Kanashimi no Belladonna

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.

"The Belladonna of Sadness" is quite literally that - sadness. It's an estetically pleasing and abstract movie about a woman who lost everything dear to her due to her tragic fate and bad decisions in life.

If this kind of artistic movie were to be made today, most ordinary anime fans would absolutely hate it. Why? Because of the way it was made. It is almost completely made of moving drawings. In my opinion drawings are amazing though and really express the characters. Another thing that surprised me is the use of singing in telling the story. I don't usually like that kind of thing, but ... here it was very welcome.

This film definitely isn't for everyone. It is very slow-paced and its main themes are depressing and heartbreaking. I was blown away by how emotionally heavy all the events were. There are also many sexually explicit scenes which weren't all that necessary. I didn't like those whatsoever, especially since they were animated in such a disturbing way.

To tell you the truth, I don't think you should watch this one before bed because you will be scarred for life. All in all, the movie was fine. I gave it this score only because of its art. Other components it was made of, however, definitely weren't my cup of tea.

Can good art be made in bad taste?

Garish pastels, painted in splotchy water colour; violent pornography devoid of any traditional semblance of eroticism; an overbearing psychedelic soundtrack; still images in lieu of fluid animation.

Belladonna of Sadness is a weird movie.

The film, known as Kanashimi no Belladonna in Japanese, is probably more renowned within arthouse circles than it is with animation buffs, and it's easy to see why. This is not a feel good nostalgia-fest a la Ghibli or Disney. This is - in the purest sense - adult animation.

The film revolves around Jeanne, a peasant woman. Early on, Jeanne is gang raped by her village's ... royalty as payment for permission to marry. Her would-be husband then rejects her, and Jeanne turns to dark magic as a means for vengeance.

It isn't an easy watch, and it's quite clear that it wasn't intended to be; everything in the film is meant to offend, disturb, or disorient the viewer. The only beauty comes form Jeanne herself, who is constantly brutalized.

So what's the film's appeal? Why watch something so confrontational and antagonistic? The easy answer is because it's a one of a kind experience. You simply aren't going to see another film like this, and there is a certain quality that comes with rarity.

An answer that is more difficult to properly articulate, but probably more valid, is the inherent beauty that arises despite the ugliness the viewer is bombarded with. Jeanne laying naked in a flower bed during a brief moment of peace, or her final confrontation with the king, standing empowered and defiant. These scenes will embed themselves in your mind.

That being said, this is a flawed film. It's antiquated, the phrase "of its time" seems ridiculously accurate here. It's also a niche film, but doesn't satisfy many of the criteria its intended audiences may look for: its stilted, unmoving images and adult themes alienating the traditional animation crowds and the fact that it's animated at all being a point of derision for serious arthouse fans.

But something as different and strange as Belladonna of Sadness is bound to find fans. That's why I recommend it despite its flaws. I didn't love it, but I won't soon forget it. It's something I'd like to own and look at and appreciate despite its ugliness, maybe because of its ugliness and the beauty that's hidden in there. You just have to look for it.

This is what happens when 90% of your budget goes to acid tabs.

The third and final film of the Animerama trilogy, this was ultimately a failure that contributed to the demise of the Tezuka-founded Mushi Pro Studio. Unlike the previous two movies that delved heavily into the wacky, zany world of slapstick comedy at times, Belladonna maintains a serious tone throughout. And because of this, it ultimately is the stronger of the three movies.

What all three have in common, though, is their experimental, trippy, psychedelic presentation. In fact, Belladonna turns this up to eleven, ... and turns it into a ninety minute acid trip experience. Overall the animation is limited - maybe only 20% of the time is there limited animation on the screen. Most of the time, it's pan-and-scan over still images of (to be honest well-drawn) art.

I went into this expecting to hate this movie, following the an uninspired 1001 Nights and a disappointing Cleopatra. But as the movie progressed, it did grow on me a little, partly because of the tragic tale of Jean and Jeanne, but also it was an interesting visual experience.

I was intrigued to watch this , hearing the studio apparently went bankrupt producing this. Well, that and the beautiful art. But would I recommend this to a fellow anime lover? No.

Apart from the beautiful watercolor art, the story lacks character. Maybe that's what it was meant to be, when we stare across the walls of art gallery , we do not know half of the story displayed. Rather it evokes strong emotion according to our persona and past. While movies can be a great medium to be sad, happy, inspired, scared- the one thing it should not be is stressful. Watching this ... felt like swallowing a cup of bitter medicine, I remember having to pause every 10 minutes because it gave me a headache .

But the amazing art, the symbolism, the better than average sound- made this a digestible experience and I may find myself rewatching parts of it when I am older and more mature. But right now , it caused me too much stress, I can understand why it was a huge flop (besides being such a highly X rated film) .

All in all, for fellow artists, it is something to watch once and archive, never to touch again for years. But no matter what, I do not plan to watch it again, because it haunts me in a way horror movies could not. It haunts my soul and mind. Belladonna of Sadness, thank you and f*** you for your time.

