Kanashimi no Beradona (1973) Eiichi Yamamoto

Kanashimi no Beradona (1973) Belladonna of Sadness
Genre: Animation | Drama | Fantasy
Country: Japan | Director: Eiichi Yamamoto
Language: Japanese | Subtitles: English (.srt file)
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1 | Length: 96mn
Dvdrip Divx Avi - 640x464 - 29fps - 682mb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071203/

Loosely based on the nineteenth-century classic "The Witch" by historian Jules Michelet, "Belladonna" tells the story of a young "everywoman" in a brutally repressive and exploitative feudal society; in her powerlessness she is gradually driven to ancient superstitions and satanic practices, and then accused, tortured and executed for witchcraft. This storyline provides for a pageantry of sado-erotic scenes. "Belladonna" hovers uncomfortably on the edge of pornography but the film is saved, and viewer bewitched, by the incredible wealth of imaginative visual flourishes. Yamamoto's style in this medieval story hovers between classical Japanese landscape painting and twentieth-century underground comics (western style and manga), conjuring up, with accomplished technique, his dark fantasies. Think of Disney's Fantasia, but with more visual variation of style, and dedicated to the themes of lust and cruelty. "Belladonna" is a very early masterpiece of Japanese anime, anticipating Miyazaki by more than two decades.

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2 comments:

the saucer people said...

My all time favourite Japanese animation film (with some stiff competition)..as far as I know there has never been an "official" translation into English so thank the animation gods for those bi-lingual fans!

December 22, 2011 4:19 PM
jhalal drut said...

fildesonic & fileserve are DOWN!

January 25, 2012 5:24 AM

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