Onibaba ( Devil Woman (The Demon) )

Onibaba (Blu-Ray) (*)

Out of Stock

Alternate Title: Devil Woman (The Demon)
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Japanese ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Japanese ( Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( Blu-Ray/Region B )

Running Time:
103 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Commentary
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Short Film
Special Edition
Trailer(s)
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1964 and produced in:
Japan ( India, Eastern Asia )

Directed By:
Kaneto Shindô

Written By:
Kaneto Shindô

Actors:
Nobuko Otowa ..... Kichi's Mother
Jitsuko Yoshimura ..... Kichi's Wife
Kei Satô ..... Hachi
Jûkichi Uno ..... Samurai General
Taiji Tonoyama ..... Ushi
Senshô Matsumoto ..... Runaway Warrior A
Kentarô Kaji ..... Runaway Warrior B
Hosui Araya ..... Ushi's Follower
Fudeko Tanaka ..... Old Woman
Michinori Yoshida ..... Samurai with Blood
Hiroyoshi Yamaguchi ..... Horse Riding Samurai A
Hiroshi Tanaka ..... Horse Riding Samurai B
Kanzô Uni ..... Horse Riding Samurai C
Nobuko Shimakage ..... Child

Synopsis:

Kaneto Shindo, one of Japan's most prolific directors, received his biggest international success with the release of Onibaba [The Demoness] in 1964. Its depiction of violence and graphic sexuality was unprecedented at the time of release. Shindo managed - through his own production company Kindai Eiga Kyokai - to bypass the strict, self-regulated Japanese film industry and pave the way for such films as Yasuzo Masumura's Mojuu (1969) and Nagisa Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses (1976). Onibaba [or Onibabaa, in its alternate spelling] is set during a brutal period in history, a Japan ravaged by civil war between rivaling shogunates. Weary from combat, samurai are drawn towards the seven-foot high susuki grass fields to hide and rest themselves, whereupon they are ambushed and murdered by a ruthless mother (Nobuko Otowa) and daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) team. The women throw the samurai bodies into a pit, and barter their armour and weapons for food. When Hachi (Kei Sato), a neighbour returning from the wars, brings bad news, he threatens the women's partnership. Erotically charged and steeped in the symbolism and superstition of its Buddhist and Shinto roots, Kaneto Shindo's Onibaba is in part a modern parable on consumerism, a study of the destructiveness of sexual desire and - filmed within a claustrophobic sea of grass - one of the most striking and unique films of Japan's last half-century, winning Kiyomi Kuroda the Blue Ribbon Award for Cinematography in 1965. The memorably frenetic drumming soundtrack was scored by long-time Shindo collaborator Hikaru Hayashi.

After being forcefully inducted as a soldier into war in 14th century Japan, his wife and mother remain living in a swamp. They eke out their living by ambushing worn-out warriors, killing them and selling their belongings to a greedy merchant. The woman comes to mistrust her daughter-in-law who has coupled up with a deserter, and begins to wear a facial mask she has taken from a slain samurai. Soon the mask will not come off again. In this disguise she is at first taken for a demon by her daughter.

As a feudal war rages in 14th-century Japan, those left behind are struggling to survive. The wife and the mother of a soldier make their meager living by preying upon hapless samurai who come their way, killing them and selling their armor for food. When a friend of the soldier returns to the women's hut, they learn the fate of their soldier, and are forced to deal with this survivor. Tensions build as the young widow gives in to her loneliness, and the older woman fears abandonment, feels jealousy, and plots revenge.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 01 October, 2013.