Bro, I hate making long reviews.

Anyway, Belladonna of Sadness is quite a masterpiece when it comes to symbolics and artstyle, but overall - not so much.
Sure it is about a woman who explores depths of her own mind and body, but I wouldn't say it's really that interesting.

Symbolics such as the devil, the whole belladonna thing and colour symbolics are really good, they actually made me interested in this whole film.
I also can't complain about the animation, it's a anime from 1973, we can't expect Studio Bones like quality. Artstyle - absolutely gorgeous, it truly made the movie stand out from ... others.

I think my whole mixed feelings are because of the plot itself, because I couldn't help but stop the movie to see how long does it take to end.
Music is also not likeable, well atleast for me, but I'm aware that it's only because of preferences.

Overall? It's not that bad, really. I'd even say it's actually worth watching, but subjectively, It's a 4/10 from me, adios.

Kanashimi no Belladonna, or Belladonna of Sadness, is nothing more than an obtuse piece of art that can be interpreted in many different ways, if you want something with a concrete story that makes sense without flowery artistic liberties… then this film is NOT for you. The film is also very sexually graphic, and is rated under the Rx-Hentai category on MyAnimeList.

• The only thing you really need to know about the story is that the main character marries a man whoーthen sells her to the Devilーwhere she gets raped continuously, and then the remnants of the movieーrepresents her tumultuous journey towards salvation. Jean, ... the husband, he mysteriously looks like Roman Polanski, the wife, Jeanne (Sharon Tate), holds physical similarities, and the pastor who marries them, note: suspiciously looks like Charles Manson. This film may be a commentary on the connection between the Manson murders and Roman Polanski at the time (there was a criminal investigation correlating the two back then), but that's purely speculation on my part, based on how similarly the designs resembled them.

• Rife with a plethora of religious and historical allegories. If you're into 2deep4u religious symbolism, like in Neon Genesis Evangelion, than you would love the all show, no-tell-all-show feeling within Belladonna of Sadness. I don’t mean that in a condescending way, I mean, I really like things that resemble this. I gave End of Evangelion a 10/10 for CHRISTsake, because there’s an excuse for a religious pun!

• The film contains a lot of stills and there’s BARELY any animation, except for when a memorable scene, primarily without dialogue, takes place. The audio quality is what you would expect of an anime from 1973. I must say that it was jarring to hear the very low pitched voice, saying, "Kawaii," to Jeanne before raping her. The first time I watched the film was raw, too, so it was super weird with no context.

• Often called the "lost Tezuka masterpiece," as it is very much in the same vein as Osamu Tezuka's adult ventures, such as Cleopatra. Side note: if you want to check out more of Tezuka's adult oriented works, then titles like MW, Ayako, and Ode to Kirihito exist and are mandatory reads for old fags and self-proclaimed oldies, like me.

• Overall, if you're in an overly precocious mood and feel ready to equip the beret that has been collecting dust in the corner of your room (gotta save the pretentious-wear for that one special occasion that you’ve been eagerly awaiting; always) then get ready to show your friends an experience that they'll call you a pervert for liking, and then you must retort with a reply that will not put that beret to shame, what every artistic douche is put on this Earth for; stroke your imaginary (or non-imaginary) beard, scoff, and tell them that they don't understand TRUE art. I give this piece, that is visually appealing, but falls very short of what you can shelf as a masterpiece, a 5/10.

While I can see why someone else would enjoy the experience, the only thing I feel Belladonna of Sadness does particularly well is its art and even that isn't good enough to carry the movie. I swear half the movie is just stills and panning shots making the movie feel like a glorified slideshow. While I'm a fan of trippy shit, the trippy sequences in this don't do it for me in the way they did in Evangelion, Perfect Blue, or insert Yuasa work here for what I assume are budgetary reasons. The music is arguably a positive but I wouldn't consider it a major ... selling point. There's little characterization and what's there is uninteresting which makes it hard to care about what happens to anyone.

The story is pretty bland, largely because little happens for large swathes of the movie, but unlike many "deal with the devil" stories where you might expect the person who makes the deal is corrupted morally either as a literal religious message or metaphor for the ends not justifying the means or power corrupting, Belladonna is a tragic heroine story where the woman who makes the deal is pretty much morally in the right the entire time. She is executed by her rapist, the greedy lord who's the reason Jeanne made a deal with the devil in the first place, after refusing to make a compromise and be his second in command for working with the devil in spite of only using her power to help people presumably because feudal France hated the idea of a woman having power not granted to her by a male ruler.

You can probably imagine why the movie is named after a poisonous plant named beautiful woman for its cosmetic use that also has been used medicinally and why the devil tells Jeanne that he is her and she is him. The theme of women's mistreatment in feudal France culminates at the end where Jeanne's execution plants the seeds for the French Revolution by awkwardly cutting from the mostly/entirely female crowd's face turning into Jeanne's to paintings of the French Revolution with text saying that women played a key role in it.

