used to emphasize the power of the scene. Even when the movie uses stills for its lower key scenes they're used dynamically so they still feel alive. There's so many amazing sights and sounds making up Belladonna of Sadness that it can sometimes become overwhelming, but the movie is wise enough to dial back these moments when needed so these scenes of visual eruption are more able to stand out and are given proper weight.
Belladonna of Sadness is a surreal journey that captures both beauty and ugliness with equal veracity, and often simultaneously. It's a movie that isn't designed to appeal to a mass audience and will make many viewers dislike it. For me personally I felt an experience watching this movie that I hadn't felt since my first initial viewing of Walt Disney's Fantasia.
The final film in the Animerama trilogy(following A Thousand and One Nights and Cleopatra) a series of adult skewing Japanese animated films initiated by anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka and produced by Mushi Pro. Belladonna of Sadness was the only one of the trilogy to have no involvement from Tezuka who had stepped away from the film to focus on his manga work. The film is co-written and directed by Eiichi Yamamoto a colleague of Tezuka's who's worked with him all the way back to the days of Mighty Atom(Astro Boy) and Jungle Emperor Leo (Kimba the White Lion). The film is an adaptation of the book Satanism and Witchcraft by historian Jules Michelet giving a sympathetic view of women and peasants as well as to Paganism and Satanism which stemmed from acts of rebellion against the Feudal Lords and the Roman Catholic Church that legitimized their power. The movie is very much of that mindset and gives a surreal journey through an act of defiance by an ordinary women who suffers cruelty and indignity at the hands of one such Feudal Lord and his Catholic Priest and gradual attains power by embracing the antithesis of her feudal society.
The movie as an animated film has little actual "Animation" instead going for an experimental approach with most of the film's story told through stills and Panoramic painting linked through voice over and narration. The movie uses this limitation to its benefit in that while there's limited movement, when there is actual movement it strikes just the right mood and is used to emphasize the power of the scene. Even when the movie uses stills for its lower key scenes they're used dynamically so they still feel alive. There's so many amazing sights and sounds making up Belladonna of Sadness that it can sometimes become overwhelming, but the movie is wise enough to dial back these moments when needed so these scenes of visual eruption are more able to stand out and are given proper weight.
Belladonna of Sadness is a surreal journey that captures both beauty and ugliness with equal veracity, and often simultaneously. It's a movie that isn't designed to appeal to a mass audience and will make many viewers dislike it. For me personally I felt an experience watching this movie that I hadn't felt since my first initial viewing of Walt Disney's Fantasia.