Kanashimi no Belladonna (Belladonna of Sadness)

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Alternative Titles

English: Belladonna of Sadness

Synonyms: Tragedy of Belladonna

Japanese: 哀しみのベラドンナ

Information

Type: Movie

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jun 30, 1973

Producers: None found, add some

Licensors: Cinelicious Pics

Studios: Mushi Production

Source: Book

Genres: Hentai, Historical, Dementia, Drama

Duration: 1 hr. 29 min.

Rating: Rx - Hentai

Statistics

Score: 7.20¹ (scored by 3,815 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score. Please note that 'Not yet aired' titles are excluded.

Ranked: N/A²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #3494

Members: 11,375

Favorites: 159

7.20

Ranked N/APopularity #3494Members 11,375

MovieMushi Production

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Episodes: /1

Trailer

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Synopsis

The beautiful peasant woman Jeanne is raped by a demonic overlord on her wedding night. Spurned by her husband, she has no outlet for her awakened libido, which develops to give her powers of witchcraft.

(Sources: ANN)

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Background

Kanashimi no Belladonna was inspired by the 1862 book La Sorcière (Satanism and Witchcraft) by French historian Jules Michelet. It is the third and final film in the Animerama trilogy conceived by Osamu Tezuka, but it is the only one to be neither written nor directed by him.

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Cleopatra, Senya Ichiya Monogatari

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Characters & Voice Actors

Jeanne

Main

Nagayama, Aiko
Japanese

Jean

Main

Itou, Takao
Japanese

Devil

Main

Nakadai, Tatsuya
Japanese

Clown

Supporting

Akino, Taisaku
Japanese

Narrator

Supporting

Nakayama, Chinatsu
Japanese

Priest

Supporting

Yonekura, Masakane
Japanese

Lady

Supporting

Shimegi, Shigako
Japanese

Lord

Supporting

Takahashi, Masaya
Japanese

More staff
Staff

Yamamoto, Eiichi

Director, Script

Tashiro, Atsumi

Sound Director

Fukuda, Yoshiyuki

Script

Nakayama, Chinatsu

Theme Song Lyrics, Theme Song Performance

Edit Opening Theme

"Aoi Kagami no Naka de (青い鏡のなかで)" by Chinatsu Nakayama

Edit Ending Theme

"Kanashimi no Belladonna (哀しみのベラドンナ)" by Mayumi Tachibana

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Aug 15, 2016

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 6

literaturenerd (All reviews)

36 people found this review helpful

Overview:

My city's only arthouse theater decided to play this 1973 anime movie recently. I went with a couple buddies and it was...an experience. I will now try explain my mixed feelings on this rather unique film.

Background:

This movie is sometimes called "the lost Tezuka masterpiece" although Osamu Tezuka actually left the project quite early in production. Kanashimi no Belladonna or "Belladonna of Sadness" was written and directed by Tezuka's longtime friend and collaborator Eiichi Yamamoto. Yamamoto worked with Tezuka on Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, as well as writing Space Battleship Yamato, the first Space Opera anime.

Belladonna of Sadness is an X-rated avant garde telling of a Faustian melodrama set in medieval France. The anime is loosely based on a 19th century non-fiction book called "Satanism and Witchcraft" that posits that ritual witchcraft and Wicca were created to rebel against the patriarchal rule of the Church and Monarchy. The book also prominently featured erotic art by a French artist who went by the pseudonym Martin van Maële. The anime follows the book's example by having a LOT of trippy, psychedelic eroticism that frankly detracts more often than it adds to the film.

Plot:

A poor farming couple named Jean and Jeanne are married in medieval France. However, they can't afford to pay the outrageously high "wedding tax" of their feudal lord, so the lord demands the right to gangbang Jeanne with his friends on her wedding night. As an aside, this practice was called "Droit du seigneur" and was alleged to have happened in real medieval France, although no hard evidence can be found and many historians believe it was a myth created hundreds of years later. Jeanne is emotionally devastated and her distress summons the Devil, who offers her power and revenge in exchange for her soul. Jeanne agrees at first to give the Devil her body, but not her soul. Satan accepts the offer after some truly bizarre sex and Jeanne gains the ability to spin beautiful fabric.