However, actually having a theme doesn't make the viewing experience engaging, especially one as banal as "medieval Europe had issues with women". For a movie this sympathetic to Jeanne even if the deal with the devil is meant more as symbolic of how her society viewed Jeanne achieving power without relying on the male ruler it's still awkward that she makes a deal with the devil because it makes the audience expect she'll end up more evil than she actually does. You generally don't expect a movie to portray the death of someone who sold their soul to the devil as tragic so it feels inconsistent. Her only potentially morally ambiguous acts are her helping a guy date rape the lord's wife who was complicit in his crimes and had it out for Jeanne and helping a married couple have sex for reasons other than procreation which you might recognize as one of those sins everyone ignores because it shouldn't be one in the first place like eating shellfish.

tl;dr the movie has enough going for it to not be bad but not enough for me to find it engaging but I can see why someone would get more out of it.

Summary:
It almost feels disrespectful to give this anime a 3/5. The time you can tell was put into the art is commendable and the music is just as good as the art.
The story opens up with lovers, Jeanne and Jean who plan on getting married under a society where economics and your ability work hand-in-hand, and happen to be in debt. As punishment the Village Lord rapes Jeanne and continues to ruin both their lives.

Jeanne reunites with her lover after the assault under the pretense that he is there to comfort her but he begins to strangle her.

Now here is where my ... interpretation of the happenings in the film get a little muddy. I believe she was either left unconscious or killed after the fact and that is when the Devil manifest itself. Jeanne offers her body to the devil in exchange for power and while the village is at war Jeanne and Jean become quite prosperous. However, as many dealings with the devil go, things began to take a turn for the worst.

When the king returns from war his queen informs him of Jeanne's newfound popularity and respect amongst the villagers and she is quickly labeled a witch (which isn't too far off...).

Review:
I feel this point in the synopsis is a perfect place to start my critics of the film, as well as things I enjoyed.

So up until Jeanne is thrown into the "dungeon" the events of the film are easily discernable despite it's animatic medium, however the sequence that takes place at this point is still confusing after a 2nd watch. I assume she was either still in the dungeon, her husband helped her escape, or she was never in the dungeon and she just offers the devil her soul right after the fact. Whichever it may be the plot becomes very muddy and convoluted from here on out.

Jeanne makes herself Satan's bride and a powerful witch and her presence is quickly made aware of to the villagers. Hesitant at first, they begin to adore her and the village slips into a world of hedonism and sexual deviancy.

Skipping across the plot a little because a summary is pointless at this point if not to provide context to my review, Jeanne is captured and brought before a crowd to burn at the stake for being in league with the devil. Jeanne watching her burn and die attacks the Lord and armed guards in a fit of rage, which is confusing. His character isn't very consistent, he's manipulative and has stabbed Jeanne in the back more than once but we are supposed to be convinced that he loves her and its mutual? The villagers assimilating with Jeanne's demonic soul and taking the face of her metaphorically was a bit on the nose and towards the end the film had me thinking a lot of its themes were on the nose but its fine.

All in all it was a worth while watch, I don't think I'll watch it again because the payoff really isn't worth the length of the film (It's not so lengthy as it is boring) but I thoroughly enjoyed the unusual medium it chose to tell its story with. It was one long watercolor trip. 2.5/5.

Story: 3 poor
Art: 9 great
Sound: 8 very good
Character: 3 poor
Enjoyment: 3 poor
Overall: 5 mediocre

I didn’t enjoy it at all, it was almost torture to get to the ending. I wanted to see if it gets better towards the end, and I mean it was only 1 and half an hour, but really, it felt like I was watching a series all day long. Time didn’t pass at all, and at some point I started drawing incidentally, while still glimpsing a few times over.

I do love the animation and I admire the work of the animators. Some transitions must’ve taken forever, and it’s amazing how ... much detail there sometimes was.
Overall you might think it was poorly animated, considering the people usually just consists of some lines and a bit of colorization here and there. It’s more comparable with a picture book for kids, but really, some parts were beautifully animated.

If only the story and characters were as beautiful as that.
I did like the protagonist somewhat, she was relatable. Marrying a man like that, I would make a Pact with the devil as well, tbh.
And there was so much sex... it’s like they wanted to do a hentai, but then decided against it, since they wanted to reach a wider audience. So instead you have this aesthetically animated sex scenes, with weird but cool transitions in-between. Sometimes it was also a bit gruesome, like the scene at the beginning, when the king raped her.

I think this would’ve had more success if it was a series of shortfilms, rather than this lengthy film, that could’ve been way more shorter and tell the exact same thing.
Or, since the songs were nice, they should’ve released it as music videos, and name the album “belladonna” or something. Music videos animated like that always are popular, so they could’ve really profited with that.

Sadly that’s not the case, and even tho I wanted to enjoy this, merely bc of the animation, I didn’t. It already started a but boring, the characters weren’t interesting at all (except our female protagonist a bit) and overall the storyline pretty much just consisted of lust and desire of power.