Jeanne is able to make enough money with her fabric to pay their lord's outrageous tax, so he makes her husband his official tax collector. However, this increase in wealth and power does nothing to improve their happiness. Jean isn't able to collect enough taxes from the peasants, so the lord cuts off his hand. Jean then becomes a miserable drunk. Jeanne is able to use her new gained powers to bewitch a greedy moneylender into giving her a large sum. She is able to give the evil lord the money he demands, but the evil lord's wife is jealous of Jeanne and plots revenge. The countess's Page slashes Jeanne's dress and the townsfolk all immediately decide to try rape her. Jean locks her out of the house and watches while the whole town rapes his wife! After Jean collected his award for "Cuck of the Year", Jeanne gets thrown in the dungeon to rot. She escapes the dungeon with the help of Satan and after reaching her breaking point, she finally agrees to give him her soul in exchange for revenge.

A plague ravages the town and many are killed. Jeanne returns to the town looking beautiful and offers a magical cure for the disease. She convinces the townspeople to rebel against the evil feudal lord and God. Jeanne even gets revenge on the Countess by charming her page into sleeping with the Countess and getting them both murdered by the lord. The lord offers to give her land and power, but she rejects these offers and says she wants "everything". The lord then has her burned at the stake in a scene reminiscent of French heroine Joan d'Arc. The worthless husband Jean finally rises against the lord, but is killed by his soldiers. The rest of the townsfolk cower in fear and Jeanne's rebellion is crushed at least for now. The story ends with French women leading the March on Versailles and stating that in France it is the women that lead revolutions. The End.

Art:

You will immediately notice that the art is NOTHING like most anime. The art in this 1973 anime actually seems to be inspired by 1960s European cartoons like Yellow Submarine from the UK and Bremen Town Musicians from the USSR. Eiichi Yamamoto is the one guy that left the theater after watching those movies and said, "This would be WAY better if everyone started fucking!" The animation is quite good for its time though and the surreal art can be quite impressive at points.

Music:

The music is often chaotic Bebop jazz. This unfortunately reminds me of Kite, the only other anime with wild saxophone solos while people bang. Occasionally though an ocarina will play accompanied by guitar and reminds me a LOT of the theme "Lonely Shepard" from Kill Bill. I spent at least 1/4th of this movie expecting a Tarantino bloodbath to occur at any minute.

Overall:

While this movie certainly had strengths like strong animation, a solid soundtrack, and a unique premise...it falls a bit short of being a masterpiece in my opinion. The trippy sex scenes generally seemed like a desperate grab for attention instead of adding to the themes of the story. If this was a minor detail I would let it slide, but they take up around half the entire movie! If you want an elitist arthouse anime with tons of porno that will kick Europeans right in the childhood...this is your anime.

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Sep 27, 2015

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

BlancaXLobo (All reviews)

43 people found this review helpful

And the award to the most underrated anime of all time goes to a movie produced and realised in 1973, as part of a trilogy by the Manga God, Osuma Tezuka, who leave the proyect. Kanashimi no Belladoona is amovie that the 99,9% of the anime fandom never heard any about. It's really difficut to found it on internet, and that's without subtitles.
But it's a shame. Anime creators like Kuhiko Ikuhara, Utena and Penguindrum's creator, has admitted the influence of this movie. So, why is this film so unknown?
First of all, it's not a typical movie. It's an avant-garde movie, something you will notice just read more

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Mar 16, 2016

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Bayrock (All reviews)

24 people found this review helpful

Background:

Kanashimi no Belladonna, literally translated as 'Belladonna of Sadness' or figuratively as 'The Tragedy of Belladonna' is an avant-garde feature film produced by Mushi Production and directed/co-written by Eiichi Yamamoto in 1973. It was loosely inspired by the 1862 book La Sorcière (Satanism and Witchcraft) by French historian Jules Michelet. It's also the third and final installment in the Animerama trilogy conceived by manga god Osamu Tezuka, but is the only one that was neither written nor directed by him.

This isn't your typical anime by any stretch of the imagination. The rating is listed as Rx, but rest assured it isn't intended to induce erotic read more

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Feb 24, 2010

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

Rampant (All reviews)

31 people found this review helpful

This is nothing groundbreaking, nothing that will change your world, but it is a fun little psychedelic trip. The few iconic scenes alone, such as her rape early on, leave enough that it is enjoyable even if it is a bit lacking in substance.

The art here is interestingly animated. The colors are always interesting to watch, and the animation mostly manages to be coherent despite the psychedelic nature. It is not always especially fluid, and I think that is what it has the hardest time balancing in a way that is totally watchable. I liked the art the most when the fluidity was best, but read more

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	Poll: Kanashimi no Belladonna Episode 1 Discussion Alicia3000 - Oct 11, 2009	20 replies	by hysterical_ »» Apr 8, 2:25 AM
	Is the remaster available for purchase or anything? BasedCereal - Aug 15, 2016	1 replies	by Ezekiel »» Oct 12, 2016 5:07 PM

Kanashimi no Belladonna

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